Lucas

[DannyMan2006]

Why do we have to compare him with Alonso? He's not the same player, so it's not even relevant. I think his success rate at passing the ball compares favourably with Alonso and he's got a better engine too. Scoring goals will come, he's still young and will improve. It is only his first season being a regular here.

I make it clear in my other posts that I do not see Lucas as the problem. I see the Liverpool team as the problem. At present it lacks creativity.

Say what you like, but for that to change then so does the team in the long run. The obvious hope is for Aquilani to come in and produce, for him to do so then one of Lucas or Masch must be dropped. For me, that person has to be Lucas as he is an inferior player to Mascherano. But one cost £18m and one cost £6m so waht do we expect?

I mention Alonso as he was in the team of last season that flourished so well. We need that sort of spark once again to really push on in the long run.

[Guest]

I make it clear in my other posts that I do not see Lucas as the problem. I see the Liverpool team as the problem. At present it lacks creativity.

Say what you like, but for that to change then so does the team in the long run. The obvious hope is for Aquilani to come in and produce, for him to do so then one of Lucas or Masch must be dropped. For me, that person has to be Lucas as he is an inferior player to Mascherano. But one cost £18m and one cost £6m so waht do we expect?

I mention Alonso as he was in the team of last season that flourished so well. We need that sort of spark once again to really push on in the long run.

Alonso was an established player, who is also an established player in Spain's national team. Lucas is a rookie compared to him.

Anyway, I don't expect great things of Aquilani as I'm pretty sure he won't set the premier league alight this season, especially after he's missed the first part of it. I think Lucas is a more 'creative' player than Alonso anyway, as he gets himself in more dangerous position and doesn't hold his position all the time, as he likes to venture forward, which Alonso rarely did.

[DannyMan2006]

Alonso was an established player, who is also an established player in Spain's national team. Lucas is a rookie compared to him.

Anyway, I don't expect great things of Aquilani as I'm pretty sure he won't set the premier league alight this season, especially after he's missed the first part of it. I think Lucas is a more 'creative' player than Alonso anyway, as he gets himself in more dangerous position and doesn't hold his position all the time, as he likes to venture forward, which Alonso rarely did.

Correct in your first paragraph, disagree with your second.

But it's not an argument I'm looking to have as I agree with most of waht you say. You keep thinking I'm comparing LUCAS to Alonso, but I'm not.

What I am doing is comparing the midfield pairing to that of last year and suggesting that it lacks a creative spark. It is the reason Gerrard has to drop deep in games and has been one of the root causes of Liverpools problems this year.

We can mope all day about this but the point stands. As for Aquilani, we'll have to wait and see. But what I will say is this: If Aquilani is not a hit THIS SEASON, Liverpool will not win anything of note this year.

[BrianF80]

Someone on red cafe posted "Our midfield is Lucas' bitch".

Bit of a double-edged sword but made me laugh anyway.

[Darkon]

He played well today, but he did last season against the Mancs. People just tend to forget those performances when the going gets tough.

Against the Mancs both he and Masch were asked to hassle the midfield and break up the play. They did this exceptionally well. My worry for that midfield pairing is that they lack a creative spark.

Andy Gray alluded to the same point in the last word and it's the same point I've been banging on about all season. Mascherano is a world class holding player. Lucas is a decent one who is getting better. Neither are playmakers and as such Liverpool have suffered when the burden has been on them to create.

I think a Masch and Lucas pairing is fine for the odd game, but played on a regular basis teams get wise on how to stop Liverpool.

We still need a creative spark and for me that will be Aquilani. as Masch is the best in the world in his role that would therefore leave Lucas on the bench for me.

But he will still get games and will continue to improve. Lately to much burden has been on his young shoulders (same as N'Gog recently too) but he'll learn from it.

agree with what you say. Them paired together leaves us with to little creativity in central midfield - and the purchase of aquilani kinda proves the piont that we also need something else in midfield.

Lucas had a great game last night, and I really hope he can keep it up. So far he has been far to up and down in performance, and he needs more consistency to get a regular place.

to me Lucas in most games looks a bit trapped in between two roles, a defensive and offensive, and don't seem to find his place. Yesterday he showed that he could handle the complete role, although his creativity is still not high enough - but it might come in time.

[Exiled_red]

Someone on red cafe posted "Our midfield is Lucas' bitch".

