Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva showed us on Sunday exactly why his recent performances have been so heralded among former Reds players and pundits. Despite being on the losing side against Spurs, the Brazilian showed me and other Reds fans who doubted him that he is turning into a very good player indeed. Although by no means spectacular, both his tackling and passing were solid and showed calmness on the ball while also pressing the opposition into mistakes to break up the play and win the ball back for his team.
This was why I was quite perplexed when I saw yesterday Skysports.com reporting that Sevilla were interested in signing Lucas. According to the Spanish press the Seville Club are interested in taking the Brazilian to Spain, after midfielder Tiberio Guarente was ruled out for the rest of the season. The report suggests that Roy Hodgson could be tempted to sell the 23 year old to fund his own transfer plans in the January transfer window.
Perhaps the Spanish press are unaware but Lucas has already displaced Christian Poulsen as first choice this season in the defensive midfield role. Although it is certainly true that the Brazilian started off the season in and out of favour with Roy Hodgson, in recent weeks, when Lucas is available, Roy has opted to start the Brazilian international. In performances against Chelsea and Spurs, either side of his sending off against Stoke, he has shown to many that he actually does have a good deal of ability.
It wasn’t long ago that Lucas was a much maligned figure on Merseyside, and although there a some still who criticise the Brazilian’s performances, in recent weeks the numbers of critics have become less and less as he begins to show assurance and maturity which will hopefully characterise his game in the months and years to come. I like many felt that Lucas contributed little to team performances in his early starts for the Merseyside club. It was however difficult to judge his ability for me as he was playing a position which was foreign to him, in a league much superior to the one he was playing in back in Brazil with Gremio.
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I couldn’t stand Lucas at first ‘ but I have to admit he is getting better
lucas is playing really good now…but still like to see lasana diarra operating midfield wit raul mereles in centre..gerrard and torres up front…joecole left and arda turan right…benzema +lassana for 25 mil will be a very good buy…love to see mata in ared shirt
i wish it too mate.
Hope he leaves as he is crap.
Mate you know nothing about football if you think he’s crap.
he ain’t crap you really need to understand football to appriciate what he does for the team…he has arguably beent the best player for us this season.
and last season but we all know no one will give him that praise!
tbh, I hope that all this is pushing his price up so that we can get a decent fee.
Lucas has definitely improved, but we need a lot more power and pace in our team and I’d gladly sacrifice him for somebody like Moussa Sissoko, that dominates space and would provide a far more imposing figure in front of our back line
and keep Poulsen and Spearing then? well done mate that’s good thinking, NOT!
how much money can we get for Poulsen or Spearing again?? Hmmm…
So let me get this right, the 1st choice middle of midfielder for one of the greatest teams in the world, Brazil…is not good enough to hold down a place in our team.??
Shows most of LFC fans knoe uck all about the game
AMEN!!!
I cant understand y u people critisize this guy. Comon he is jst 23 yrs old with hving 5 international caps, his orginal position ws a CAM(Central attacking mid) , in th regime of Rafa tht position changed in to CDM(Defensive mid) . He needed time to adapt into tht position,bt our dear fans never gave him an motivional cheer. Bt he adapted and deserves to b in starting X1 . If we wld sell him nw , it wld b a mistake. Hope he plays for us mre and mre. He gave a glorious throu bal to torres bt our no.9 wasted his one on one chance with gk and we lost th game against spurs,and we never blamed torres. Thk abt it.
why the abbr’s (abbreviations) when ur (you are) going to give the full explainations in brkts (brackets)
haha
Lucas is a good player and he surely is good enough for our club. Unlike some of our bigger names he will try to get the ball back when he has lost it. Lots of determination and energy in this lad. His passing is very accurate and given the opportunity he now passes forward on a more regular basis. Given the license or opportunity to roam forward he is also very good as he has shown on the few instances he did that. Why would we sell him?
