Ascending to Royalty - An Overview of Royal Standard de Liege

27th April marked a turning point in Liege, Belgium. For it was this day that the Usurper James Foster took control of Royal Standard de Liege. Rumours in Anderlecht were rife of a shift in power and Prince Michael William was reported to have developed insomnia the same week. Coincidence? Managing a club close to the heart of Belgium’s elite ruling class had its benefits…


Princess Luisa Maria was seen out in Brussels with Foster, dining at the exclusive Comme Chez Soi, before moving onto drinks at Le Roy d’Espagne. Club Brugge chief Davy Vandendriessche was there that night, and was reportedly livid after being ignored by the paparazzi, who were jostling to gain favour with the new powerhouse in town.

He also took advantage of these links to take residence in Jehay-Bodegnée Castle, partly to show his team the meaning of a proper defence, but mainly due to the fact it was really big and would stop the rif raf neighbours Michael and Davy knocking on the door.

Foster, known as The Brain due to his love of statistical analysis, developed his management style in the Stephen-Alessandro Championship, where he managed an impressive average of 2.70 points in 143 games at Internazionale, winning Division 1 twice, and winning multiple cups in the process. After a break from the game, he returned with a new found hunger and was charged with the task of taking Liege to the top of the Pyramid. Short term aims given by Bruno Venanzi were to reaffirm the clubs position against its Belgian peers, a task almost achieved in the first 7 (DDWDWWD) games under the talented manager. Ending a run of 4 straight defeats, tactics were changed, new training methods implemented, and a stark warning to the existing playing squad that each and every one of them were playing for the place at the club.

The playing squad were Youthanized. Anyone deemed to be underperforming or beyond their prime were transferred. A mix of youth and late bloomers were brought in, with elder statesmen such as Larrivey, Aguilar and Palombo shipped out.

Transfers In (23):
Florin Gardos (Free Agent - £1.7m), Joey Barton (Burnley - £125k + Pirard), Scott Arfield (Burnley - £611k + Trochowski), Bruno Martella (FC Crotone - £800k), Mubarak Wakaso (Ural - £433k + Mulgrew), Liam Bridcutt (Free Agent - £1.6m), Lewis Dunk (Brighton - £1.6m), Domagoj Antolic (Free Agent - £1.9m), Willian Arao (Bayern Munich - £400k), Daniel Ayala (Middlesborough - £482k + Verdu), Vegar Hedenstad (SC Freiburg - £481k + Ciman), Bebe (CD Nacional - £600k + Rodrigues), Fabrizio Cacciatore (Free Agent - £1.6m), Santiago Colombatto (Cagliari - £240k), Aniello Salzano (FC Crotone – £320k), Eloge Yao (Swansea - £200k + Dussaut), Jorge Rojas (Free Agent - £1.5m), Will Grigg (Wigan - £600k), Moses Odubajo (Levante UD - £0 + Pavez + Einer), Antonio Adan (AS Roma - £3.2m), Lukas Hinterseer (FC Ingolstadt 04 - £1.6m + Palombo), Ruben Rochina (Granada CF – £2.2m), Omar Mascarell (UD Las Palmas - £800k + Mmaee + Jaadi).

A couple of these newcomers stand out; Once much maligned, Bebe has become a first team player whilst on loan at Rayo Vallecano. 33 games, 3 goals and 7 assists is a fantastic return for a team that unfortunately suffered relegation. Eloge Yao had brilliant breakout season at Crotone with Martella. Playing in almost all of the games, he goes back to Inter with a new found confidence. Moses Odubajo has been a revelation for Hull this season. Each game he improves and it surely won’t be long until he’s playing in the top half of the Premier League, be that with Hull or another side. Finally, Antonio Adan. He’s come on leaps and bounds since his stint at Real Madrid, becoming Real Betis’ first choice goalkeeper, linked with big moves to Liverpool, Marseille and Sunderland.

Transfers Out (22):
Lucas Pirard (P/ex), Piotr Trochowski (P/ex), Charlie Mulgrew (P/ex), Joan Verdu (P/ex), Laurent Ciman (P/ex), Miguel Rodrigues (P/ex), Daniel Dussaut (P/ex), Galilea Einar (P/ex), Luis Pavez (P/ex), Angelo Palombo (P/ex), Sammy Mmaee (P/ex), Reda Jaadi (P/ex), Christian Bruls (Stade Rennais - £2,8m), Diogo Rochinha (FC Penafiel - £618k), Tom Rosenthal (QPR - £672k), Paul Aguilar (Club America - £2.9m), Neri Cardozo (Monterrey - £3m), Jarne Vrijsen (KRC Genk - £361k), Joaquin Larrivey (Baniyas SC – £2.5m), Francesco Lodi (Brescia - £2m), Kiril Despodov (VfB Stuttgart - £4.3m), Shani Tarashaj (Chievo Verona - £4m).

No more than two players in the squad achieved an average rating of 6.60 this season. One of those players being a new signing himself, making it clear that Foster has had to do a lot of work to drag his side to where they are. Coincidentally, the team’s top scorer (post transfers) is the same player, Mubarak Wakaso.

There has been a real drive at Liege to reduce the average age of the playing staff, whilst remaining competitive. As you can see Foster has managed that magnificently, having not lost a competitive match since taking over. Whilst the squads average age is still above his Belgian counterparts by a solitary year, he still has a couple of older players that inside sources have advised are likely to be sold by the start of the new season, and is expected to push forwards with plans to bring in new attacking personnel in the coming weeks. The gossip pages of newspapers consistently mention the sales of Velarde, Wagner, Sosa, Barrios and Briand, who must surely be fearing for their places in the team. It’s an open secret that manager Foster would welcome offers for any of those players.

We were also lucky enough to be advised of the results of the awards ceremony which occurred on Wednesday night;

Player of the Season – Matz Sels – The Belgian stopper played 42 games this season, and is one of the few squad players to remain after the reshuffle. MOTM 4 times, he is expected to remain a key figure for Foster’s side over the coming seasons, provided he fights off the competition of Antonio Adan.
Youth Player of the Season – Massimo Bruno – The youngster’s performance this season has been slightly worse than season 1 under the previous regime, however he has remained on the fringes of the first team, threatening the more established stars. Season 3 should see him try to cement his place in the first eleven and potentially provide the creative catalyst for a promotion push.
Top Goalscorer – Mubarak Wakaso – A new signing, Wakaso has scored a goal every 112 minutes for foster. The hard working, pacey winger has mainly been used in a central midfield role, but has still managed to get forward and provide an attacking threat.

As it stands, the Standard Liege shakeup is just the start of the shakedown of Belgian teams in Foster’s quest to become King of Belgium, en route to the top of the Division 5 table.

Dick de Cock for Het Laatste Nieuws.