Lucas

[Icon]

That's quite good then.

Our Lucas is growing up...

[Vermilion]

vs Everton
52 passes, 50 completed (96%)

vs Blackburn
41 passes, 41 completed (98%)

vs Bolton
48 passes, 46 completed (96%)

And before anyone says it, do a chalkboard and you'll see they werent all 'sideways and backwards 3 yard passes'.

He's quietly becoming a very effective player. He'll probably never beat 4 defenders, do tricks, barge his way through and smash into the top corner - but every player has a different role, and he's performing his exceptionally well nowadays. Maturing nicely and just quietly goes about his business.

I really hope Bodgson has him comfortably ahead of Poulsen in the pecking order now, because aside from the fact that Lucas is young and always learning/improving, he's an infinitely better player and has a very valuable effect on our play, unlike Poulsen does.

Definitely showing a significant improvement these days and very much starting to win me over.

[Shaggy]

I was just giving up on him after having steadfast faith in him since he signed - only for Poulsen to come along just as I was hoisting the white flag and made Lucas look like Paul Gascoigne.

Delighted for him, he might not be flashy and to everybody's taste, but he's super efficient. He needs to cut stuff out like the pointless, cheap free kicks and the odd lapse in concentration/slack passes, but he's on the right road. And his attitude is absolutely first class - I have a lot of time for him personally.

Apparently playing very well for Brazil of late, too.

[banditos]

vs Everton
52 passes, 50 completed (96%)

vs Blackburn
41 passes, 41 completed (98%)

vs Bolton
48 passes, 46 completed (96%)

And before anyone says it, do a chalkboard and you'll see they werent all 'sideways and backwards 3 yard passes'.

He's quietly becoming a very effective player. He'll probably never beat 4 defenders, do tricks, barge his way through and smash into the top corner - but every player has a different role, and he's performing his exceptionally well nowadays. Maturing nicely and just quietly goes about his business.

I really hope Bodgson has him comfortably ahead of Poulsen in the pecking order now, because aside from the fact that Lucas is young and always learning/improving, he's an infinitely better player and has a very valuable effect on our play, unlike Poulsen does.

Definitely showing a significant improvement these days and very much starting to win me over.

WTF? Did he lose a couple percent for late submission?

[Shaggy]

[Craig_H]

I was just giving up on him after having steadfast faith in him since he signed - only for Poulsen to come along just as I was hoisting the white flag and made Lucas look like Paul Gascoigne.

Delighted for him, he might not be flashy and to everybody's taste, but he's super efficient. He needs to cut stuff out like the pointless, cheap free kicks and the odd lapse in concentration/slack passes, but he's on the right road. And his attitude is absolutely first class - I have a lot of time for him personally.

Apparently playing very well for Brazil of late, too.

You just basically described Didi Hamann there, who was an absolutely crucial member of our team back then and rightly regarded as a bit of a legend.

Not saying Lucas has reached that stage yet, obviously he hasnt. But the point is, just as Hamann wasnt 'flashy' or 'skillful', neither is Lucas - that doesnt mean he doesnt fulfill a very important role.

And yeah, his attitude is spot on, just quietly goes about his business, never whinges, never whines, never puts a foot wrong in that regard, always appreciative of the fans support at games and clearly has the desire to improve and work on the flaws in his game (as the 'bulking up' he has done, shows).

[Jaymo]

I was correct to back him after the Tottenham defeat on the first day of last season. Hes always just been a scapegoat.

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

I've always had faith in him. He's recieved alot of abuse from fans over the last couple of years.

[Craig_H]

WTF? Did he lose a couple percent for late submission?

Sorry, it should've been 40 completed. Edited it now.

[Craig_H]

I was correct to back him after the Tottenham defeat on the first day of last season. Hes always just been a scapegoat.

Not so sure on that - he WAS quite poor in the earlier seasons, very weak, gave the ball away and didnt really fulfill any significant function very well.

That's changed now. As players improve, people's views on them will change - that's kinda normal

[Fredo]

Agreed. He rarely loses the ball and even though he can have games where he mostly plays it sideways, it's not for the fault of looking up it's because the options available to him are really non-existent, especially in Hodgson's system where the two lines of midfield and attack are separated by a massive gulf.

With the right players around him, I think he'll become an excellent player. He's got the attributes to become one. He's worked on his stamina since he's come over here and is much better on the defensive aspects of his game compared to what it was when he first started.

[Jaymo]

Not so sure on that - he WAS quite poor in the earlier seasons, very weak, gave the ball away and didnt really fulfill any significant function very well.

That's changed now. As players improve, people's views on them will change - that's kinda normal

The earlier seasons yes , but at the beginning of last season he showed improvement and against tottenham was actually our best player. But fans still decided that it was his fault the we lost, and continued to barrage him with unfair criticism, when they needed to look at the likes of Gerrard and Carragher.

[Shaggy]

Good shout re Didi.

Hamann chipped in with the odd goal, certainly more than Lucas does. Definite area for improvement.

[Mattshark]

vs Everton
52 passes, 50 completed (96%)

vs Blackburn
41 passes, 40 completed (98%)

vs Bolton
48 passes, 46 completed (96%)

And before anyone says it, do a chalkboard and you'll see they werent all 'sideways and backwards 3 yard passes'.

He's quietly becoming a very effective player. He'll probably never beat 4 defenders, do tricks, barge his way through and smash into the top corner - but every player has a different role, and he's performing his exceptionally well nowadays. Maturing nicely and just quietly goes about his business.

I really hope Bodgson has him comfortably ahead of Poulsen in the pecking order now, because aside from the fact that Lucas is young and always learning/improving, he's an infinitely better player and has a very valuable effect on our play, unlike Poulsen does.

Definitely showing a significant improvement these days and very much starting to win me over.

[saj]

Yeah but no matter what lucas does, he's still a stingy ****er for promising to give away ONE Liverpool shirt when he reaches 40,000 twitter followers