The Holy Grail

Vincent Euvrard and Standard Liege

Standard Liege have not won back-to-back games since the end of October 2025 – 6 months. In fact, the last time they won back-to-back games (domestically in the Pro League) was in January 2025! Staggering stats which highlight many questions for this once great and historic Belgian club – 10 times Belgian champions and the biggest of Belgium’s many Walloon clubs. Years of turmoil and mismanagement on and off the pitch are difficult to separate from.

While some progress has been made in terms of making the club more stable financially, things remain precarious, as the club seeks fresh investment for the future. Challenging for trophies and Belgian titles feels like a pipedream; their last Belgian Championship title was in 2009. The Standard fanbase (famously one of the liveliest and noisiest in Belgium) expects, and recent years have been lean and frustrating.

Consistency in football is a holy grail. Find it and you will likely be rewarded. For Standard, consistency has become elusive in the extreme.

Standard’s current T1 is Vincent Euvrard; he was appointed on 27th August 2025, replacing Mircea Rednic, after a generally poor start to the 2025/26 Pro League season. The stats and lack of consistency do not make great reading.

• 32 matches… 12 wins… 7 draws and 13 defeats

The key question is whether Standard are making any progress under Euvrard? Standard’s sporting director, Marc Wilmots, has been supportive of Euvrard, despite another frustrating and inconsistent season. Wilmots has highlighted the need for stability but also an improved mentality among the playing squad, noting a reduction in loan signings, thereby indicating a shift in accountability in comparison to recent years.

“With Vincent’s appointment, we restructured the technical staff. I am very happy with his work; he is an excellent young coach with enormous potential. He has found himself in a complicated situation. We have had a lot of injuries, cards and suspensions. Vincent has always been a builder in my view, whether at OHL Leuven or RWDM Molenbeek, Zulte Wartegem or Dender. We have laid some foundations. We now have to adjust them and find the right balance. Defensively we have been improving; however, we do need to create more and take our chances.”

Marc Wilmots – Standard Liège Sporting Director

Wilmot’s loyalty to Euvrard is a sign that he is keen to end Standard’s coaching instability – 16 changes in the past 10 years in the dugout. Wilmots has put together a squad for Euvrard which many expected to be more competitive than than the season has shown. Injuries aside, this squad should undoubtedly be doing better. Some of the notable signings added by Wilmots include 34-year-old German left back Tobias Mohr, a player Wilmots knew well from his time at Schalke as sporting director. Central midfielder and playmaker Teddy Teuma, generally a big-impact player, has been largely invisible due to injury, as has Casper Nielsen, a former teammate of Teuma’s at Union Saint-Gilloise. Wilmots also added experienced midfielder Marco Ilaimaharitra. Other additions included striker Thomas Henry, who has been a significant disappointment. Standard clearly lacks any serious threat offensively – their top scorers this season are winger Rafiki Said and striker Dennis Eckert, both with 5 goals.

There have been a range of ongoing challenges during the course of this season which have had a negative impact on Euvrard’s ability to make positive progress. He has been unable to field his strongest starting eleven consistently due to injuries, and this has arguably had a major impact on the side’s ability to build any meaningful momentum. The injuries have impacted Euvrard’s defensive line and key creative players. Captain Marlon Fossey tore a muscle in late October 2025, sidelining him for months after suffering further setbacks in his rehabilitation. Key January signing Teddy Teuma, who was intended to help drive the team and inject some leadership and a winning mentality, has been hampered by ongoing calf and muscle injuries. The defensive line has also seen significant periods out for Ibe Hautekiet, David Bates and Daan Diercks. Other key absences have included influential figures such as Marco Ilaimaharitra and Nayel Mehssatou, who have both had significant periods on the sidelines. All of this on top of goalkeeping issues during the entire season and it’s not difficult to see why the side has struggled. At times Euvrard has been forced to play 3 at the back due to having a lack of fit wingers like Rafiki Said and Adnane Abid. Creative midfielder Casper Nielsen has also suffered injury setbacks due to having to play when not fully fit to accommodate other injuries. This side has some quality and physical power in it, but the small nature of the ‘fit’ squad this season has exerted immense pressure on Euvrard’s ability to make gains.

“It is the first time in my career that I have had so many injured players.”

Vincent Euvrard – Standard Liège T1

Also, results are very much at odds with the general expectations. There has been a high turnover rate coming into the current 2025/26 season with 11 arrivals. This creates issues of its own and requires major integration time and often this can hinder progress in terms of results. The fanbase are not entirely behind Euvrard either (another product of consistent inconsistency). Some supporters have been particularly frustrated by the side’s inability to win home fixtures. Sclessin is rapidly losing its ‘hellish’ reputation. However, by far the biggest complaint is the club’s general lack of a killer instinct. However, the fanbase equally recognises that there is no quick fix to what are essentially long-term systemic issues plaguing the club.

“I knew when I arrived the scale of the work ahead. Good performances only come when you play many times with the same players; this season, that has happened all too rarely for us to make upwards progress as a club. We’ve had to hang in there and find pragmatic ways to manage matches. Coming back from behind has been one of our major weaknesses. Not being able to field the same side consistently has not helped. There has also been a lack of depth on the bench to make a difference. We are at Standard, so there is expectation here. I need to find a way of turning hunger into victory.”

Vincent Euvrard – Standard Liège T1

Euvrard and Wilmots share a vision for a ‘long-term rebuilding project’. Half-hearted attitudes or players will not help Standard Liège make progress. Standard’s history and culture still has the ability to attract quality as we have seen with some of the signings over the course of the season, however the balance, chemistry and results have been mixed to say the least. Euvrard is likely to start next season in the dugout, and the club has indicated a willingness to extend his contract; however, the overall basis for that remains debatable.