Those who want (young 23yo) Lucas out…..know f…all about football and we can do without their support!!
so you have to know everything about football to be a valued supporter, valued by you that is, you’re obviously an expert, which great european giant did you say you managed?
yawn – same ole same from the superfans.
Lucas is world class and I’m sure you say that Kuyt’s “work rate” makes him crucial to our team and Maxi shouldn’t be dropped because he is so “clever” also. Then Carragher also deserves to start every game because of his “leadership”, Skrtel is a top class defender in the making and obviously Torres, Gerrard & Reina are the best players in their positions in the world too.
All the “superfans” like you really get on my nerves, but I just want to know – if all of these players are so great, how does the team look so rubbish so regularly, even with all of them playing every week?? The fullbacks alone surely can’t have such a negative impact on the entire team can they???
jay mate, you just proved your the only superfan arround and we should just shut up n listen to you…this same team didn’t look so bad last season..players being played out of position and young kids not given a chance. I do agree with you about kuyt as much as i love the guy for heart and effort he puts in every week the guy has no class and waste’s the ball far too often..maxi looks slow and waste of space but recently i noticed he is starting to link up with gerrad and torres well but i preffer babel on the pitch instead of any of those two.
why don’t we try babel on one wing and pacheco on the other till christmas we won’t do any worse.
I like Babel too Rassell but the boy’s just not good enough, he’s been given chance after chance by LFC and Holland, but all he does is run into a cul-de-sac of defenders than release the ball and get into space for the return ball. I suppose you can put that down to him trying too hard to impress but I haven’t seen Shelvey doing that when given a game which leads me to conclude he’s crap and we need to sell him while he’s still youngish to make up some of the £11m odd we spent on him!
where did I say to shut up and listen to me?? It’s all the super-fans that carry on with that I attitude, whereas I might say, shut up and THINK!
If you think that our team didn’t look bad last season then you must have forgotten last season already btw – it’s like Hodgson has just looked at video of last season, realised that that was a great season by his standards and is just doing his best to replicate it!
Anyone with the attitude that this guys has, clearly belongs in our team. The most criticised player in recent history. A figure of ridicule amongst fans, both Liverpool and others.
BUT, through hard work and determination he seems to have made it. I think, in the last 10 games that he has played, Lucas has played really well. and its on the ascendency from end of last season ….each one of them improving a little more.
His place is here. If he continues like this, he will be a legend. Talent alone, does not MAKE it people. Look at Babel? Some people say he never got a chance. hmmmm, his attitude does not deserve it. Sorry
YNWA
yes, Lucas has played better in the last few games – after undeservedly maintaining his place starting nearly every game for an entire season!
What attitude do you really expect him to display? Have you ever seen ANY squad player complaining when they’ve been starting every game for one of the top clubs in the country??
And you have the audacity to say that he’s on the way to becoming a legend just for becoming a key member in one of the worst Liverpool teams in recent history!? You’re having a fecking laugh mate!
Attitude alone does NOT make it – look at the Liverpool team over the last year or so!
YNWA
Is he not a brazilian international than???, why do you think (in your expert know-how)was he ever selected to play for BRAZIL???, maybe it’s because Brazil have always had crap players, eh?
What does playing for Brazil have to do with being a legend for Liverpool???
ynwa – please don’t hit reply to my posts if you’re not actually going to respond to anything I’ve said.
Cheers
Just because he’s playing in the worst LFC team in recent history does not make him crap Jay Wright but then again if you believe that then you must think Gerrard, Torres, Reina and Carragher are crap and Alonso, Mascherano, Arbeloa etc where all crap. Hmmm I don’t know about that logic of yours mate, give the boy a chance as i’m sure you did when Gerrard, Carragher, Fowler, Owen etc came into the team at their respective ages. Also, Lucas did not pick himself for the 1st when he wasn’t ready for it did he now but the managers he’s worked under had/have obviously seen something special in him hence he was the captain of Gremio aged 18 and won the Brazilian footballer of the year at 20!!! YNWA Lucas!
bheko – the point is that there has to be something wrong with the team for us to be failing so miserably over the last couple of years.
