Lucas Leiva signing thread

[tomasjj]

Agree but other big clubs may not be interested in cash deals

Then we should not do the deal imo.

[Mr Tourette]

Great post mate.
Our midfield is terribly unbalanced at times. Our best RM is a CM (SG), our best LM is a full back (JAR) and our 3 CM couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo (Momo, Alonso & Masher)

We need two proper wide players, who can provide the width and balance we so badly need. They don't have to be out & out wingers but players who are used to that position and aren't looking to cut inside everytime they get the ball. Pederson at blackburn is a classic example. He's a solid player with a sweet left foot who is dangerous from set pieces but also puts in good crosses from open play. However he also does his share of defensive work.

This would allow SG to play in the centre were he is more dangerous. Yes, we would be a little more open but to win the league we need to be more offensive, particularly away from home against the lesser teams. United just steamroller the opposition with their fast paced breakaway game. We are positively pedestrian in comparison. Of course in certain games you need to be a bit more circumspect but against lesser teams we don't go for the jugular enough.

Sir bob....CAD...... good work boys. Some good reasoning here. And no one mentioned the need for a world class striker that scores 20 a season. I wasnt sure it could be done.....

[Mr Tourette]

He would be much more influential in Spain. 3 goals and 1 assists is not satisfactory in 42 games started. He sits too deep and has trouble imposing himself on the final 1/3. He can't dribble. He has no pace. He offers little goal threat from the distance. 61 shots on goal this season. 18 hits! He only has his passing to rely on.

If we can use him to get Eto'o/Villa everybody should be more than happy.

interesting stats. I used to think he was first name on the teamsheet...but if we had a player threatening the goal more in centre of midfield i think it would be a big help. Passing and intelligence are his biggest attributes (i dont think hes the worst dribbler by the way - in the hamann sense of not losing it) and they are hard to quantify in terms of imporantance to the team, for that reason, I reckon he might be a player we miss the most only when hes gone.

[Howard_lfc]

The most encouraging thing for me in this, Is the fact we have now signed two of the most highly rated youngsters in the world (Lucas and Leto).. This can only be a good thing. Now for one maybe two established stars and i think thats a good summer all in all.

welcome jimbob.

[Zapater]

Just giving this a second of thought here, hasn't Rafa been banging on about offering Xabi a new contract lately? I don't see why he would be continually saying that the contract is close to be signed if he intends to sell him.

The reason why I really really hope that Sissoko isn't sold(apart from the fact that I love him) is that he has the ability to give us an injection of energy and pace in the midfield. None of our other palyers have this ergency to get around the field as well as he does. When it comes to playing against attacking teams he can be gold as he closes down spaces so quickly. Like if we look against say Barcelona this season he was brilliant, running around shutting down gaps and quickly. Mascherano holds well and will be able to do something similar to this becuase of superb positioning but I really can't see him being able to do this job as effectivly as Momo. Momo is young and has suffered a bit of a loss of form, I'm sure that his passing will become better once he stops trying to play overly ambitious balls and goes for the more simple option more often. (Seeing that Albelda played regularly under Rafa at Valencia. I don't see the **** passing being a problem for him. Albelda is a shockingly bad passer and was one of the first names on Rafa's team sheet.)

I'd be very annoyed if we happened to sell him and he became a world beater elsewhere, it'd be a poor piece of business. Unless the club know something about his physical condition I don't I wouldn't want him gone.

But tbh I don't really see anyone being sold next season, but after next season it'll be quite apparent what needs to be done and we'll see whom(if anyone) will need to be sold. You know it just takes one of Mascherano, Alonso or Gerrard to pick up a longish injury to completely change the the complection of things.

I still don't think that Lucas is an outright attacking midfielder and it'll be seen if we'll deploy him in this way. From what I've seen the best comparison off the top of my head is Baraja from Valencia who is a box to box midfielder that is very disciplined defensivly but offers(well used to not so much anymore) a great deal of attacking force to the team via long shots, runs/dribbles into the box. I don't think that Lucas is the physical beast Baraja is but he is most likely a lot more technical maybe giving us something we've lacked.

