Lucas: Brazil's least Brazillian-type footballer. Doing OK at the moment though but whilst he's pleased about playing regularly, was he not positioning himself for a move back home only 2 or 3 weeks ago?
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I think Lucas was on the radio and was later mis quoted. What he said was that he wanted to make an impact this year and succeed at the club. If his game time did not improve he would have to reconsider his position.Forwards.......Comment
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Good point - plenty of **** players have played in a CL final aswell.... ahem:traore, kewell, smicer, cisse:ahemOriginally posted by Cormack74 View PostComment
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Originally posted by Cormack74 View PostMaybe it depends on your own personal definition of the word ****. If by that you mean players that are not considered good enough for a top 4 team, then maybe you have some kind of angle.Originally posted by carheex View Post
But Cormack, what I meant was Forlan was released by Man Utd and is now top class. I've no idea how good Kleberson is. All I can tell you is that he married a VERY young girl and both became very homesick in Manchester. No telling how well he might have done had he settled. But he's never left Brazil since and never will IMO.Forwards.......Comment
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Originally posted by DannyMan2006 View Post
Fair point. Perhaps I was overly fatuous, but rightly or wrongly I don't remember a queue of top clubs lining up for him when he left MU whether he wanted to go home or not.
Also I can'thelp thinking that even I might look pretty good with some of the Brazilian team from 2002 playing alongside me.
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Love or loathe him, Liverpool's immediate success will depend on him
Football FanCast columnist Michael Glover feels that Lucas deserves his chance at Liverpool and supporters should perhaps show him a little faith.
Liverpool's defeat at Spurs on Sunday confirmed one thing to the Anfield faithful - the eventual exit of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, has left his old club with a monumental gap to fill.
Despite recovering with a four goal victory over Stoke on Wednesday, Anfield will still be craving that man to link their attacking play between the tenacity of Javier Mascherano and the sheer class of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres as Alonso did so perfectly over the previous two seasons.
With Alonso's £18million replacement, Alberto Aquilani, arriving at the club unavailable through injury for a number of weeks and inexperienced in English football, leaves just one man to fill the void in the Liverpool midfield.
Lucas Leiva, the 22-year-old Brazilian, is the only first team midfielder remaining at Liverpool and the man in line for Alonso's position last season when manager Rafa Benitez decided to spark alight the fire of his ever fading rotation policy.
Lucas joined Liverpool from Brazilian side Grêmio in the summer of 2007 and has since earned himself a reputation with Reds supporters modelled on the likes of Eric Djemba-Djemba at Manchester United and Hossam Ghaly at Tottenham Hotspur.
Both Liverpool and non-Liverpool supporters, and I admittedly include myself here, have lambasted Lucas at times with him often being used as a scapegoat for a Liverpool failing. Conversations between football fans frequently run along the lines of ‘what was Lucas thinking?' or ‘if Alonso was playing...'
An example of this that instantly springs to mind would be Liverpool's FA Cup fourth round replay at Goodison Park in February. The Brazilian was sent off in extra time minutes before Everton's Dan Gosling scored a late winner to end their bitter rivals' cup run. Cue a scaled down version of David Beckham 1998 scapegoating as the blame was, perhaps in a kind of post-match paddy, firmly placed on Lucas' shoulders.
As pundits last season were constantly in awe of the Liverpool central midfield and attacking duo they were also critical of the replacements available to Rafa Benitez. Many of the BBC and Sky Sports experts believed the title would have made its way back to Anfield should suitable cover have been available for the regularly injured Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
But Liverpool fans need just to look at the midfield of their fiercest rivals Manchester United in order to muster up the genuine hope that their Brazilian can fill the void left by Alonso.
Parked firmly in the middle of United's starting 11 is Darren Fletcher, a man who before last season was a constant figure alongside Kleberson and previously mentioned Djemba-Djemba in many people's list of Fergie flops.
After indisputably his finest season in a United shirt, Fletcher is now seen as the main man in the United midfield, ahead of the likes of £18million of Michael Carrick, a £17million and injury ridden Owen Hargreaves and even legend Paul Scholes. He was a large fixture in United winning their third Premier League title in a row and was sorely missed for the UEFA Champions League Final defeat by Barcelona, after he was suspended due to a red card in the semi final against Arsenal.
Of course, some will say Fletcher is three years older than Lucas and the Liverpool man, if he is to follow in his rival's footsteps, will need to gain more experience to be in any sort of condition to fill the hefty boots of Alonso.
