Former player Eric Lichaj

[KHV]

Better than Bennett. Streets ahead of him defensively.

Better than Bennett. Streets ahead of him defensively.

yeah, Bennett is all over the shop when defending

[VillanousOne]

he probably should play CB or RB, he's always looked iffy at left back.

We don't really know how good or bad Bennett is yet, even if so far he's not been great.

[CI]

Lichaj is our weakest link in my opinion. Seems to watch the man rather than ball.

[cheltenham_villa]

I've seen nothing in Bennett or lichaj to make me think we were right to get rid of warnock. Both very poor this season, especially against chelsea.

[8pints]

He was better with the facial hair, he's like Samson.

Edited December 25, 2012 by 8pints

[dudevillaisnice]

Just looked to check when his contract is up and it's up in summer 2013 so a few months from now.

Contract until: 30.06.2013

Think it's for the best if we let him go once his contract is up along with a few other players.

He is 24 now, I don't think he will improve that much.

Edited December 26, 2012 by dudevillaisnice

[Con]

Lichaj is currently the only member of the Aston Villa team to have a positive goal difference rating when he is on the pitch.

In the Premier League, he is +1, the team having scored 11 and conceded 10 in his presence.

The stats of his rivals for his position: Bennett -13 (2, -15). Stevens -6 (2, -8).

He also played in the recent 1-4 thrashing of Norwich. Not quite sure what I'm supposed to dislike about him.

[AndyBM]

i think he gets alot of unecessary critisism on here, we still need squad players, hes our back up RB, aso agree with giving him ago at CB, he clearly isnt very goof attacking up the left and clearly doesnt like to either

[Con]

i think he gets alot of unecessary critisism on here, we still need squad players, hes our back up RB, aso agree with giving him ago at CB, he clearly isnt very goof attacking up the left and clearly doesnt like to either

That's one way to put it. Another way is the criticism is completely and utterly bonkers.

When Lichaj plays (13 appearances this season, so a decent sample size)

-10 goals

+11 goals

No other Villa player is in positive goal difference.

Maybe it's just a fluke.

But when I see him play he is much more solid defensively than Bennett, and he has more experience than Stevens. He should own that position. Lambert needs to quit the Bennett experiment until we are safe.

[dudevillaisnice]

utterly bonkers? really?

first of all he like most of the young players is VERY inconsistent.. at one point he can mark Bale out the game and another he'll let Fulham score a goal from his error, if he was 19 fine but he is 24 going on 25 now.

He isn't going to improve further and those stats above are meaningless up there with Delph having the best pass rate percentage when all he does is pass back or get caught in possession.

I wonder if the club is thinking the same because his contract situation speaks volume..

As a squad player fine but as a starter I don't see it as I said he is far too inconsistent.

Also if I remember correctly he had a terrible game recently where even Lambert had to sub him off at half time.

If the club are to renew his contract it should be on the terms of a squad player NOT a starter.

[Con]

utterly bonkers? really?

first of all he like most of the young players is VERY inconsistent.. at one point he can mark Bale out the game and another he'll let Fulham score a goal from his error, if he was 19 fine but he is 24 going on 25 now.

As 24/25 year old he has additional experience we badly need. He's played all the top teams at the biggest grounds before.

All players make mistakes. Do they bounce back from them?

I don't know what mistakes you are referring to, or when he marked Bale out the game (that sounds awesome - so why did we not play him against Tottenham?).

On current form he is first choice ahead of Bennett and Stevens.

He isn't going to improve further

Most players continue to improve as they gain experience, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers especially. As long as they maintain fitness levels 28-31 is the age range which most players peak in performance. Can be older for goalkeepers.

It is strikers who rely on speed and athleticism that you have to watch for signs they're not getting better with experience.

Also if I remember correctly he had a terrible game recently where even Lambert had to sub him off at half time.

That has not occurred recently. Unless you are thinking of the Chelsea game when he was subbed 56 minutes when the score was 3-0.

If he was subbed tactically, not through injury, Lambert was wrong: after Lichaj went off we conceded 5 goals, two of which came in down the side Lichaj would have been defending.

Lichaj not involved in the first three goals. I think he was injured.

and those stats above are meaningless up there with Delph having the best pass rate percentage when all he does is pass back or get caught in possession.

They're not meaningless stats but you decide how relevant they are compared to other stats.

It is meaningful Delph has a high pass completion rate, that is good. You can't criticise Delph for being good at something. That is also ludicrous!

But if he fails at dribbling or doesn't make tackles or is not in position to receive passes at right time, some other aspect of the game, it is logical not to play him.

Now can we criticise Lichaj in this way? I think it's fair to say he's not the best going forward. But that is completely irrelevant at the moment. We need someone solid at the back who can be trusted.

The fact that 11 of our 15 goals this season have occurred when Lichaj was on the pitch shows we don't suffer offensively much when he is present. So the one logical argument to keep Lichaj out the starting XI - would hurt the team as an attacking force - has no factual basis this season. Right now we need to build on our defence. leave the Bennett experiment to when we have a safe cushion above the relegation zone.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Con

[dudevillaisnice]

On current form he is first choice ahead of Bennett and Stevens.

