Lucas

[Mattshark]

I was waiting for that. According to stats, Lucas is a better tackler than Mascherano. Like **** he is.

All these tackles won stats show is that Lucas played a lot of games and didn't have the ball in most of them.

Go wilful ignorance and plain ignorance! How about the accuracy? That is also high.
Lucas' fouling stats are also good. He doesn't give away that many, your prejudice is distorting your view.

Lucas also has not only a high volume of tackling, he also has high pass volume and accuracy so again, saying he didn't have the ball, is just plain ignorant.

[Rich]

Why can't people see that a young player develops?!

Just because Lucas struggled to begin with doesn't mean he is now. He's rather good and has been for over 12 months and will only improve IMO.

He's stronger, faster, runs for the full 90 minutes, isn't afraid to get stuck in anymore, and is a very accurate passer of the ball - even if he doesn't (yet) try the higher risk "hollywood" pass. He needs to work on his heading and needs to take on more responsibility to dictate a game but I'm a fan.

[Mattshark]

Why can't people see that a young player develops?!

Just because Lucas struggled to begin with doesn't mean he is now. He's rather good and has been for over 12 months and will only improve IMO.

He's stronger, faster, runs for the full 90 minutes, isn't afraid to get stuck in anymore, and is a very accurate passer of the ball - even if he doesn't (yet) try the higher risk "hollywood" pass. He needs to work on his heading and needs to take on more responsibility to dictate a game but I'm a fan.

[barnes10]

obviously i wasnt clear.

who do i want in my team today? - lucas every time.

i am being kind to poulsen because im attributing his utter ****ness to having not yet settled. i could easily be wrong but only time will tell.

why on paper above lucas? simple. more experience. whilst lucas is learning and developing.

would i have bought poulsen? No, because lucas with another season as a regular would be as good as poulsen could possibly be and kick on from there.

Poulsen was a bad buy no doubt about that. A, because he has to settle in and B because he's not going to get any better. In my view only a fool would have made the decision to buy him at the expense of lucas. In fact, a fool did make that decision.

Lucas and insua for me every time over Roys gruesome twosome.

[Neil Young]

OK. I'll call off the dogs.

[saveferris]

Why can't people see that a young player develops?!

Just because Lucas struggled to begin with doesn't mean he is now. He's rather good and has been for over 12 months and will only improve IMO.

He's stronger, faster, runs for the full 90 minutes, isn't afraid to get stuck in anymore, and is a very accurate passer of the ball - even if he doesn't (yet) try the higher risk "hollywood" pass. He needs to work on his heading and needs to take on more responsibility to dictate a game but I'm a fan.

Good post there Rich. He has improved as he has matured, and has the potential to improve further. Considering the comparative physical nature and speed of the English game to brazilian football he has transitioned well.

I was frustrated when he first came but I was expecting too much too soon.

[Reece]

Another thing that has impressed me about Lucas, is that a lot of young players with a weaker mentality* would have shrunk into their shell with the stick he's got at times from Liverpool fans, and he has got stick from the crowd. But he seems to have seen it as a challenge to improve himself, and he has done exactly that.

Much respect to him from me for that.










* Oh Rafa

[andrewces38]

Why can't people see that a young player develops?!

Just because Lucas struggled to begin with doesn't mean he is now. He's rather good and has been for over 12 months and will only improve IMO.

He's stronger, faster, runs for the full 90 minutes, isn't afraid to get stuck in anymore, and is a very accurate passer of the ball - even if he doesn't (yet) try the higher risk "hollywood" pass. He needs to work on his heading and needs to take on more responsibility to dictate a game but I'm a fan.

agreed ...............just needs to add a few goals to his game , What people forget is that he's played out of position 95% of his career at liverpool he was bought as a box to box midfielder and rafa changed that for him , so give the lad credit because he's now regarded as our first choice DM ..............like it or not it's true.................FIRST CHOICE

[Buzzo]

Why can't people see that a young player develops?!

Just because Lucas struggled to begin with doesn't mean he is now. He's rather good and has been for over 12 months and will only improve IMO.

He's stronger, faster, runs for the full 90 minutes, isn't afraid to get stuck in anymore, and is a very accurate passer of the ball - even if he doesn't (yet) try the higher risk "hollywood" pass. He needs to work on his heading and needs to take on more responsibility to dictate a game but I'm a fan.

Totally agree For a long time I have held the belief that a lot of posters on forums see footballers as human equivalents to their computer game counterparts. There seems to be many points made about a number (Lucas being a good example) of players suggesting some base skill sets that once a player has he will never improve from.

....Lucas Leiva 23, centre mid, passing 8, shooting 6, heading 7 etc. etc. This probably results from a lot of guys having more experience of football from playing FiFA, or Pro Evolution on their playstations than actually ever kicking a ball during a full scale game.

As in all walks of life it is possible that people (especially young lads, and Lucas in only 23 FFS) will change in outlook and learn and improve. The Lucas that we signed in 2007 is a different player to the one we see now.

Lucas has never been as bad a player as many have made out, yet he has been the whipping boy of our team for a couple of seasons now. He certainly seems to be improving almost every game now and for a young lad seems to be growing in stature and authority.

I'd love to see him prove his doubters wrong, and I hope he does.

[Rigadon]

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.

Me too

[Tezza1974]

I was waiting for that. According to stats, Lucas is a better tackler than Mascherano. Like **** he is.

All these tackles won stats show is that Lucas played a lot of games and didn't have the ball in most of them.

disagree with that mate the tackles won stats show the team did not have the balll not specifically lucas. Yet he was the one trying to win it back . the lad gets on with his game never complains or kicks off wanting a transfer. if he was given a run in his preferred positon would probably be bloody good. As quoted earlier they don't give the brazillian balon d'or to just any player so he must have been doing something right - Rafa just turned him into a different type of player. rafa did the same with Kuyt and I don't see anybody slating Dirk . Lucas is never going to be an alonso or gerard and does not need to be

[Fernandinho]

I am a Lucas convert from this season. He is a much better player then previous seasons.

His short passing is exceptionally accurate and his wating of balls is normally spot on and that is very important.

He is becoming better in his tackles and when he wins the ball he is looking more confident and ready to move the ball up the pitch which is a bonus for us because he does look to give early releases whether he is passing up or down or across the pitch, creating a quick passing up the field is an excellent attribute. I think his decision making is also a lot better now and he looks to be making some of the mid to long passes he never used to be able to hit.

Overall I am very confident in him now and can't believe he is still only 23, seems like he has been around for a while now. Give him 2 more years and he will probably walk into the first team as long as we don't start spending billions on the first team.

[Maxiedge]

It wasn't long ago there were many on here pretty fed up with Lucas, myself included. Admittedly, ive missed the last 3 games but it sounds like he's been very good but it's just 3 games. Lets see how it goes from now on in. I've watched him seventy times or more or something and his performances have ranged from piss poor to very good. I wish I could really believe he's boss or that he will become a fantastic player but the best I can hope for is that he becomes very good consistently.

[Craig_H]

If he continues at the same rate of improvement, then as fernandinho says, in 2 or 3 years time, he'll be a fantastic player.

[Maxiedge]

Back for more, eh craig?

What the **** does fernandinho know?