Bit of a double-edged sword but made me laugh anyway.

[RedReet]

agree with what you say. Them paired together leaves us with to little creativity in central midfield - and the purchase of aquilani kinda proves the piont that we also need something else in midfield.

Lucas had a great game last night, and I really hope he can keep it up. So far he has been far to up and down in performance, and he needs more consistency to get a regular place.

to me Lucas in most games looks a bit trapped in between two roles, a defensive and offensive, and don't seem to find his place. Yesterday he showed that he could handle the complete role, although his creativity is still not high enough - but it might come in time.

I think the complete opposite to be honest and just think that people polarise their views depending on the result. I have felt Lucas has been very consistent this year, although I do think he can and should maybe step it up a gear. A problem with Lucas is that he needs others around him to perform, and when they don’t he suffers. He is capable of picking out a pass, but he needs others to make the runs, otherwise he wisely keeps it simple. At the minute he’s not a match winner and we do sometimes lack a bit of creativity, but that’s why the others need to step up. Benni did it yesterday, Johnson earlier in the season, and Gerrard in flashes. I find it very unfair that whenever we fail to breakdown a team, the blame often falls on Lucas’ shoulders, rather than those ahead of him.

The Mirror summed it up for me today in their ratings. They gave him a 6 using the adjectives busy, tidy and uncomplicated saying he’s now won over the fans over, which is fair enough.. But I’ve also read reviews after matches lost or drew when similar adjectives are used but because of the defeat it’s followed up with ‘ but sadly not good enough’ etc.

Lucas has been a steady performer this term, and I think the Mirror’s ‘busy, tidy and uncomplicated’ basically sums up his season. Unfortunately though, this is only good enough for some in the matches we win, but completely disregarded and ignored once we lose.

(Original post was a bit more clear and concise, but unfortunately was lost.)

[Exiled_red]

I think the complete opposite to be honest and just think that people polarise their views depending on the result. I have felt Lucas has been very consistent this year, although I do think he can and should maybe step it up a gear. A problem with Lucas is that he needs others around him to perform, and when they don’t he suffers. He is capable of picking out a pass, but he needs others to make the runs, otherwise he wisely keeps it simple. At the minute he’s not a match winner and we do sometimes lack a bit of creativity, but that’s why the others need to step up. Benni did it yesterday, Johnson earlier in the season, and Gerrard in flashes. I find it very unfair that whenever we fail to breakdown a team, the blame often falls on Lucas’ shoulders, rather than those ahead of him.

The Mirror summed it up for me today in their ratings. They gave him a 6 using the adjectives busy, tidy and uncomplicated saying he’s now won over the fans over, which is fair enough.. But I’ve also read reviews after matches lost or drew when similar adjectives are used but because of the defeat it’s followed up with ‘ but sadly not good enough’ etc.

Lucas has been a steady performer this term, and I think the Mirror’s ‘busy, tidy and uncomplicated’ basically sums up his season. Unfortunately though, this is only good enough for some in the matches we win, but completely disregarded and ignored once we lose.

(Original post was a bit more clear and concise, but unfortunately was lost.)

I think that's a good point, also if you saw ‘busy, tidy and uncomplicated’ next to a Mascherano performance it would be a compliment. For me most of the critisism of Lucas comes because he isn't Alonso which is what many people want him to be, which is unfair on him, he's a different kind of player. Hopefully after a great performance yesterday people will get off his back.

[The Birdman]

Normally 7 pages when a thread is criticising Lucas and only 30 odd posts praising one of our own players after he has just outperformed Man U's midfield 2 seasons running, cost us only £6 million as well.

The only criticism anyone can level at Lucas is he isn't Alonso, and clearly that isn't his fault.

[tiktu]

The only criticism anyone can level at Lucas is he isn't Alonso, and clearly that isn't his fault.

I blame his parents for that.

[Redspin]

First time I've seen him actually have a genuine impact on a big game in his own right. Very good today.

I assume you didn't see him at Man U away last season when he was head and shoulders above the other midfielders present

[Redspin]

Alonso was an established player, who is also an established player in Spain's national team. Lucas is a rookie compared to him.

Anyway, I don't expect great things of Aquilani as I'm pretty sure he won't set the premier league alight this season, especially after he's missed the first part of it. I think Lucas is a more 'creative' player than Alonso anyway, as he gets himself in more dangerous position and doesn't hold his position all the time, as he likes to venture forward, which Alonso rarely did.

