Lucas - the new scapegoat.

[philyhamann]

People are judging Lucas on his CV, I judge with my eyes.

[Anubis]

People are judging Lucas on his CV, I judge with my eyes.

Really? That's so last year. You should learn to use the force.

[Red-Ed]

People are judging Lucas on his CV, I judge with my eyes.

 

I don't think they are - the point about the CV is that it gives the player, whoever they may be, a little more time to show what they are capable of.

[Herp McDerp]

He's only 21, he is a box to box midfielder but is playing in a very defensive role. Give him time to mature, I still believe that he will have a future at the club. He's going through what Gerrard did really,when he was younger his attacking prowess was stifled because he spent so much time in his own half.

 

I've only ever seen short clips of Spearing, how good is he really? Compared to the likes of Barton, Cahill, Alonso, etc... I mean what are his best attributes, does he have a good eye for a pass, is he a great tackler or header of the ball or is he a gerrardesque player? I've read all sort of stuff about him with opinions on him divided to say the least, there are those who are convinced that he's gonna be the next gerrard and that we're wasting a gem of a player, but some also said that Warnock was good when he was average at best and mediocre defensively most of the time.

 

From what I can tell people seem to overestimate the ability of our youth players, Insua, Nemeth, Pachecho, Spearing are always being talked up with some people going as far as saying that they should replace members of our first team when they have a bad patch(dossena/insua). I could be wrong of course, seing as I havn't got the privilege of being able to go see the youth or reserve games, all i know about the ressies I glean of the internet or one or two programns on tv.

 

 

PS. Don't give me shit about cahill, he's there because one of the most dominant players in the air even though he's not that tall and Spearing's 5'6 so thought it might be a fair comparison...

[Unrighteous]

Cahill is 5'10, Liverpudlian_15, and that is four inches of difference.

 

That's a MASSIVE difference... and Cahill isn't dominant in the air but he does head the ball extremely well. You never see Cahill going up in the air against Sami or Skrtel and think, "Oh fuck... Cahill might score here."

Hyypia is dominant in the air because he gets to every ball and he's heads the ball extremely well... I never worry about Sami not winning that ball becuase he's fucking massive, jumps well, his timing is superb, and he controls the header extremely well.

[Matt83]

I like him and thinks that he is a good 4th choice CM.

[Herp McDerp]

Cahill is 5'10, Liverpudlian_15, and that is four inches of difference.

 

That's a MASSIVE difference... and Cahill isn't dominant in the air but he does head the ball extremely well. You never see Cahill going up in the air against Sami or Skrtel and think, "Oh fuck... Cahill might score here."

Hyypia is dominant in the air because he gets to every ball and he's heads the ball extremely well... I never worry about Sami not winning that ball becuase he's fucking massive, jumps well, his timing is superb, and he controls the header extremely well.

 

 

 

Yup, dominant was the wrong word, what I meant was whether Spearing is a good header of the ball despite his height, can't help but feel that 5'6 is a little to little for a midfielder in the epl... the only one who comes close is aaron lennon and he's a winger so height isn't really an issue is it...

[philyhamann]

What does Spearings height have to do with anything? Mascherano is 5'7 and Garcia was 5'6 while being one of our best headerers of the ball. If you have the determination, then size shouldn't matter and Spearing has a lot of determination.

[Herp McDerp]

What does Spearings height have to do with anything? Mascherano is 5'7 and Garcia was 5'6 while being one of our best headerers of the ball. If you have the determination, then size shouldn't matter and Spearing has a lot of determination.

 

 

I DIDNT SAY BEING SMALL WAS A DETRIMENT. All I was saying/asking was whether he was good aerially, that's all.

 

But since you've mentioned it, yes being short is a disadvantage in the EPL especially if you're a defensive player, there are exceptions of course, Mascherano for example... But you can't have too many midgets on the pitch, just look at the Arse, whenever someone lumps a high ball anywhere near their goal they shit themselves...

[NickConklin]

I feel there is a certain section amongst our fans who need someone to have a go at. Personally I think Lucas has not progressed as well as I thought he might have, but last night he was getting a lot of stick that was not justified. He had very low confidence which wasnt helped by the fact a lot of our fans groaning if he only made a safe pass where as if Alonso plays a totally unmakeable pass into row 8 of the kemlyn road its a shout of hard line Xabi

[stringvest]

Lucas hasn't really shown anything special, but he certainly wasn't the worst player on show last night. I'm not sure at all about Lucas, but I get annoyed with this idea of scapegoats. Players get moaned at regularly if they regularly disappoint.

