As Lucas changes opinions, the team itself are changing opinions. After the Torres departure, Liverpool and it’s owners were at a crossroads. This time last year, that £50 million would have been syphoned off to service debts, only a percentage would have been re-invested. Now though, the entirety of it was reinvested. This puts the power back in the hands of the football people and not the Chief Executive.
Now we see the media are starting to jump on the bandwagon. Talk of the Champions League may be premature, and I don’t think Liverpool fans should expect it now, we are probably too late, but if we continue in the same vein then I think next season the Kop should raise it’s expectations. If we can catch Spurs, who have a game in hand, that could give us a 9-point gap to reduce in 12 games, then the tide will be in our favour come the summer. The lasting feeling at the end of the season will be one of rejuvenation and that will be important for attracting players and keeping players.
Champions League football is of course the goal, and so is a title challenge. You don’t need to be in the Champions League to challenge for the league though.
The damage this season has more than likely been done by early mistakes, but, if we can go into the summer with good momentum then with some decent investment this team may not be so far from a league win as people thought just two months ago, including myself. We have a potential forward line that could score goals consistently for the next 5 years at least, and with some shrewd buying in other areas, Liverpool could find themselves an underdog for the league in 2012.
Man United this season have shown that you don’t need to be at your brilliant best to find yourself in a title battle come May. You don’t always need to beat the ‘Top 4’, you just need to beat the other 15 teams in the league and Liverpool should feel that they’re capable of doing that. In the last two years, Liverpool’s biggest rival has been itself. Struggling, infighting and disharmony have destabilized the club but now, after the decontamination of the last 6 months, Liverpool can take a big gulp of fresh air and push forward.
So now many fans are asking ‘how far can we go under Dalglish?’. A king must always be at the top of his game and when Kenny’s been involved that’s where he generally finds himself, so why not be at the top once more, looking down on those who can only come close to him. Like a true king, and the legend he has forged for himself.
Kenny has unclipped the wings of the Liverbird and, at last, the future looks bright.
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This week it is even more of Liverpool WAG Carly Zucker!
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Lucas, despite what you say, is IMO not good enough to play at the heart of LFC’s midfield. You talk about Liverpool fans shaming themselfs. Why because they hold a different point of view to your own about the ability of a certain player??
We all can’t be wrong. He is playing at the club now for over 3 years and despite PLENTY of first team action, his rate of development is depressingly slow!! Physically he is not up to the combative nature of the premiership. He is easily muscled off the ball all too often.
Every game you can point to certain moments in which he has made serious errors of judgement that have cost or nearly cost the team dearly. Again on Sunday he lost possesion in midfield which led to Chelsea and ‘he who shall not be named’ best chance. He gave away and continues to give away needless free kicks in dangerous positions, games just pass him by and when he eventually does catchup he shows his tackling ability is on par with Paul scholes!!
I would accept that if he had the passing ability of Scholes, alas he doesn’t. He struggles to complete simple 10 yard passes which are inevitably aimed behind him, when have you ever seen him spray a 40-50 yard cross field ball or set up a goal with a defence splitting pass ??
Or even score a goal for that matter!!
Fact is he isn’t good enough , and despite improving from deradful to just plain poor, I don’t think thats any reason to suffer watching him for another 4-5 years to hot his peak.. which will be mediocre at best.
When you say “we” who are you talking about. Last season Lucas was voted as the LFC Young Player of the Year, by the fans in an online poll.
Even the press and former players are starting to apprieciate just what Lucas brings to the team.
As the fox says, year on year he has improved and is one of our most consistant players. He never moans about the treatment he has received from so called supporters like you and is determined to fight for his place.
I also find it incredible that people like you think that you know more than, Rafa, Sammy, Menezes, Stevie G, Carra, Steve Clarke or Kenny!!!!
Sorry typo should read:
As the wolf says, year on year he has improved and is one of our most consistant players. He never moans about the treatment he has received from so called supporters like you and is determined to fight for his place.
The Fox: are you watching the right player? You seem to describe Konchesky.
On a separate note, a very nice article. Totally agree on your points, esp. regarding Rafa having the club’s best interest at heart.
Fux, Get your eyes sorted lad!
Lucas may not be pretty to watch but he is a grafter, a tackler and likes to do things simple.
Simple does not equate to bad. We need that sort of player alongside someone with a bit of class to do the things you mention to give the midfield balance.
Mascerano was too similar to Lucas and so they didn’t work well together and I believe that one of them should have been paired with Aqualani in midfield.
Now that Raul is beginning to show his class it seems we are getting back to the balance we had in Alonso’s day allowing Lucas to thrive at the game he plays
fox are you on crack, or crystal met. lucas has been our best player this season, do you watch our games get off his back u tool. You are wrong, not many liverpool fans are like you, we can see his improvement and we don’t all judge him on his performance as a 20 year old from a new league, we judge him on this season performances. He is better than mikel, song and carrick, who are all in top teams. go suck your mothers tits
Stats from Sundays game:
The Midfield Battle
Liverpool Midfield Stats: Lucas (40/45 successful passes, 5 interceptions, 7/13 tackles made, 1 clearance, 1 block), Meireles (1 goal, 31/37 passes, 2 interceptions, 2/3 tackles made, 1 block) Maxi (32/36 passes, 4 interceptions, 2 tackles, Gerrard (36/54 passes, 3 interceptions, 4/9 tackles made)
Chelsea Midfield Stats: Mikel (52/55 successful passes, 1 interception, 1 tackle, 3 clearances), Essien (86/100 passes, 1 interception, 6/9 tackles, 1 block), Lampard (44/56 passes, 4 interceptions, 1 clearance) Anelka (36/47 passes, 2/4 tackles made)
Ergo – Lucas was the best midfield player on the pitch.
Regarding Lucas, to be honest, some of the things i read from our own fans about him were nothing short but tragic and shameful. We sometimes behaved like Real Madrid, when they sold Makalele to Chelsea. What a monumental error! Just because he didnt do tricks and flicks like Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo and only played short passes. Sometimes i felt we deserved some of what we went through for this ungrateful and ungracious behaviour. In times of adversity, we should protect those of our own who are more vulnerable, not turn on them, as some of the national press always did with glee. I got tired of hearing how poor our squad was, a line parroted by lazy journalists and opposition fans and of course Lucas, who I always had regard for was an easy target, and some of our own fell for it. What people didn’t realise was, all this negativity about our club and players, entrenched a sense of doom and gloom and a club of mediocrity and going only one way down, as we saw with Hodgson. Its great we can see the difference positive thinking makes!!! Lucas was only 20 when he came to this country and was playing in a different league. He had captained Brazil and had played more than 60 top flight games there but our fans said he wasn’t good enough for LFC!!! It was amazing because all the coaches saw something in him!! He made lots of mistakes, yes….but so did Bale when he first went to Spurs. It’s good he is doing well and the team is doing so well now. But any LFC fan who barracks him or any of our players again should bow their heads in shame. We have to change this awful behaviour if we want to start winning things again. All that glitters is not gold, as our ex Number 9 has proved to us!!! It’s great to see him performing so well, a bit of Xabi, a bit of Stevie and a bit of Monster Masch and he is only 23!! But no, some fans would still want him out for someone who could be inferior, hit or miss and would still need time to bed in even if they were phenomenal!! He is a defensive midfielder for us now but still retains his box to box ability. You don’t get many of those around nowadays. I hope those other fans change their thoroughly un-Liverpool behaviour. I am glad he is doing well. I always felt sorry for him seeing how he was being treated, considering he was so young!!! I hope Lucas serves as a lesson for all of us!!!!