But I, as a Liverpool supporter who desperately craves the return of the Premier League title, is to make a new season resolution. That is, having seen the revitalisation of Darren Fletcher last season, to simply give a chance to Lucas. Faith should be put in the judgment of Rafa Benitez - the man who led Liverpool to the Champions League title in 2005, the FA Cup in 2006 and who has defended Lucas to the rafters since his arrival.
With just a few weeks before £18million Aquilani is available to challenge his place, time is not on Lucas' side. And, as always, only time will tell if he is up to the job. Anfield watches in expectation.
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Weak willed, Wank or do they have a masterplan?
Think we have the answer..Slot!!
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Won't do his confidence any harm, which is often i think his problem.Comment
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Lucas doesn't deserve flak - Rafa
Rafael Benitez has hit out at Lucas Leiva's critics following the Liverpool midfielder's call-up for Brazil's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The Reds chief has become increasingly annoyed at media pundits' criticism of the 22-year-old, and has suggested he is an easy target compared to senior stars.
Lucas was again singled out after the opening Premier League defeat at Tottenham last weekend, but responded with a fine display in the midweek victory over Stoke.
Benitez said: "Lucas has a very good mentality. But for someone of his age to suffer such criticism from the experts on TV is wrong.
"He is so good but still he was criticised. I do not understand why they do not criticise other players, more senior players, when they do not play well.
"He is an easy target and maybe they are not brave enough to criticise the bigger players here."
He added: "But he will have a big season. He was the best player in pre-season and at Spurs, when we did not play well, he was still one of the best alongside Glen Johnson and Pepe Reina.
"Against Stoke he again showed his quality. He has a very good mentality. He can tackle, win headers and pass the ball. He will make mistakes like anyone, but he is and will be a very good player.
"I was really pleased for Lucas, in particular, after the win against Stoke and his performance.
"I have been really surprised at the amount of criticism he has had to cope with from the pundits, the so-called experts,.
"Lucas is still a young player but he has experience. And after the display against Stoke everyone can see, even the so-called experts on TV pundit panels, can see he is a very good player"
"Hopefully they will now stop using him as a target. He is a very good lad, an excellent professional. I find it hard to understand that if you are an expert on TV, you cannot see these things, well unless you are blind and clueless like that merson prick""
Lucas will be in Liverpool's midfield on Monday for the home game with Aston Villa, and he has earned a call-up for Brazil for their crucial World Cup ties against Javier Mascherano's Argentina and Chile next month.
He could now earn his fourth international cap against his club mate when Brazil face Argentina on September 5, before heading to Salvador to play Chile four days later.
Lucas has responded to his critics, saying: "Back in Brazil everything seemed to progress perfectly for me. I played well, scored goals and won titles.
"Since I have moved to Liverpool, I've had some difficult moments. However, those experiences can help me. They have made me mentally stronger.
"I have done plenty of work in pre-season, I am better able to cope with the physical side of the game here. I will be able to get forward more and I believe I can have a good season.
"I have confidence in myself - you need that in life, not just football. So no matter what, I believe in myself and the manager does too."
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Weak willed, Wank or do they have a masterplan?
Think we have the answer..Slot!!Comment
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Last time they met, in the olympics, Lucas hacked down Mascherano and was red carded!Originally posted by Cormack74 View PostComment
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Originally posted by red g View Post
Don’t think I’ve ever heard Rafa speak so highly of a player. Once upon a time it was like getting blood out of a stone trying to get Rafa to praise or compliment one of the players.
He’s just right though. Some of the stick was shocking considering it was obvious the lad clearly had talent.If we are all only happy when we are really winning in the end, when your race finishes, what life would that be?Comment
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...and you could also add a bunch of Man U's over-rated shower last season - Anderson, Carrick, Park etc - completely out of their depth at that levelOriginally posted by carheex View PostComment
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I agree completely. I've always rated the lad, he's clearly a very clever player with tons of ability. However, whenever he made a mistake, the usual deadbeats on here - and they know who they are - fell over themselves in the rush to criticise him. Strangely, whenever he played well, like at Old Trafford when he was the best midfielder on the pitch by a mile, not a peep is heard from them.Originally posted by RedReet View Post
Call me old-fashioned but I believe in supporting our players - through thick and thin, to quote Hansen this weekComment
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