I must say, I've been following Villa in the preseason, and he looks tremendous. At age 20 he looks like a stellar EPL right back. He's started several games enough to make me think that he will be played in most non-league games and will probably be a normal substitute on off days or games for Villa as Habib Beye (likely to start) will turn 32 this year. My only wonder is that if Lichaj continues normals appearance for Villa, how can Bob not consider him for the squad heading to South Africa.
Re: Eric Lichaj Lichaj is probably going to be the 2nd choice at Villa. Hey may get some time at RB but it's hard to imagine a team of Villa's quality to rely too heavily on a young player with no first team experience. If he doesn't get many appearances he'll probably get to go out on loan in January. Lichaj is still clearly behind Spector and Cherundolo on the depth chart and unless there are any injuries, it's a long shot he surpasses either of those two. He's probably behind Hedjuk as well and don't forget Wynne and Simek are also right backs to consider. But give Bob a little credit here. I know that's hard for some of you, but just try. Bob did call Lichaj into camp to train with the National Team the last round of World Cup Qualifiers. This was a surprise even Eric himself (Eric was thrilled, BTW) as Bob saw something in him despite only being a reserve player at Villa at the time. But Bob sent this kid a real signal that he's on the National team radar and that Bob is follwing him. Just a few weeks after Bob calls this kid in, he starts breaking into Villa's first team. Lichaj will most likely be a 2014 project, but that's fine. He's still really really young.
Re: Eric Lichaj Frankie Hejduk will never get old. He'll never die. He'll live forever and always be our right back. He's like Benjamin Button. He'll be sipping lattes and starting the 2054 World Cup.
Re: Eric Lichaj This might be a dumb question but is he eligible for any other country? I'm assuming he had to get a work permit from a close relative with EU ties?
Re: Eric Lichaj Both of his parents are Polish immigrants, so he is eligible for Poland. However, I doubt he plays for them.
Re: Eric Lichaj He was born and raised in the USA. Played 1 year of NCAA soccer with UNC and would have made the last U20 WC in 2007 but he was injured. The kid is all USA. He was thrilled and honored to have trained with the USMNT back in May/June despite only having been a reserve player at the time. Anyway you look at it, it was a great move by Bob.
Re: Eric Lichaj I was under the impression that he played on the left. Obviously he is playing on the right for Villa. But has he played on the left in the past? That would be his best shot on the 2010 team.
Re: Eric Lichaj He has played a few times for Villa on the left as a sub. But he starts exclusively on the right side.
Re: Eric Lichaj Well, he's technically never played a game for Villa. Pre-season games don't count. He'll be 3rd string this year behind Luke Young and Beye, but Young does have some injury problems. If he gets playing time at all with them, it will definitely be a step up in his career. I see little chance he makes the WC10 roster, but you never know. Cherundolo looked good today for Hannover, Spector's going to get tons of playing time for West Ham, Wynne looked really good last night defending against Cristiano Ronaldo in their friendly, Hejduk will never die, Simek looks ready to get back in action for Sheffield Wednesday, and on and on. For me it's unlikely that any uncapped player other than Jones & Castillo will make the WC10 roster.........and Castillo isn't a definite. An erratic 5'9" left back doesn't sound like what the doctor is ordering to me.
Re: Eric Lichaj Could be a very interesting battle for the 2014 RB spot between probably front-runner Spector (if he continues to stay healthy, of course), Frank Simek, Eric Lichaj, and possibly Marvell by that time. If at least 3 of those guys are healthy and in-form, you've got to think that there's a possibility one of them will be seeing some Nats playing time on the left side if our LB pool doesn't improve markedly. And, from the looks of it, there really aren't any prospects that really jump out at you in the pipeline, at least not to the same standard as any of these right-sided guys... That's 5 years hence, of course, but at a glance, our RB situation is looking very solid going into the next cycle.
Re: Eric Lichaj I just find it amusing that the guy has NEVER MADE ONE FIRST-TEAM PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE..............and people are talking about him being on our WC10 roster. Hello? I'm not saying it can't happen. But he'll need to have one hell of a 2009 EPL season to pass all of the players ahead of him on the depth chart.
Re: Eric Lichaj What odds will Ladbroke's give you that Hejduk outlasts some of the mid-level, prime-age guys on this team like Rico Clark? Might be worth a sucker bet.
Re: Eric Lichaj He's a very well-positioned prospect for the 2014 cycle at this point. Very much analogous to Jonathan Spector in late 2005, who got a few camps and friendly caps late in the cycle and was largely penciled in as a presumptive regular member of the 2010 cycle team, given his status with Man U and West Ham. And he would've been a lot more regular had he been healthy all this time. No lame puns intended.
Re: Eric Lichaj Lichaj is looking to be one of those young guys who sounds like an interesting prospect to take a look at with the senior team soon after the 2010 World Cup 1) Lichaj 2) Diskerud 3) Shea 4) Pontius 5) Rodney Wallace (pending citizenship) Not saying all these guys will pan out, but at this moment they all seem to be the best 5 young prospects we have that are already pros (not counting any of our U17s yet) and haven't been capped yet.
Re: Eric Lichaj Help me out here because I always get them confused. Who is likely to become the better player: Anthony or Rodney Wallace? Basically, who would we rather have be a USMNT regular.
Re: Eric Lichaj Close call but I think Rodney. But he's still not an American citizen yet. I think he's a year or two away. I really hope he declines any Costa Rica callups until then. I can't wait to see Anthony Wallace at the U20 WC
Re: Eric Lichaj Lichaj should be loaned IMO. There must be a CCC team looking for a rb, and at age 20 and being 3rd string, a loan until January wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Re: Eric Lichaj Left-footers who can play left back are always in special demand as far as we're concerned. Do you know when he's eligible for citizenship?
Re: Eric Lichaj Addittionally, isn't Spector known for being able to play anywhere across the backline? With so many RB prospects, why not give him a go at LB? I know the results haven't been favorable in the past, but it certainly cannot hurt to try in a friendly.
Re: Eric Lichaj He has played LB in a USA shirt in the past (twice if I'm not mistaken, in one match of the '07 Gold Cup, and I believe in one of the pre 2006 WC friendlies IIRC). He wasn't bad. He's played a little LB at West Ham as well, though not recently.
Re: Eric Lichaj I remember reading he was somewhere between a year or two away. I know there are some people here on Bigsoccer that know more about his situation than I do. Maybe they can chime in. But check this article from May. Bob Bradley has shown interest in Wallace but it's too bad it will be Bradley's successor that will have to be the one to show interest for it to matter since Wallace is still a few years away. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=649031&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901 .
Re: Eric Lichaj ppssh lichaj at the gold cup?? we have far more deserving players that are younger and with more upside, like Jay Heaps. i watched the fiorentina match today and i was thinking....soooo happy he's ours. him and guzan were fantastic and i thought i read somewhere that Oneil was uninterested in loaning out Lichaj this summer after inquiries. not sure how that stands but maybe that indicates his standing in the villa first team, could be a regular squad player this season, thatd be exciting. Getting appearances off the bench is nice, and Villa are really thin back there.....Lichaj is practically an injury away from the first team if Villa preseason is any indication
Re: Eric Lichaj At his age, being a squad player with Villa would be an excellent situation for him, though it's debatable whether playing regularly off the bench at Villa or starting for some CCC side for a half or full season would prove more beneficial in terms of development.