[bazza76]

The only reason Xabi will go, is he requests a transfer, Rafa certainly doesn't want rid, and neither does the board or the supporters. Why would Rafa want to get rid of one of his most prized options?. Thats what Rafa is all about.
I dont think Xabi is going anywhere and I don't want him to either. We have argueably the best options in central midfield anywhere in the world now, why should we start breaking it up when we are not under any financial pressure to do so.
the only reason I can see Rafa wanting rid, is if he wanted to use him as a bargaining tool. Personally, I dont think Rafa would use him like that unless Xabi wanted out.

[CAD]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Bob
Great post mate.
Our midfield is terribly unbalanced at times. Our best RM is a CM (SG), our best LM is a full back (JAR) and our 3 CM couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo (Momo, Alonso & Masher)

We need two proper wide players, who can provide the width and balance we so badly need. They don't have to be out & out wingers but players who are used to that position and aren't looking to cut inside everytime they get the ball. Pederson at blackburn is a classic example. He's a solid player with a sweet left foot who is dangerous from set pieces but also puts in good crosses from open play. However he also does his share of defensive work.

This would allow SG to play in the centre were he is more dangerous. Yes, we would be a little more open but to win the league we need to be more offensive, particularly away from home against the lesser teams. United just steamroller the opposition with their fast paced breakaway game. We are positively pedestrian in comparison. Of course in certain games you need to be a bit more circumspect but against lesser teams we don't go for the jugular enough.

Sir bob....CAD...... good work boys. Some good reasoning here. And no one mentioned the need for a world class striker that scores 20 a season. I wasnt sure it could be done.....

Sir Bob and Mr Tourette

Morten Gamst gives us one thing we need badly from our midfield - goals. Is he the right man for the job? I honestly don't know how I feel about him in a LFC shirt.

All we know for sure is that we are in for one hell of a transfer window.

PS: for those banging on about Rafa and Xabis contract extension. Don't be daft. The longer the contract - the higher the price. Thought we all knew that here.

[tomasjj]

I will never agree with anyone who says we should sell Xabi.
There I have said it.

You don't have a clue

[CAD]

The only reason Xabi will go, is he requests a transfer, Rafa certainly doesn't want rid, and neither does the board or the supporters. Why would Rafa want to get rid of one of his most prized options?. Thats what Rafa is all about.
I dont think Xabi is going anywhere and I don't want him to either. We have argueably the best options in central midfield anywhere in the world now, why should we start breaking it up when we are not under any financial pressure to do so.
the only reason I can see Rafa wanting rid, is if he wanted to use him as a bargaining tool. Personally, I dont think Rafa would use him like that unless Xabi wanted out.

Dress it anyway you like. Xabi has not really lived up to expectations. If they really value him that highly in Spain I think we should swap while he's still a hot item in spain.

I also think you underestimate Rafa, or overestimate him, it really depends on how you look at it.

[CAD]

I will never agree with anyone who says we should sell Xabi.
There I have said it.

You don't have a clue

I hope we ship off Alonso and most of all Mono.

There I have said it.

[einar]

Ahrgh! For me it's about balance. The first Chelsea CL game was a perfect example. Gerrard at RM running all over the pitch. Alonso/Mascher falling too deep and the only outlead was our left side (Zenden).

To keep balance we need a RM who stays wide. We are way too easy to shutdown if we can't keep our formation. If we had a team where Gerrard could roam and another player would slide into his RM position then; "great"! But we don't, do we? We suffer from chronic constipation through our CM when we play with Gerrard at RM. It's way way too easy to predict and shutdown for the better sides. It doesn't help that we have a RB who doens't venture forward that much. Finnan likes to cross from the middle of the opponents half. He rarely goes all the way to the backline allthough it happens at times of course. Against good teams he always sits deep! Anyway, this has resulted in 8 assists this season, which on all accounts is a good number but also in just one (1!) shot on goal. With Gerrard on the other side of the pitch or at center you can be damn sure that Finnan is staying home!

