After Standard Liege’s season opener at the brand new Easi Arena, home of newly promoted RAAL La Louviere, Yanks Abroad caught up with newly appointed team captain, Marlon Fossey. The Jersey boy and twice capped USA international fielded a handful of questions.
Unlike yours truly who is from the great state of New Jersey, Fossey is from the island of Jersey; one of the Channel Islands located between England and France. He was however born in Los Angeles.
The Gold Cup was foremost on my mind because I had expected Fossey to be with the team. It was an ideal opportunity for him to show what he can do, yet his name was absent from Mauricio Pochettino’s roster. So naturally I assumed that he was nursing an injury and recovering for the start of the new season.
“No, I wasn’t injured or recovering from an injury,” the right back told YA. “I got in contact with the staff (US Soccer), and they said that they just wanted to make some changes (for the Cup). So, all I could really do is put myself in the best position to get a chance to get to the next camp in September. This is where my focus will be.”
Did you watch any of the tournament and what did you think of it?
“I think we sort of warmed up as it went on. I didn’t watch the final but watched the games leading up to that.
“It would have obviously been better if we won but there were a lot of new players on the field. Sometimes it’s hard to mix them, to combine them and get them to gel quickly when you have a new squad.”
But do you think it was smart to bring in so many new players with just a year left before we’ll be competing in the World Cup, especially on home soil?
“Maybe it’s logical in a sense to see as many players as he (Pochettino) can, so that he is more confident with who he picks for the World Cup. He’s seen a big crop of players now, so from September onwards it will be the guys he’s thinking about for the World Cup.”
Let’s bring it back to the Pro League now. What are the goals for yourself and the team this season?
“The plan is to finish as high as possible (in order to make the championship play off group). We have an ambitious team, so this is in our minds. To achieve that we just need to go game by game; we can’t look that far ahead. All our focus now is on the next game.
Les Rouches had a formidable team last season, but things did not go as planned due to a lack of picking up home wins and ending up dropping points late on in games.
Did the team suffer much last season, the American was asked, when games that should have given you three points ending up as a one-point contest?
“Sometimes yes,” he admitted. “The draws where we should have had wins hurt, so it’s good to start off with a win and we look forward to the next one next week.”
You’ve been at the team for a few years now and last year you were a vice captain. What does it mean to you personally to be leading the team out onto the field every weekend?
“It means a lot,” the former Fulham man said. “I’ve been here three full seasons, so this is my fourth season in this city that loves football and this team. So it resonates with me so well. If we do achieve big things the whole city will be on fire. The prospect of achieving that whilst leading the team would be great.”
“I think we do have the team (to go all the way) but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and just take it game by game. i think we can achieve big things with this team, in this city.”
As I’m sure you know, Oguchi Onyewu spent five seasons with Standard and now a legend in the city, as he led the team to back-to-back national titles as well as personal accolades such as
“Yes, and he was on the last (Standard) team to win here. There are times when I call him for advice and pick his brain. When I’m in the US, I talk to him a lot.”
Fossey and his team have a long season ahead of them and only time will tell how they get on.
