Lucas "The Marmite" Leiva

[Stu Monty]

The whole "should have been sent off" thing annoys me. Every fucking foul apparently has to be a booking now. Trying to honestly win the ball and not getting it should not be a booking.

[Trumo]

The vast majority of Lucas' fouls are genuine attempts to win the ball. Sometimes he's just a fraction late and other times he's unfortunate to be penalised. He does however take one for the team when needs must, as he did last night. He also did something similar in the first leg but wasn't booked for it, having earlier been booked for a nothing challenge.

 

He had a good game last night but was dead on his feet in the second half of extra time, so stretched had the game become. What is noticeable right now is that he's reacting much quicker to situations and moving the ball much quicker too. It makes him look stronger and more composed, a bit like he was in those few months under Kenny prior to doing his ACL.

[Paco]

If we can use him like chelsea use mikel then great but he has real fitness issues in regards to being able to complete games.

[Jairzinho]

The "needless" foul that people mention is basically, a foul. A holding midfielder has to tackle people, sometimes they'll get it wrong. At times he's having to make a challenge he possibly otherwise wouldn't because someone else in our team has fucked up. Someone else in the team has played a hospital pass putting us in shit, etc. 

 

According to whoscored.com he makes on average 1.6 fouls per game in the league (no stats for domestic cups, his average was higher for our short lived CL campaign). Matic's average is 1.5. Fernandinho's is also 1.5. Song's 1.5. Schneiderlin and Wanyama's are both 2.1.

 

Turns out that sometimes holding midfielders foul people. 

[Paco]

The "needless" foul that people mention is basically, a foul. A holding midfielder has to tackle people, sometimes they'll get it wrong. At times he's having to make a challenge he possibly otherwise wouldn't because someone else in our team has fucked up. Someone else in the team has played a hospital pass putting us in shit, etc.

 

According to whoscored.com he makes on average 1.6 fouls per game in the league (no stats for domestic cups, his average was higher for our short lived CL campaign). Matic's average is 1.5. Fernandinho's is also 1.5. Song's 1.5. Schneiderlin and Wanyama's are both 2.1.

 

Turns out that sometimes holding midfielders foul people.

he gives away fouls in dangerous areas quite often

[Stu Monty]

he gives away fouls in dangerous areas quite often

Have you considered if this might be a common thing for defensive players?

 

He plays in probably the most aggressive pressing side in the league too; trying to win the ball when others might not is part of the plan.

[dickie mint]

Played well last night he was goosed in extra time but put in a good shift.

[RedKnight]

He was definitely out of gas by extra time, in an ideal world we'd have brought him off for Allen but Allen looked so rusty against Bolton that it would have been a risk. Lucas has been excellent in this formation though, can't fault him.

[johnsusername]

He's playing really well at the minute. He was knackered by extra time.

 

I agree about this call for bookings over every foul - is a free kick not enough anymore? Does everyone have to be booked or sent off? Plus yellow cards should be given out for persistent, small challenges - the kind Chelsea use all the time to break up the flow of a game. These ruin the spectacle of the game, yet the referees only seem to punish it right at the end of 90 minutes which is too late.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

The "needless" foul that people mention is basically, a foul. A holding midfielder has to tackle people, sometimes they'll get it wrong. At times he's having to make a challenge he possibly otherwise wouldn't because someone else in our team has fucked up. Someone else in the team has played a hospital pass putting us in shit, etc.

 

According to whoscored.com he makes on average 1.6 fouls per game in the league (no stats for domestic cups, his average was higher for our short lived CL campaign). Matic's average is 1.5. Fernandinho's is also 1.5. Song's 1.5. Schneiderlin and Wanyama's are both 2.1.

 

Turns out that sometimes holding midfielders foul people.

Do they tell you what position the fouls are in?

 

Lucas often comes in from behind, near the area and gives away dangerous free kicks. He dies other stuff right but he does that much more often than the others you mentioned.

[VladimirIlyich]

Its not Lucas' fault that our strikers are shit and our biggest threat in terms of creating and scoring,Lallana,sits on the fuckin bench most of the time.

I think Lallana plays well every time he plays,far better than Borini,Balotelli and,at times,Sterling yet he has splinters in his arse.

He features so little I forget we have even signed him.

[Stu Monty]

Do they tell you what position the fouls are in?

 

Lucas often comes in from behind, near the area and gives away dangerous free kicks. He dies other stuff right but he does that much more often than the others you mentioned.

Hmmm. How much of these other teams are you watching. All sounds very...guessy.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Hmmm. How much of these other teams are you watching. All sounds very...guessy.

I've watch and said on here I wanted Matic and Fernando for years, many times. I've watched them a lot.

 

Magic has been the standout midfielder in the league this year. It's okay to accept that Lucas, who has performed well lately but has been bang average for years, might not have everything in his locker that Matic does.

 

I don't know what Lucas you've been watching giving away dangerous free kicks he does all the time.

[Torvald Utne]

Someone should have a word and tell him not to make any tackles near our box, be a lot more dangerous situations developing where others can take the blame but a lot less dangerous free kicks, throw in a Hollywood pass now and then and you'd have an ignorant Liverpool fan's perfect player

[El Rojo]

He's been fantastic lately. It's been a scarcely believable turnaround - he looks like he did pre-ACL injury, which is almost miraculous when you look at the subsequent career trajectory of Essien and many others.

 

I hope he stays and that we and bring in real competition for his place in summer.

[Iceman]

And TK421 surprisingly wades in with the pro-Lucas negs. Good work TK. 

[James Dean]

Why doesn't he just win the ball every time?

[Jairzinho]

I know, right?

[Brigant Moloch]

 pre-ACL injury

 

just been waiting till someone writes something like this haha, clockwork

[Torvald Utne]

just been waiting till someone writes something like this haha, clockwork

cockwork

[Pureblood]

And TK421 surprisingly wades in with the pro-Lucas negs. Good work TK. 

 

My pleasure.  Maybe when your "Let The Fans Decide" scheme takes off you can have him voted out of the squad?  The promised land... 

[TheHowieLama]

He may play himself back out of form - give him a chance.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Why doesn't he just win the ball every time?

You can acknowledge that he gives away a lot if dangerous free kicks without believing he has to win every tackle.

[Jairzinho]

You can do. But when he's giving away 3 fouls in total for every 2 games he plays it suggests that that view is incorrect.

[Pureblood]

Yes, but but, um, dangerous areas, um.  Yeah.