How long do you give a new player..

[Vermilion]

3ft.

[RedReet]

Mate that was a majority of LFC fans opinions of Lucas if most are honest.

As for Meireles i don't think its hard at all, he cost alot of money and is very experienced. He needs to man up, i don't think i'm saying anything wrong about the lad, he seems a bit timid and avoids challenges. Have my doubts whether he's cut out for this particular league, same as Aqua but time will tell and i'm perfectly happy to have egg on my face if he succeeds

About a month ago I probably would have agreed with you that most people thought Lucas was ****, but having recently browsed through a few old Lucas’ threads I was surprised how many people did actually rate him. Obviously this site doesn’t speak for the majority of LFC fans and clearly most of the bile posted about him was usually in match threads when tensions were high, but still I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of positive posts.

I have no problems with what you’re saying about Meireles there, but I certainly don’t agree that he’s ‘terrible in possession’ which you originally mentioned. I think he’s a very tidy player, comfortable in possession and as previously mentioned should be relatively happy with his performances in his debut season.

[Fernandinho]

His passing has been horrific in some games. He misses so many medium length passes which a player at this level should easily be landing. So I wouldn't say he is tidy in possession at all really...

[danperkins]

About a month ago I probably would have agreed with you that most people thought Lucas was ****, but having recently browsed through a few old Lucas’ threads I was surprised how many people did actually rate him. Obviously this site doesn’t speak for the majority of LFC fans and clearly most of the bile posted about him was usually in match threads when tensions were high, but still I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of positive posts.

I have no problems with what you’re saying about Meireles there, but I certainly don’t agree that he’s ‘terrible in possession’ which you originally mentioned. I think he’s a very tidy player, comfortable in possession and as previously mentioned should be relatively happy with his performances in his debut season.

about Lucas, and of course we do say things in the heat of the moment.

IMO Meireles passing and his tackling has been the worst part of his game, he show energy and tries to make good runs. The tempo and pace of the league is so different to what he's used to, so he isn't getting anywhere near as much time on the ball and is under pressure by the time he looks up, hence why so many of his passes have gone astray, and IMO his passing has really been sub standard and thats being generous.

Like i said if he becomes a success at LFC i'll gladly say i was wrong about him, not gonna abuse the guy and stick the boot in or anything, just voicing a concern i have about him being cut out for the league and a feeling i've had about him long before he even came to us ya know. Time will tell

[red g]

Mate that was a majority of LFC fans opinions of Lucas if most are honest.

As for Meireles i don't think its hard at all, he cost alot of money and is very experienced. He needs to man up, i don't think i'm saying anything wrong about the lad, he seems a bit timid and avoids challenges. Have my doubts whether he's cut out for this particular league, same as Aqua but time will tell and i'm perfectly happy to have egg on my face if he succeeds

10million for a midfielder is not a lot of money for todays standards. He has only played 18times for us and the majority under Hodgson where everyone was ****. In fact under Kenny he has 1 in 3 strike rate which is excellent for a midfielder. He also has won the prestigious stard chartered player of the month for November

I think its particularly hard for midfielders in the premiership to adapt, give him time and i am sure he will flourish.

[danperkins]

10million for a midfielder is not a lot of money for todays standards. He has only played 18times for us and the majority under Hodgson where everyone was ****. In fact under Kenny he has 1 in 3 strike rate which is excellent for a midfielder. He also has won the prestigious stard chartered player of the month for November

I think its particularly hard for midfielders in the premiership to adapt, give him time and i am sure he will flourish.

Was it 10.7 million, thats alot of money to us. I am prepared to give him time of course, but just have some concerns about the player. If he adapts great but if he doesn't i won't be surprised.

I do agree that coming in midfield in the premier league is a tough task, and coming form the midfield in the Portuguese league to the Premier League is so contrasting as well, time will tell

[Craig_H]

Was it 10.7 million, thats alot of money to us. I am prepared to give him time of course, but just have some concerns about the player. If he adapts great but if he doesn't i won't be surprised.

I do agree that coming in midfield in the premier league is a tough task, and coming form the midfield in the Portuguese league to the Premier League is so contrasting as well, time will tell

You say that but most of your posts imply that you've already made up your mind and written him off.

And more bafflingly, he hasnt actually been bad.

[Fernandinho]

Some games I think he has been bad craigy. I can understand if he has been injured and pulls out of a few 50 50's for that reason, but his passing inaccuracy is horrific. Especially if he is picking the ball up from deap areas (which he regularly does) where losing the ball is very dangerous.

[Craig_H]

He has had a couple of poor games lately, but i think there's been much more positive stuff than negative, overall.

[Fernandinho]

True. I am not by any mean saying he has been poor overall, but he really needs to increase his passing accuracy.

On another note, his work rate is phenomenal during games. I can't understand why Dan isn't impressed with his ability to adapt to the pace, when he is one of very few players of ours who get up and down the pitch everytime.

[Craig_H]

The other thing to note with Meireles, is that his game is arriving in the box and being a goal threat, but we never played high enough up the park to get bodies forward under roy, so it totally negated Meireles' biggest weapon.

I noticed yesterday that he got himself forward into the box, and ahead of Torres on a few occasions. Very different to what happened under Roy.

[Fernandinho]

Yeah I noticed that too. I missed the end of the game because I fell asleep, but what I did see he was getting very far up the pitch. Its a good point you make about playing higher up the pitch because his fitness levels could provide some quality assistance for Torres, even if Gerrard is there too. Both of them arriving from deap would be quality.

[barnes10]

got to be honest, i cant remember kuyt's first year. surprised he got player of the year but fair play. scratch him from the list.

regarding youth - i mean in the context of first team performances. That they have to show glimpses of their value when they are playing in the first team. so a young player who plays 40 games a season will need to show a lot more than one who plays 5. but if the one who plays 5 shows some good stuff in amongst mistakes/lack of experience, then i'd still want to keep hold.

[The Birdman]

Ironically enough Meireles is the only player who performed better for Hodgson (when picked in the middle) than he has for Kenny.
I think at times he is just trying too hard for the little killer reverse ball rather than a simple pass 5 yards in the other direction.

[RedReet]

His passing has been horrific in some games. He misses so many medium length passes which a player at this level should easily be landing. So I wouldn't say he is tidy in possession at all really...

about Lucas, and of course we do say things in the heat of the moment.

IMO Meireles passing and his tackling has been the worst part of his game, he show energy and tries to make good runs. The tempo and pace of the league is so different to what he's used to, so he isn't getting anywhere near as much time on the ball and is under pressure by the time he looks up, hence why so many of his passes have gone astray, and IMO his passing has really been sub standard and thats being generous.

Like i said if he becomes a success at LFC i'll gladly say i was wrong about him, not gonna abuse the guy and stick the boot in or anything, just voicing a concern i have about him being cut out for the league and a feeling i've had about him long before he even came to us ya know. Time will tell

I stand corrected. A quick look at the stats shows that he hasn’t been just as efficient as I imagined, although there is a noticeable improvement when playing in the centre which is to be expected I suppose. It’s just dawned on me that his stats are heavily skewed from taking corners (I was wondering how a central player could get in so many crossing positions), but his success rate still isn’t just as high as I thought.


I still think the adjectives used are a bit extreme, but I’ll keep a closer eye on him in future to see how he fares.