There is nothing wrong with our midfield

[JoeyJones65]

Thought Lucas was fine last night, least of our problems.

Cluck Cluck Jibber Jibber My old man's a mushroom etc.

[stringvest]

Thought Lucas was fine last night, least of our problems.

Seriously? He was dogshit. Offered no protection to Johnson. People walked past him like he wasn't there all night. Appalling display - worst player on the pitch.

[stringvest]

Thought Lucas was fine last night, least of our problems.

Seriously? He was dogshit. Offered no protection to Johnson. People walked past him like he wasn't there all night. Appalling display - worst player on the pitch.

[Guest LFD]

Seriously? He was dogshit. Offered no protection to Johnson. People walked past him like he wasn't there all night. Appalling display - worst player on the pitch.

 

Can't blame Lucas for Johnson being awful.

 

Lucas isn't to blame for Johnson not closing down the first goal.  Lucas isn't to blame for Johnson making a poor decision to try and win a ball he'd never win for the second goal, quickening the attack as Neville pointed out last night.  Lucas wasn't to blame for him getting skinned near the end in our box.  Lucas wasn't to blame for Johnson not marking one of the two players Skrtel had for the third goal.

 

I know you aren't the biggest fan of Lucas, but he was not at fault for the mistakes Johnson did last night.  

[stringvest]

I think perhaps you should watch the game again, and watch the movement without the ball.

[Guest LFD]

I think perhaps you should watch the game again, and watch the movement without the ball.

 

You watch our goals conceded, Lucas is not at fault for any of them.

 

He was part of a midfield that gave our attack loads of possession that we should have finished the game.  

 

I understand the flaws in his game, but last night they were not exposed.  He was fine.

 

Johnson was the main problem, Skrtel, Flanagan also didn't help making errors.  But it is easy to blame Lucas, even thought here is no evidence and it is wrong, you keep banging that drum.

[Block109'er]

Ok no need to crucify Lucas lads.

 

Lucas has come back into a team which for him has just passed him by.  He's been great for us but now he finds himself, unfortunately for him and especially with Stevie now taking on a deeper role, just not suited to this team anymore.

 

There is a place for him in our squad if he's happy to be a squad player but God have we missed Henderson.

[Nightcat]

He's been great for us? when? elaborate.

 

I watched the game, the highlights, the goals, everything again and again. My conclusion is:

 

Lucas is fucking shit, we need a new top class DM who can rotate with Allen and Henderson, depending on tiredness, form, injury, suspension and tactics  in the Premier League and the Champions League.

 

Overall to answer to the original Thread's topic, there are plenty wrong with our midfield when Henderson is missing. you can't rely on one player for 60+ games per season though.

[Coro]

Lucas was so bad last night that we were 3-0 up with 20 minutes to play.

 

Conceding from your own corner when you're 3-1 up should be the focus but no, the weirdos have their favourite scapegoat.

[Jairzinho]

Lucas was so bad last night that we were 3-0 up with 20 minutes to play.

 

Conceding from your own corner when you're 3-1 up should be the focus but no, the weirdos have their favourite scapegoat.

Are you suggesting that tactics and the entire team for the last 20 minutes were poor rather than just one of our midfielders?

 

Where is fun in that? Don't you delight, pretending not to of course, in hammering one of our players after games like this?

 

Fucking weirdo.

[BCM]

Strange one with Lucas for me. He was either

a/ miles short of match fitness

b/ had some sort of virus

c/ was lost in our shape.

 

Like people have said he was very slow, i know he isnt the quickest anyway, but he looked a lot off the pace. It looked to me like he was carrying a knock or had some sort of virus but obviously we havent heard anything so i dont know.

[Section_31]

The midfield in general is a massive problem, as is the lack of aggressive and/or experienced leaders in the squad. Sammi and Hamann or Masch would have been all over that shit.

[Dundalis]

Pogba or Gundogan are probably the best options, but they would come at a premium. Can't get off the bandwagon of my personal fav Kovacic. He's exactly what we want in terms of more mobility and drive through that central midfield position. Massive room to get better at 19 also. Think him and Henderson in front of Stevie would make us much more dynamic. Though perhaps a pure DM to replace Stevie needs to be on the cards sooner rather than later.

