Lucas

[Myo]

There is also another factor with this unwarranted criticism, Lucas does what he is supposed to do as a DM well, in fact damn well, the problem we have is now that Couts is out, we are missing that creative outlet (hendo is too much of a box to box player which is fine if we are talking about a mid 3 with him, lucas and gerrard), but we also have to give credit to Couts for his harrying and pressing and shutting and defensive work in the attacking third, since he is out, i think we have missed his harrying quite a bit... for a time (last bit of last season) thought gerrard has complimented well, but now that once we get the ball back, gerrard feels like he has to make that hollywood pass more often than not and sometimes that have turn out to be turd... we need to fight and keep possession which lucas does much more effectively than gerrard and gerrard does that only if Couts was there at least he can have him as a simple pass option or couts opens up the play if he is ganged up...

[dww]

What exactly has Lucas done wrong? His stats suggest he done very well.

I think it is reasonable to say that in most matches, nearly all I would say, we have had at least one half where we have not controlled midfield. There are only two players who have been common to all of those games in that area - Lucas and Gerrard. The role of a DM is to help others through control of midfield and I think that hasn't quite come off for us this season. Personally I think other factors are more important than the personal form of Lucas but I think it is a reasonable question to ask if different approaches in the centre of midfield might work out better.

[el matador]

What exactly has Lucas done wrong? His stats suggest he done very well.

stats dont always tell you the full picture.

But lucas doesnt look right to me and he seems to run out of legs around the 65 min mark most games. he's had some bad injuries to be fair to him.

i think he needs more help so the problem isnt with him per se rather with the way the midfield is set up. he just needs more help.

[Sarb]

stats dont always tell you the full picture.

But lucas doesnt look right to me and he seems to run out of legs around the 65 min mark most games. he's had some bad injuries to be fair to him.

i think he needs more help so the problem isnt with him per se rather with the way the midfield is set up. he just needs more help.

Was a huge mistake not buying any cover for him. He had 2 bad injuries and has been brought straight back in and the demands on him are huge given the way we want to play

He looks a bit leggy to be honest and the central area is a real concern for us. Too easily over-run

[BobTheCharmer]

time to sell him in january.

[slam77]

There is also another factor with this unwarranted criticism, Lucas does what he is supposed to do as a DM well, in fact damn well, the problem we have is now that Couts is out, we are missing that creative outlet (hendo is too much of a box to box player which is fine if we are talking about a mid 3 with him, lucas and gerrard), but we also have to give credit to Couts for his harrying and pressing and shutting and defensive work in the attacking third, since he is out, i think we have missed his harrying quite a bit... for a time (last bit of last season) thought gerrard has complimented well, but now that once we get the ball back, gerrard feels like he has to make that hollywood pass more often than not and sometimes that have turn out to be turd... we need to fight and keep possession which lucas does much more effectively than gerrard and gerrard does that only if Couts was there at least he can have him as a simple pass option or couts opens up the play if he is ganged up...

Gerrard's pass accuracy is 85% in the league this season....pretty good when 16% of his passes are long (hollywood). I like Lucas but he's not the same player as a couple of seasons ago.......yet. We could definitely do with more competition in this area for when he's having an off game / tiring.

[Mattshark]

Gerrard's pass accuracy is 85% in the league this season....pretty good when 16% of his passes are long (hollywood). I like Lucas but he's not the same player as a couple of seasons ago.......yet. We could definitely do with more competition in this area for when he's having an off game / tiring.

Lucas' pass accuracy is 89.5% and he provides the our best option at winning the ball back.

[BobTheCharmer]

Lucas' pass accuracy is 89.5% and he provides the our best option at winning the ball back.

Should be higher when most passes are rolled unchallenged 4 or 5 yards to the left or right.

[Frenchie]

Let's see all the comments when Lucas misses a game...

[Mattshark]

I think it is reasonable to say that in most matches, nearly all I would say, we have had at least one half where we have not controlled midfield. There are only two players who have been common to all of those games in that area - Lucas and Gerrard. The role of a DM is to help others through control of midfield and I think that hasn't quite come off for us this season. Personally I think other factors are more important than the personal form of Lucas but I think it is a reasonable question to ask if different approaches in the centre of midfield might work out better.

I think how deep we are set causes a problem in that regard. I think our results without Lucas show that without him we are not as strong and our results are not as good.

I think the perception of Lucas is affected by his injuries and this affecting how people are judging his performances.

[dww]

Gerrard's pass accuracy is 85% in the league this season....pretty good when 16% of his passes are long (hollywood). I like Lucas but he's not the same player as a couple of seasons ago.......yet. We could definitely do with more competition in this area for when he's having an off game / tiring.

Lucas' pass accuracy is 89.5% and he provides the our best option at winning the ball back.

I don't think that the pass accuracy is where the problem is for either of them. It is more about how it works in terms of getting the ball to places where we can build a move or sustained possession (whichever is the goal at a particular point in the match).

A short ball to a player with no options is just passing the buck. A long ball which a player gets their foot on before becoming isolated is equally unhelpful. I think, especially without Coutinho, we have been poor at manipulating space and receiving the ball in tight areas.

[Mattshark]

stats dont always tell you the full picture.

But lucas doesnt look right to me and he seems to run out of legs around the 65 min mark most games. he's had some bad injuries to be fair to him.

i think he needs more help so the problem isnt with him per se rather with the way the midfield is set up. he just needs more help.

And perception is very unreliable. The stats suggest that perception isn't always accurate.

[Mattshark]

I don't think that the pass accuracy is where the problem is for either of them. It is more about how it works in terms of getting the ball to places where we can build a move or sustained possession (whichever is the goal at a particular point in the match).

A short ball to a player with no options is just passing the buck. A long ball which a player gets their foot on before becoming isolated is equally unhelpful. I think, especially without Coutinho, we have been poor at manipulating space and receiving the ball in tight areas.

This is part of why I think we were too deep.

[dww]

This is part of why I think we were too deep.

Quite likely.

I still think that the fact that much of the most fluent football we have played this season came when Aspas was on the pitch is indicative that his movement works well. I know that his control let him down but if he adjusts to the pace of the league I think he would be a big asset to us. I might be tempted to start him against Crystal Palace.

[Mattshark]

Quite likely.

I still think that the fact that much of the most fluent football we have played this season came when Aspas was on the pitch is indicative that his movement works well. I know that his control let him down but if he adjusts to the pace of the league I think he would be a big asset to us. I might be tempted to start him against Crystal Palace.

I would not be adverse to that. I think he could be a good player if he could show a bit more strength.