Another issue is the lack of dynamic force through the midfield when Alonso/Mascher (Mono) plays there. Zero goalthreat. Zero bite and aggression on the final third.

For balance, width, bite and goalthreat we need Gerrard at CM.

It is known to us all that there are parts of the midfielders job that Gerrard does not do to well, or else he would play there all the time. Lack of tactical discipline I belive it was called. So Rafas big task is to find this balance you talk of, which we all agree we need.

The problem is Gerrard wants to attack and last season he was great at it. This season he has not been and everyone speculates why. I´m not gonna try to say why but it is not a tactical problem as your stats show. He scored and was a consistent dynamic goal threat where ever he played.

Now IMO we can sometimes play him in a two man midfield, namely against the "lesser" teams, more so at Anfield.
Now in the CL Chelsea game at Anfield Masher and Gerrard played in a two man midfield and did really well. He had the tactical discipline needed. The problem was that Gerrard was not much of a goal threat, and at least IMO that is his most valuable asset.

So to fix that we need him to play an attacking role and let go of the fun of trying to boss the middle. Aka, he should play more like Kaka or even Totti.
And IMO the problem has been that we dont have the players to set Gerrard up tactically so that he can be most effective as a goal threat.

Maybe now that we have money we can get the players needed to allow Gerrard to do what he does best.
This could be one option:

..........Carra.Milito.Agger
Alves...Masher..Alonso..Aurelio
..............Gerrard
........Kuyt........Eto´o


now if Rafa feels we have to play 4-4-2 Gerrard must IMHO learn to play as solely an attacker ( second striker ) or be content to stay in midfield and leave the attacking to someone else.

[bazza76]

Dress it anyway you like. Xabi has not really lived up to expectations. If they really value him that highly in Spain I think we should swap while he's still a hot item in spain.

I also think you underestimate Rafa, or overestimate him, it really depends on how you look at it.

im not dressing anything mate, this is actualy how i feel, i think it is you that has it wrong about Rafa.

[The Glove]

Could be but doesnt explain his downturn in form / passing after his sholuder injury

It does if he cant see properly, what he is doing.

As much as Momo is Boss, if he cant see then he is of no use to us so cash in now while his stock is high.

[kurtangle01]

I'll reserve judgement on this lad Lucas until we see just how good he is when he signs. Remember last year when loads of us were creaming ourselves about the arrival of Gonzales? Now he'd be top of most fans lists to be sold in the summer. If we've agreed a fee of between £5,000,000 and £8,000,000 it suggests that he's highly rated but I thinks it's fair to say that it's best to reserve judgement until we see what he can do.

[SouthAfricaRed]

Lucas Leiva ?

Liverpool are on the verge of signing Brazil Under-20 captain Lucas Leiva.

The 20-year-old midfielder had drawn the interest of a host of European clubs after some sparkling performances for Gremio in his homeland.

But he is now set to link up with the Reds in the summer, much to the delight of manager Rafael Benitez.

He told the club's website, www.liverpoolfc.tv: 'The deal with the player and his club is almost done and I am really pleased he is coming to us.

'He is the captain of the Brazil Under-20 side and won the Golden Boot in his country last year, so we know he has quality and we also believe he has the mentality and the character you need to do well in England.

'He can play as a holding midfielder but he can also get from box to box and so I am looking forward to seeing him score goals for Liverpool in the future.

'A lot of clubs in England and Spain were asking about him but our scouting department has again been working really hard and it's good that he's coming to us.

'He will arrive in the summer and then will start adapting to football in this country.

'We know it can take time but I think he has the quality to be putting pressure on Gerrard, Mascherano, Xabi and Sissoko next season.'

Sorry if this has been posted before? (Seen other thread - Mods please merge)

Anybody have some clips of him playing?