[The Guest]

We won't be spending big money on anyone who plays as a defensive midfielder. Gerrard will be playing there for the next 3 years and rightfully so he's suited to it. We've just went on a long winning streak with him playing there. Leiva comes back into the side and this happens. It's not rocket science. We need more mobile attacking midfielders like Allen and Henderson as it is the most physically demanding position and probably the most risk of suspension. We need good players to play there not frauds like Leiva.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Lucas was neither responsible for being 3-0 up, nor for conceding 3 goals. Surely nobody can deny that he is now below the standard required for the side Rodgers is trying to build, especially if he is coming into a midfield with Gerrard in it. As Gerrard said a while back, Henderson and Allen do a lot of his Running for him. When it's Lucas, he just doesn't have the physical attributes. He can't recover position, he's generally too slow to track a midfielder which leads to chances, and when you've got a group of fullbacks who can't stop crosses coming in, trouble ensues.

 

So yeah, people can be as sarcastic as they want at those questioning Lucas, but it doesn't mean he is playing at anything near the standard required. Actually, even the fewer remaining Lucasistas seem to have started to run out of steam in their desperate defence of the player. Hopefully the scales are starting to fall from the eyes.

[Pureblood]

Sammi and Hamann or Masch would have been all over that shit.

Not if they were told to bomb forward and score six goals.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I do wonder why people weren't saying 'fucking hell, that's three, please stop attacking' on any of the threads after Suarez scored.

[Einch]

We are one player short of at least Allen/Henderson quality. None of the on-loan players can fill that role. We also need to think a bit more in games and not act like a mob who's got their torches and pitchforks out.

[DanDanShaw]

The only thing wrong with our midfield at the moment is numbers, Allen, Hendo, Gerrard and Coutinho are very good footballers.  Problem is, when we have to play Lucas he really doesn't fit the system (and hasn't been good for a couple of seasons either).

 

I think we all took Lucas to our hearts because of the shit we gave him when he first came, but I wouldn't be upset at all if we sold him in the summer.

[Gnasher]

It looks as though injury has caught up with Lucas and Johnson. Sad but both need replacing.

[Section_31]

I do wonder why people weren't saying 'fucking hell, that's three, please stop attacking' on any of the threads after Suarez scored.

It's a hard one, I can see both sides of the argument. Do Barcelona shut up shop? Or did Brazil? I'm not comparing us to either of those sides but you have a footballing philosophy and you commit to it come what may. We don't have the tools to do the job of sitting back on leads like we did under Houllier or Rafa. We don't have the leaders or the composure, but what we do have is blistering attacking pace and goals in abundance. In that situation isn't attack the best form of defence?

 

I just can't help but think about the tactics boxers use. If you've not got the stamina or the build to go up the rounds with someone who has but you're faster and have better technical skill, you're going to try and put him down early, because it's the only way you can win.

 

For this reason though, I think we'll be badly found out in the CL if we don't better learn to adapt.

 

I just can't get angry though, we're punching so far above our weight it's unreal. What advantages we do have, we've used brilliantly.

[Bjornebye]

I was there and the whole of our end were singing ‘attack attack attack’ throughout. After number 3 I doubt anyone genuinely thought we would concede 3 so of course attacking while we were on top was going to be the obvious option. Instead we conceded, shit ourselves and they got the wind at their feet.

 

It was a freak result which came at a shitty time but I am far from pissed off at the team as a whole. Individually, Sakho had a stinker, Johnson was his usual waste of space and Lucas let the game pass him by.

 

Sakho will improve , the other 2 wont and if we were only to make 2 singings this summer replacing them 2 I would be very happy.

 

As someone said on a previous thread, I would much rather us lose the league actually going for it than lose it playing safe and not taking the risks. We have been magical this season and it will only get better. 

[stringvest]

I didn't think Sakho played that badly.  

[Bjornebye]

I didn't think Sakho played that badly.  

 

I had to ask how many we had scored when they scored their 2nd mate so fuck knows really. 

 

I do know for a fact Lucas had a shit game because you told me. 

[CardinalX]

Lucas contributed with very little both in attack and in defense, he just seemed to walk around in midfield doing nothing.
 

He can be used in the anchor role, but thats it, if his role includes running he seems totally lost as he cant get up to support the attackers fast enough and when caught in the middle he cant get back to support the defenders fast enough.

He had a terrible game on Monday.