Lucas

[the rev leeroy brown]

Just because Lucas gets forward on counters is not compromising our defense. Remember Baraja and Albelda. That is the model he is going for and Lucas and El Jefecito are just upgrades on that

that is depending on lucas playing ahead of alonso. if alonso and masher keep up their good form together i dont see either of them bursting forward.

[El Jefecito]

that is depending on lucas playing ahead of alonso. if alonso and masher keep up their good form together i dont see either of them bursting forward.

True

Like Blacky said though, I see a different role for Lucas next year.

[the rev leeroy brown]

True

Like Blacky said though, I see a different role for Lucas next year.

i hope so. would love to see the lucas that played in south america

[blacky]

I watched him closely yesterday, 2nd half what stood out most for me was his distribution of the ball both long and short. I think he is still a bit in awe of some of the players around him namely Masch, Torres & SG. When his confidence grows so will his game. I am very surprised at some of the negative comments on here about him. I don't think he has put a foot wrong so far. Quietly and efficiently playing a holding roll. He does need to work on the physical side of his game but that will come next season IMO.

[El Jefecito]

I watched him closely yesterday, 2nd half what stood out most for me was his distribution of the ball both long and short. I think he is still a bit in awe of some of the players around him namely Masch, Torres & SG. When his confidence grows so will his game. I am very surprised at some of the negative comments on here about him. I don't think he has put a foot wrong so far. Quietly and efficiently playing a holding roll. He does need to work on the physical side of his game but that will come next season IMO.

[Montana]

I think Lucas has been a little off the pace in his first season in the PL which is understandable but has played ok and shown glimpses of real class at times. At just 20 he can go on and improve immensely, the potential is there for sure.

I expect him to really come on next season and become a key member of the squad. To be honest, he's done better than expected so far and been in the team a fair bit.

[El Jefecito]

I think Lucas has been a little off the pace in his first season in the PL which is understandable but has played ok and shown glimpses of real class at times. At just 20 he can go on and improve immensely, the potential is there for sure.

I expect him to really come on next season and become a key member of the squad. To be honest, he's done better than expected so far and been in the team a fair bit.

Better than expected. Not sure, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYqKzNlxclw

Played in the right role he can do this for us. Once Rafa deems his development is complete, Imagine the monster in the video playing for us

[rage]

Given your vast experience what more would you expect of a 20 year old box to box midfielder who is being asked to not counter-attack (against his nature) and to play as a holding midfielder (a role he has never played before), in a league which is 10 x faster than you are used to and against players who have spent their whole lives trying to be physical vs. technical and for a manager who thinks your development is more important than your performances in the first year?

Would appreciate your insight

go and do a rain dance tonto.

my insight is that he's clearly lightweight and gets pushed off the ball far too easily. my insight is that he lacks pace, flair, the ability to consistently beat his man and i don't care if a youtube video of some mickey mouse league proves otherwise.

having said all of that i still hope he comes good

[rage]

Right, SG is such a box to box player that Rafa is playing him behind torres. Lucas has game initelligence SG does not.

As stated elsewhere, "Rafa has finally found a role for Sg where he does not need to think "

SG in the middle 10+ goals ; SG on the right 20+ goals ; SG behind Torres 20+ goals. Box Box my ass.

when was the last time you watched one of our games in real life where u get to see off the ball runs and positioning?

[Nicey]

Better than expected. Not sure, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYqKzNlxclw

Played in the right role he can do this for us. Once Rafa deems his development is complete, Imagine the monster in the video playing for us

Stevie G mark 2 anyone ?

[Woobus]

i'm not to sure about that. rafa likes to base his teams on strong defenses. when using 4-4-2 he likes 1 midfielder to sit deep and the other to attack but he likes both wide men to defend as well. with 4-2-3-1 he allows the 3 behind torres to attack a lot more so the defnsive duites fall on the 2 holding midfielders. i would like to see him unleash lucas more to support the attack but i cant see it myself.

Not to sure about that, against the lesser teams when we have been pressing further up the pitch one of the holding midfielders plays pretty far up in there half. We didnt see to much of it while Agger was injured but it was happening before Aggers injury and then have seen it a few times since Skrtel joined.

[Woobus]

Take the word of those that watched him for Gremio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYqKzNlxclw

HE IS BOX 2 BOX

Good video, nasty nasty song Sounds like the theme tune to a South American cartoon.

[dww]

I like Lucas. Think he's got potential to be a top midfield player.

What I like about him is he gets his passes away very early, often first time. He moves the ball quickly, which is in contrast to some of our players who can be guilty of being a bit ponderous in possession at times.

He badly needs to spend the summer in the gym, though. He's knocked off the ball far too easily.

He looks like an ideal Wenger signing first season. Meets the criteria of reaction times and pass accuracy but is yet to fully adapt to the PL. I really think he has shown signs of having the basis to kick on from.

I wouldn't say he is a particularly outstanding player yet but I would say he looks an outstanding prospect in a hard role to play in a very different league to the one he came from.

[Parr_Zee]

my insight is that he lacks pace, flair, the ability to consistently beat his man

He's not a winger ffs. He's a playmaker and doing a really good job at this so far this season.

Don't get me wrong, he has had his good and bad games, but I wouldnt have expected much more from him in his first season here. I probably wouldnt have expected him to play 15 games.

[homer1]

Stevie G mark 2 anyone ?

Not far off the mark IMO

I think in the clips he has a very similar style to Stevie and to be fair Stevie wasn't the monster he is now in his first year coming through

I think Lucas has been clever as he has kept his game very simple whilst he settled. I agree he needs to bulk up as he gets shoved off the ball too easily but that will come - I think he has shown a lot of promise and I am looking forward to seeing him next season when he has settled more, built up his confidence and also has the trust of his team mates, when he will be more comfortable to try and make his mark on games

I don't know what Rafa's plans for him are but the holding midfield role is not where he will impress IMO, even now you often see him as the furthest forward midfielder and it seems to be a natural instrinct for him to push on. He's shown a good range of passing and as said already the most impressive thing is he releases the ball very quickly, often first time.

I think Rafa deserves a lot of credit for the way he has eased both Lucas & Babel into the first team and expect them to make a decent contribution next season