Agree 100% that Lucas is more creative than Alonso. Everybody seems to have re-invented Alonso as a dynamic goal-provider and his absence makes Liverpool less creative. Andy Gray was wittering on along those lines yesterday - Alonso's absence resulting in fewer through balls to Torres blah, blah, blah. The reality is that last season Alonso provided just 3 assists all season out of 77 goals (and scored 3 himself). He was a very good defensive midfielder but rarely made a positive impact in the final third. This is what the statistics show rather than being my opinion.

I notice that Lucas has rarely got a mention in today's match reports. His media critics just can't bring themselves to give him any credit at all. For me he was the best midfielder on the pitch by a mile and made Scholes and Carrick look like a pair of journeymen. It was great to see him make a right mug of Scholes in dispossessing him before setting up Kuyt, who missed.

Somebody on here was moaning about the fouls he gave away yesterday. In fact he committed just 5 fouls in the entire game. I repeat, just 5 fouls. Not bad for a player who's supposed to be breaking up the opposition's attacks to protect the back four

So let's hear a bit of credit for the lad.

[Shaggy]

Agree 100% that Lucas is more creative than Alonso. Everybody seems to have re-invented Alonso as a dynamic goal-provider and his absence makes Liverpool less creative. Andy Gray was wittering on along those lines yesterday - Alonso's absence resulting in fewer through balls to Torres blah, blah, blah. The reality is that last season Alonso provided just 3 assists all season out of 77 goals (and scored 3 himself). He was a very good defensive midfielder but rarely made a positive impact in the final third. This is what the statistics show rather than being my opinion.

I notice that Lucas has rarely got a mention in today's match reports. His media critics just can't bring themselves to give him any credit at all. For me he was the best midfielder on the pitch by a mile and made Scholes and Carrick look like a pair of journeymen. It was great to see him make a right mug of Scholes in dispossessing him before setting up Kuyt, who missed.

Somebody on here was moaning about the fouls he gave away yesterday. In fact he committed just 5 fouls in the entire game. I repeat, just 5 fouls. Not bad for a player who's supposed to be breaking up the opposition's attacks to protect the back four

So let's hear a bit of credit for the lad.

[DannyMan2006]

Agree 100% that Lucas is more creative than Alonso. Everybody seems to have re-invented Alonso as a dynamic goal-provider and his absence makes Liverpool less creative. Andy Gray was wittering on along those lines yesterday - Alonso's absence resulting in fewer through balls to Torres blah, blah, blah. The reality is that last season Alonso provided just 3 assists all season out of 77 goals (and scored 3 himself). He was a very good defensive midfielder but rarely made a positive impact in the final third. This is what the statistics show rather than being my opinion.

I notice that Lucas has rarely got a mention in today's match reports. His media critics just can't bring themselves to give him any credit at all. For me he was the best midfielder on the pitch by a mile and made Scholes and Carrick look like a pair of journeymen. It was great to see him make a right mug of Scholes in dispossessing him before setting up Kuyt, who missed.

Somebody on here was moaning about the fouls he gave away yesterday. In fact he committed just 5 fouls in the entire game. I repeat, just 5 fouls. Not bad for a player who's supposed to be breaking up the opposition's attacks to protect the back four

So let's hear a bit of credit for the lad.

Tony Barrett was very positive about Lucas in the Times online, calling him the best player on the park.

Alonso didn't get loads of assists because he played very deep. He provided the pass before the assist on many an occasion. He was fantastic last season and there is no getting away from that. He was a great foil for Mascherano.

However I believe in Rafa and trust he has found an ideal replacement in Aquilani who will hopefully become a great creator for Liverpool in the coming months.

Lucas's only problem is that unlike Alonso he is not an ideal foil for Mascherano.

[dww]

Tony Barrett was very positive about Lucas in the Times online, calling him the best player on the park.

Alonso didn't get loads of assists because he played very deep. He provided the pass before the assist on many an occasion. He was fantastic last season and there is no getting away from that. He was a great foil for Mascherano.

However I believe in Rafa and trust he has found an ideal replacement in Aquilani who will hopefully become a great creator for Liverpool in the coming months.

Lucas's only problem is that unlike Alonso he is not an ideal foil for Mascherano.