I agree there but that says alot about the squad rather than Lichaj himself.

Most players continue to improve as they gain experience, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers especially. As long as they maintain fitness levels 28-31 is the age range which most players peak in performance. Can be older for goalkeepers.

That's nice which is why I wouldn't be against him staying as a squad player as opposed to a starter but he just isn't consistent enough like most "young" players and it effects us as a team on the pitch.

They're not meaningless stats but you decide how relevant they are compared to other stats.

It is meaningful Delph has a high pass completion rate, that is good. You can't criticise Delph for being good at something. That is also ludicrous!

But if he fails at dribbling or doesn't make tackles or is not in position to receive passes at right time, some other aspect of the game, it is logical not to play him.

It's meaningless as it does NOTHING to our game it's a "fancy" stat nothing else.. he can keep on passing backwards because he lacks the quality to make passes forward without losing possession that is the flaw of player not highlighted with these stats.

Now can we criticise Lichaj in this way? I think it's fair to say he's not the best going forward. But that is completely irrelevant at the moment. We need someone solid at the back who can be trusted.

The fact that 11 of our 15 goals this season have occurred when Lichaj was on the pitch shows we don't suffer offensively much when he is present. So the one logical argument to keep Lichaj out the starting XI - would hurt the team as an attacking force - has no factual basis this season. Right now we need to build on our defence. leave the Bennett experiment to when we have a safe cushion above the relegation zone.

That's nice but like I said he is very inconsistent and these stats don't tell the full story, at the moment he has to play because Stevens and Bennett look awful but I fully expect us to get another proper starting player ahead of Lichaj if we are to improve our league performances and results and move on from "relegation" positions - it's not totally on him of course not but he unfortunately is part of the squad who has done poorly and is in a relegation fight and he may just be the better out the lot but that won't improve us higher up the table.

If he is to stay it has be as a squad player, as he has proven at times he can be reliable (note at times)

I think Lambert buying Bennett is a sign that he maybe doesn't rate Lichaj when other positions needed looking at but he still went out and got Bennett.

Also for what it's worth I did rate Lichaj last season and also his loan spell he did very well but for us a club i'd like to think we can do better and find a better player at his position and maybe keep him as a squad player - that will improve squad depth and make our squad look a bit better.

Edited December 28, 2012 by dudevillaisnice

[Con]

Lichaj will continue to improve but I agree he is not a "marquee" left back, like Leighton Baines or Ashley Cole... as good in attack as in defence. If you are a top 4 team, you would not sign Lichaj at present.

But how many of those types of players are there around to be signed by Villa? I think we would have to look abroad to bring someone in.

In the meantime defensive ability should not be overlooked. Lichaj has registered 5 clean sheets in 13 games this season, conceding just 10 in the remaining 8. He's also registered 1 assist, picked up 5 yellow cards.

That's a good record and he deserves his share of the credit for that.

He might not be great at dribbling, exceptionally fast or the best crosser, but if has the bravery to hold the line, doesn't play strikers on side, plays safety first, doesn't get caught out of position and isn't easily turned, and knows when to take a yellow card for the team... as you say, a useful squad player.

Lambert brought in Bennett because he has more attacking talent, which he probably does, but quite obviously he's not ready to play in the Premiership at the moment. He is nowhere near performing at the defensive level of Lichaj.

Bennett has 1 clean sheet in 9 appearances (when he started the first 11 min against Sunderland, got injured, then Lichaj took over for the rest of the match), zero assists, and 2 yellow and 1 red card.

There should be absolutely no question Lichaj should be our LB. Only question is whether Bennett is going to be good enough defensively to take his place, or if we need to buy to replace Bennett.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Con

[CI]

Lichaj is a poor LB and needs to be moved on.

[Con]

Lichaj is a poor LB and needs to be moved on.

Yet he's got the best defensive record of all our defenders. Statistically he is our top defender at present, if not our best player.

[AndyBM]

whist vlaar i out, either lichaj or lowton should play centre back with albrighton on the right

[Richard]

I like Lichaj actually. Not a world class player and never likely to be but a pretty decent premier player and at his best going forward I think. There are worse players out there in his position

[lp_villa830]

He is a decent player to keep around. You would think his wage demands wouldn't be to high so i'd give him a new contract if he is happy being here as cover for the back 4.

A lot of people on this place moan or have moaned about in the past a lack of depth to the squad. Lichaj is exactly the sort of player we have a chance of bulking the team up with, just because he isn't a top quality player doesn't mean he can not do a job and should release him.

[CrackpotForeigner]

Seeing as Lichaj is a more natural RB, Lowton can play CB, Chris Herd is a bit dodgy at CB, and Bennett needs to show what he can do, I'd say the obvious thing to do against Wigan is play Lichaj and Bennett at FB and Lowton and Clark at CB.

[AndyBM]

would make sense