While not particularly satisfactory for most Liverpool fans, the club’s transfer dealings this summer have proved very much a blessing for Lucas, as this season has been the first time he has been the sole ‘destroyer’ in midfield, finally able to step out of Mascherano’s shadow, and – crucially – with the more ‘creative’ responsibilities now delegated to the excellent Raul Meireles. Lucas is now consistently using the ball simply but smartly, and has the skillful and underrated knack of winning possession in midfield while staying on his feet. His style of ball-winning is therefore not as eye-catching or crowd-rousing as Mascherano’s, but is in fact far more mature and less likely to result in bookings. A sending-off borne of frustration in a dire team performance at Stoke aside, Lucas really has had a good season so far, performing the (admittedly piss-easy) task of usurping Christian Poulsen from the midfield, and establishing himself as a genuinely outstanding presence in the Liverpool engine room – the pinnacle of the season so far being his virtuoso man-of-the-match performance in the win against Chelsea. It’s certainly no exaggeration to say that his performances have meant that Mascherano’s absence hasn’t been missed particularly dearly by the Anfield crowd.
The deep-lying partnership of him and Meireles is fast becoming a very effective one – both players very much ‘anti-Gerrard’ in terms of their inclination for short, quick passes to feet and their encouragement of patient, neat midfield play. Although their ‘creator’/’destroyer’ roles aren’t quite as well-defined as the Alonso-Mascherano axis of previous years, the balance between defensive knowhow and forward-thinking capability is still extremely healthy, and the two players complement one another very naturally. I for one would be hugely disappointed to see Gerrard reinstated in midfield when he regains fitness. His role, as has been argued many a time, is one away from central midfield. Central midfielders in today’s game are required more to retrieve and retain possession than they are to provide full-blooded attacking dynamism, and the Lucas-Meireles pairing does this superbly – they both strive to keep play ticking quickly and neatly, while possessing the discipline to rarely make ill-judged runs ahead of the ball.
So, fair play to Lucas. It’s been a long wait, but he’s finally beginning to shake off his label of Liverpool’s weak link, and seems to be genuinely relishing the responsibility of being the side’s primary midfield spoiler. There is still a way to go, but if he continues to develop at the rate he’s shown recently – and he is still only 23 – he could well become an integral part of the long-term future of the Liverpool side. I for one hope he does.
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Lucas is a different player now than the Lucas we saw back in 2007. He has made tremendous progress and has become a fine box-to-box central midfielder. Since Mascherano left his responsibility in midfield has become a lot more important and both his defensive and offensive side of his game has improved greatly. We can see that he is quite effective in breaking down the opposition’s play and intercepting passes while he is also a lot better now in distributing the ball. I can see Lucas becoming an important player for us in midfield and it’s about time for fans to stop getting on his back. He has formed a formidable partnership with Meireles in the centre of the park and I hope their good form continues. Also, if you look at the stats and his work rate, you will see how good he is and how hard he works for the team.
For someone at 20yrs old to be named player of the year in their native brazil he must have had something about him and must have been a reason he got that award.
Brazil is a totally different league and style to the EPL. Following in such big footsteps and still developing as a player i commend Lucas for his efforts this season and ramming those jibes down the throuat of those fans (im holding my hand as im one of those that didnt think he was up to the job).
Well done and carry on Lucas 🙂
Lucas and Meireles should be left playing together as the central midfield partnership, they are gelling well. Leave Gerrard further forward or else leave on the bench or why not sell him and make Lucas captain.
Lucas is a much different player now to the player that he was just last season!
Last season he still refused to move the ball forwards and just passed responsibility onto whoever was closest to him to do something with the ball, even if that player was a defender or already being closed down by an opponent. This season he is moving the ball far quicker and more effectively into attacking areas, and so now is fully deserving of his place in the starting place, even when Gerrard returns
In the future he might be the captian of liverpool and take us to the league title like he did with his former club. Roy pls dont stop the Rythm of Raul and Lucas.
good to see people finally appreciating what a good player this boy is and how great he could become if he keeps developing at the rate he is now. YNWA LUCAS!