Time for Others to Do ‘A Lucas’

On Tuesday evening I posted an article lambasting Dave Prentice but the gist of the article was that I think Lucas is awesome and that I’m appalled that a supposedly knowledgeable journalist still doesn’t recognise his worth to the side. That’s the last time I write anything in praise of one of our players.

Within hours Lucas was being stretchered off the pitch at Stamford Bridge and I was beginning to wish I’d kept my mouth (fingers?) shut. There are those that have said in recent days that despite his injury we should be able to cover for him with Spearing, Henderson, Shelvey, etc. As much as I admire their optimism I really think they’ve missed the point of how important a player like Lucas is to a team like us. Or, more to the point, a team that plays the style of football we do.

There have been comparisons between Lucas and Mascherano, Lucas and Makelele and at times, even one Xabi Alonso. And while I think he has one or two similar attributes to all of these players, the one that Lucas most resembles to me is Didi Hamann. Perhaps with a bit more speed, though. For an example of the difference a player like Hamann can make to a team that makes room for a ‘holding/defensive’ midfielder, you have to look no further than the Champions League game against Leverkusen in 2002; within 7 minutes of Hamann being taken off Liverpool had conceded 2 goals, after having looked safe to progress before that point. Again, in the 2005 Final, Liverpool brought Didi on at half time and within 10 minutes we’d scored three and had seemingly wrestled control of the game away from the best team in the world, at that time.

Now this might seem a little over the top, as I’m not suggesting having Lucas out is automatically worth 2 goals against (or that having him in the side is worth 3 for), all I’m pointing out is that, teams that put a lot of importance in using a player of this type tend to struggle when they are out. Let’s be honest, when Mascherano left, a large part of our anger and frustration toward him was down to the fact that we were concerned with who was going to fill his void; we were angry just as much because he was sulking as because we realised what a hugely important player we’d be losing and seemed unable to replace.