Just because he’s playing in the worst team in recent history does not make him crap, but in the same way, just being picked consistently does not make him a great player and deserving of his place.
I just don’t see the logic where fans are actually stating that EIGHT of the 11 players in our team are top class players (Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt, Maxi and Torres) and fully deserving of their places, yet we’ve been a pretty poor team for 18 months with them all featuring pretty consistently
well said jay!
Erin…have a word with yourself! legend my arse, bell-end more like!
listen lucas is is improving game by game and in next year or two will become well respected player…and i agree with Erin the attitude he has will take him a long way, the amount of abuse he recieved from me and most of the fans it would have been easy for the guy to let his head drop and pack his bags, but he has belief in his own ability he has shown he has the determination to get this far and more then that i think he knows where he is going now how many of your world class player in the liverpool team can say that for themsleves. If it wasn’t for lucas we would have been getting hammered in the few games we managed to get anything out of. I don’t know about being a legend but this kid has and will continue about proving his critics wrong and will become a very good player in time, he can takle, he can pick a pass, he runs all game and given the chance will score goals too..what more can you as of the kid.
Crap crap crap crap.your a plank if you think any different.took him about 100 games until he found some consistency.yeah world class
PLEASE let him leave! He can’t pass, he’s constantly out of position and (what game were you watching?) against Spurs he was proven to be dreadfully slow! Open the middle for Stevie G and Raul M. to run and get rid of this clog! He can’t leave soon enough.
Lucas’s situation reminds me of Jamie C in his first few seasons for the Mighty Reds. Tackling was poorly timed, passing was mediocre, no creativity or awareness. Carra had strips torn off him from the Kop, was regularly getting booed and at 23 was nearly sold to Tranmere. Now the lad is a legend.
Will Lucas go on to emulate Jamie C, I hope so, we all dream of a team of Carraghers!
So instead of knocking him, encourage the lad that’s what real supporters do, support the 11 men who get to wear our beloved shirt… YNWA
Those who think Lucas isn’t good enough for the club should simply start watching him play instead of reading the press. His performances this season have been absolutely magnificent. He has been one of our most consistent performers and people don’t seem to realise the amount of work he does for the team. His overall defensive skills are improving and and his passing is also getting a lot better. I really don’t understand why some fans are getting on his back when he’s doing so well. I just hope Hodgson doesn’t sell him and bring in more Poulsens instead…
couldn’t agree more…and those who are critising haven’t watched liverpool this season, he has been the only plus point in a very negative start to the season.
At Last!!!!
I seem to be the only Lucas fan in the main stand. The kid never hides and comes back stronger every time.
Steven out gave him an opportunity to shine and he was awesome against Spurs.
The lad was played out of position by Rafa and will now go from strength to strength.
I am looking forward to a LFC team reaction without Steven and Jamie.
I am confident that the boys will step up.
Great to see Roy playing the kids too
YNWA
jay wright,a sadist
Joe, you obviously don’t know what a sadist is – stick to words that are actually comfortably in your vocabulary, rather than just picking random words that you’ve seen or heard elsewhere with no understanding of the context
YNWA 🙂
lucas is a good player..he does really well in hart lane..we can’t deny him for the past..so accept him..im sure that he can do well..as he is young..and done ever forget suso n sterling combine it with pacheco..;-)
1. Lucas is much better than he has ever been given credit for. Whatever goes wrong, blame Lucas, seems to be a regular passtime for some of our ‘supposed’ supporters, who fail to understand the word ‘support’.
2. it was asked here if we have 8 players who we all think are good, why is the team not good. Well ….. there’s organisation, motivation, management, balance ….. you can have 20 good players and fail to create a good team, many managers have achieved it regularly ….
when we look back 2 years at nearly winning the league (a team that won away at inter, madrid, barca, chelsea, united and all) and having some fans wanting Benitez out 6 months later, all i can say is, those fans were the best allies of hicks and gillett, and ‘look what you’ve done’.