[Harry Squatter]

He reminds me of Sheryl Crow

[RedKnight]

Just because a player happens to play for us, it doesn't mean they're automatically good enough. Lucas is so average, it's painful.

[Red Nick]

Discuss.

 

 

Because some people are never happy

[Guest Han_shoots_1st!]

He seems a nice lad and he works hard. But he's not fit to lace Mascherano's boots...

[Ezekiel 25:17]

No no this is all wrong, he looks much more like a Rat than a Goat, oh and for the record hes shit, wrap that up any way you want but it wont change that fact.

[drewy]

I DIDNT SAY BEING SMALL WAS A DETRIMENT. All I was saying/asking was whether he was good aerially, that's all.

 

But since you've mentioned it, yes being short is a disadvantage in the EPL especially if you're a defensive player, there are exceptions of course, Mascherano for example... But you can't have too many midgets on the pitch, just look at the Arse, whenever someone lumps a high ball anywhere near their goal they shit themselves...

 

Negged, for biggin' up Cahill and shouting.

[Herp McDerp]

Negged, for biggin' up Cahill and shouting.

 

Knew some twat would do that...

[drewy]

Knew some twat would do that...

 

Don't thank me thank you.

[George Costanza]

He's 4th fucking choice midfielder. What do people expect? Given his 'CV' he has arguably under achieved a little so far but he's still young and IMO he's shoen he has a very good all round game. A few people were wanking off about Anderson at Salford..... for £19m what the fuck has he done so far this season.

 

I'm certainly not giving up on the lad, I think he'll get better and better. If after another 18 months i'm wrong then it might be time to move him on, we'll still get a very decent fee for him.

[Unrighteous]

What does Spearings height have to do with anything? Mascherano is 5'7 and Garcia was 5'6 while being one of our best headerers of the ball. If you have the determination, then size shouldn't matter and Spearing has a lot of determination.

 

How many 'short' defensive players has Rafa Benitez brought into the first team? Mascherano(The worlds best DM... Fair enough)

 

Do you not think that we'd be at a massive aeriel disadvantage with Spearing and Mascherano holding against say... Mikel, Ballack, and Fwank?

 

We'd be arseholed on corners. Period.

 

Rafa knows this and it's clear as day.

[RSM]

Rafa was once interested in buying Cordoba (A fucking ace defender, btw) but decided against it because of his height. Now I know that Cordoba is a Centre Half and needs to be good in the air (which he is for his size) but I think Rafa just felt that in the Prem defending headers is vitally important interms of dominating play.

[philyhamann]

How many 'short' defensive players has Rafa Benitez brought into the first team? Mascherano(The worlds best DM... Fair enough)

 

Do you not think that we'd be at a massive aeriel disadvantage with Spearing and Mascherano holding against say... Mikel, Ballack, and Fwank?

 

We'd be arseholed on corners. Period.

 

Rafa knows this and it's clear as day.

 

Who says Mascherano and Spearing are to play together always? Dennis Wise is another that springs to mind that Spearing could base his game around. Lucas is only about 5'7 or 5'8 himself and isn't exactly going to tower above Ballack on corners.

[Unrighteous]

Who says Mascherano and Spearing are to play together always? Dennis Wise is another that springs to mind that Spearing could base his game around. Lucas is only about 5'7 or 5'8 himself and isn't exactly going to tower above Ballack on corners.

 

That's true, Phily but that's 2 more inches that Spearing has to make up.

 

These inches could be the difference between deflecting a header or being scored upon.

 

This sort of thing is something that Rafa studies before matches and is the main reason why Plessis, the inferior player to Spearing, is getting the odd game whilst Jay is looking in from the outside... because height (like in the case of Lucas and Mascherano) is a flaw in a player's game.

 

We cannot have too much of the same flaw or we'll be exploited. Image a midfield diamond of Spearing, Mascherano, and Lucas... Yikes... Shortest midfield in the Prem.

[SpeedyG]

I'm a cynic, but I'm pretty sure that if Mascherano didn't do sliding tackles he'd get as much stick as Lucas.

 

Lucas' problem is that he doesn't meet expectations. Peoples expectations for him are based on how THEY think he should play not on how Rafa tells him to play. Even if Lucas did everything Rafa asked him 100% perfectly he'd still get stick because I get the impression a lot of people would rather he was running all over the place trying to win the game on his own.

 

Until he matures to the point where he is given the Xabi / SG role you will see a Mascherano type player without sliding tackles. Get used to it and set your expectations accordingly.