The 23 years old Right Back is training with the team since yesterday. Big friend of Gooch, he's on a 10 days test.
I am guessing this is just training.... but is there any indication that it could also be a trial of sorts for him? I I remember right, he played at Clemson with Onyewu. Pic is from his days at Clemson. Was he with Colorado this year?
Given 1. their success and 2. the tendency of teams to return to sweet-water wells, I'd be surprised if Standard didn't look back in the states. I think teams that have had success in the yank market (a great name for a red-light district ) are the most likely scout the states. Is lewis any good, Rapids fans?
If he is a free agent I would bet with anyone who wants to right now that he is gone. We always seem to forget here that most players get their looks because of some form of nepotism. Player who has performed knows another player, coach remembers someone from the youth ranks when there and follows them from team to team as they progress, Euro coach in Africa knows, and is trusted, by a few coaches at home and he recommends a player, and a coach who has played/coaches abroad comes back and remembers someone. There is always the Asian way. Buy the look. We get so little of these forms of help here in the states as compared to other countries. If Gooch put in a good word, and this kid is out of contract, he probably does not have to ace the trial becuase of the Gooch. If he shows enough, he comes cheap and is recommended by one of their best players/asset then he would be worth the risk, and would probably be given a little slack. Players who come out of nowwhere, with no connection or recommendation, have to prove it that much more IMO. I'm sure some will disagree. Many always like to take the "pure" look at these things. If he is good enough he will play. That's not how things always work in life. Never discount the human element. We do this way too much. Fire away.
http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/players/b...r=lewis_e&playerId=lew307886&statType=current Eh ... he is athletic, from what I recall of his Galaxy days. Those types are always in demand in the smaller leagues ... or the EPL (Zat Knight) ... a former U-23 member ... should be available for a case of Belgian chocolate.
Fire away - nah..... well maybe with bean bags. I agree that nepotism is VERY big in sports... and that's not always a bad thing. Players tend to play better with certain other players - that chemistry can make the combination better than the sum of the parts. If he's out of contract, that means he's cheap. Also coming from the USA - he's cheap. He'd be getting the trial/training due to his friendship with Gooch... but I think he would still have to show that he has the ability to play or at least the potential to be a player in the next year or 2. At 23 and a member of the USA Youth National team - this is a player that a team like Standard (no offense implied) who is a very good team in a decent league could take a chance on. It wouldn't take much to double/triple his MLS salary, and no transfer fee. And if it makes Gooch happy and content and play better..... hey tha'ts worth it right there. Seriously.... don't you thikn Standard would invest $100K to make Gooch happy? For $100K Lewis would probably knock over people to sign the contract. I don't know what he made last year, but in 2004 Ricky Lewis made $37,125!
Started and played all of 16 games, didn't have another appearance? Someone get injured for 16 games? Did he get injured? Anyway, seems to have the pedigree of a player who is well worth a look for Standard, esp with the Gooch factor. And Jaeger, I agree, and think it even makes a lot of sense. What's the name of the youth club in ....ghana, right ... that's sent four or five folks to top leagues in the last three years. Are they the best four or five players from Ghana, or that part of Ghana? Who knows, but they were decent players, and someone knew where to look to find them. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often with Yanks, though there have been a couple teams with more than one yank.
He was one of 3 players that were tried at the Right Back position - none of which were successful. No ... he's just not that good. And when he came to us from LA ... the LA fans were glad to be rid of him. While I don't think he's hated in Colorado - he sure isn't among the players fans want to see on the field.
Here comes my most standard answer to a question like this. It will happen more - in time. The more players we have proving themselves overseas, the more their word & recommendations, will be listened to. One problem we have is the England issue. We have quite a few players there now, and they seem pretty open at this point, but the work permit is just devastating. I like having some young guys in Denmark and Belgium. They can play and if they are good they will be moved along quickly. (More scouting and you have a better idea of what you get comapred to MLS - familiarity makes people comfortable) I bet if one of our local stat magicians too ka look back to see how many Yanks were playing in Europe in 2000, and what type of clubs and how much impact they had, compared to now it would be night and day. In five more years it will look like night and day if you compare now to 2010. Five years isn't that long, but we want it now dammit! It' s happening. Can't wait for the transfer window to open. I'm sure we will see a few surprises.
Oh well, the sux part of the equation is the one that can't be helped. Still can't wait to see what happens or what is said about him by SL management. A bit of a litmus test for an average MLS player (they do OK in Norway you know). I'm sure Omikell will keep us up to speed.
I think any training is a trial of sorts. People keep getting hung up on whether its just training or a trial. If a player impresses in "just training," do you think the team will say "sorry, you weren't on trial, so we can't make you an offer"?
Well I agree that all training is a psuedo trial. In this case however I think it is important to determine "how and why" he is there practicing with the team. If it's just because he's friends with one of their players and happens to want to keep his fitness and skills up in the offseason, that's one thing. Maybe Gooch wanted to bring him over for some fun and thought hey we can train together like we did at Clemson. That's very different from Gooch saying, "hey there's a guy I know who is a youth natoinal teamer, i played with him in college and he has skills but is in a bad situation where they can't coach him in MLS. Want to bring him over and if you like him, he'd be a cheap pickup." Both situations could get Lewis on the pracitce field at Standard Liege, but would have vastly different hopes/expectations from both club and player.
I wish him the best and hope he gets a contract, but I just didn't think he was any good. No special skills and was a bit mistake-prone, especially with positioning. He came to the G's pretty highly touted and Doug Hamilton was high on him, but just didn't look the part. If I recall correctly (I could be wrong), I think he's a lefty but has played a bit on the right, too.
Not sure why it's so important to determine other than curiosity. At the end of the day if you impress, you impress. Agree there are different expectations, but just look at Spector's case - there were no expectations from the ManU scout for him (he was at the game to evaluate another player), but look where JS is at now.
Good points... He was a youth nat, drafted in the 2nd round, and was wanted by Colorado so there's something there. Hopefully, he shows well in Liege.
Something to keep in mind - Belgium's Jupiler League has no numerical limit on foreign players. The only condition is that a player must be paid the minimum wage of ~ $80K, as I recall. I suppose if Standard sees even a glimmer of hope in Ricky, it can sign him and then split his salary with a lower tier "relegation fodder" type club, just to get him playing experience. There's not much at stake here for the team.
They won't loan him. They currently have no back up for Eric Deflandre at right back, and they're more than short of defenders.
I was very high on him and Gooch after watching them play together at Clemson. I hadn't really followed Lewis since he went to LA. If Ricky's problems were positional I seem to recall he played striker for the Texans in his club days. The kid had wheels and was very athletic. I'm just surprised he didn't shine in the MLS.