Lucas

[shea mc]

Played well enough but I think him AND The Chief in midfield isn't going to help us against the better teams. There was a spell of about 15 minutes where midfield suffered because nobody was dropping deep. Without wanting to bring Xabi up, neither Lucas or Mascherano drop that deep, and when they do their passing range isn't as big. This ought not be an issue when Aquilani is fit, but the lack of someone taking the midfield by the scruff of the neck worried me tonight for a little while.

 

aye cause they played shit and got over ran at the mancs last season.:whistle:

[Dan Vito Corleone]

aye cause they played shit and got over ran at the mancs last season.:whistle:

 

One performance make not a dynasty. No problem with them when we are going to be defending lots, but when we need to attack with high tempo I'd be concerned at that pairing against quality teams.

Edited August 20, 2009 by Agt Provocateur

[Yozzer]

Lucas is Pele the II - but seriously a good performance which hopefully he can build on and gain a great deal of confidence. His passing looked quick and he distributed the ball to the better players well. His tackling was good which is another improvement of his, overall i'm happy with Lucas.

[Jose Jones]

Played well enough but I think him AND The Chief in midfield isn't going to help us against the better teams. There was a spell of about 15 minutes where midfield suffered because nobody was dropping deep. Without wanting to bring Xabi up, neither Lucas or Mascherano drop that deep, and when they do their passing range isn't as big. This ought not be an issue when Aquilani is fit, but the lack of someone taking the midfield by the scruff of the neck worried me tonight for a little while.

 

I agree with that really.

When we’re firing all the team are working well together and the passing takes care of itself – but Xabi was great when we needed someone to put their foot on it and get the play moving, which we still sometimes do.

Perhaps we could swap Lucas and Gerrard around a bit during the game if we’re having trouble getting on the ball. We could do the same when Aquilani gets fit.

[shea mc]

i know what your saying, but i dont think Lucas is as shit as he's made out to be, apart from the replay at the Pit, i thought he played well since last Christmas.

[Herp McDerp]

Played well enough but I think him AND The Chief in midfield isn't going to help us against the better teams. There was a spell of about 15 minutes where midfield suffered because nobody was dropping deep. Without wanting to bring Xabi up, neither Lucas or Mascherano drop that deep, and when they do their passing range isn't as big. This ought not be an issue when Aquilani is fit, but the lack of someone taking the midfield by the scruff of the neck worried me tonight for a little while.

Weird that, I'd rather have Lucas and Masch against the top teams than against the likes of Wigan.

[Jose Jones]

i know what your saying, but i dont think Lucas is as shit as he's made out to be, apart from the replay at the Pit, i thought he played well since last Christmas.

 

He’s not shit, but he’s ideally third choice challenging for a spot rather than a starter.

I wonder who’s going to play in Mascherano’s position if he gets rested/injured/suspended?

[zigackly]

Had more space and time on the ball tonight than against Spurs and used it well.

[Dan Vito Corleone]

Weird that, I'd rather have Lucas and Masch against the top teams than against the likes of Wigan.

 

Away from home I agree. At home when we're forcing the issue is what I mean.

[The Tott]

Lucas was class tonite. Really impressed.

 

Johnson is fucking class too

[OnizukaEikichi]

Wish he had gotten a goal. Good performance neverless.

[jackofdk]

A very, very good performance by Lucas last night. He got in a nipped the ball away effortlessly on many occassions, and his passing was very assured through out the match.

 

He also won a surprisingly number of headers.

 

And since he is going to be compared to Xabi this season anyway, I will say that one thing he does give us, that Alonso didn't, is pace. He is deceptively quick and between him and Masch (who was also good last night) we have a lot of mobility in centre midfield.

 

I'd still be worried about our lack of physical presence when we come up against Chelsea's heavyweight midfield, though.

[ATXRED]

I said in preseason that his tackling had improved. I'm glad that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. One thing that filled me with some hope of him coming good tonight... He looked passionate, he argued calls and looked angered at times. Last season some of his biggest critics cited his overly calm and mellow attitude as something that bothered them. Tonight we saw some passion, and it was a welcome surprise.

 

Still a long way to go, but if he can maintain this level for most of the year, I'm sure most will be a lot less anxious to see him gone.

[ATXRED]

As a side note, I read an interview from Benitez where he discussed Aquilani's attributes, and Benitez basically said that he saw the midfield as Aquilani playing between Gerrard and masch or Lucas. I hope that Aquilani's movement is as god as everything the pros are saying. If so, he's exactly the type of midfielder we needed to replace Alonso with. Now if we can get him healthy and keep him that way.

[B3n]

I thought he shouldn't have been playing?

[Charles Penrose]

Seems as though he MAY finally be adapting to the game over here. His movement off the ball appears to be excellent as is his passing. He'll also get forward more than Alonso too.

 

Personally it's always annoyed me that he would dwell on the ball and then inevitably get knocked off it, usually not having seen a tackle coming from behind or to the side. He seems to have bulked out a bit now as he clearly didn't have the physical attributes to play English football.

 

It may actually turn out to be a positive for us that Aquilani is out for a few months, both in the development of Lucas and then the pressure being taken off Aquilani when he returns.

 

I can't think of a player in my Liverpool supporting lifetime that has come back from being written off to such a degree to being a key player. I'd very much like him to be the first.

[Ged B]

The Count spot on there.

It was a decent all round performance, but nothing special.

 

Johnson was my man of the match without a doubt. I'm now quite excited by this lad as what he can give us in an attacking sense could be crucial this season.

[Paul]

I really did not see Lucas' contribution in the same terms as others have described it. I thought he had a god game, but in no way was he one of my top three. Johnson, Gerrard and Yossi blew him out of the water in that regard, in my opinion. If he continues to get the simple things right all the time then that'll be enough for him to justify his place in the side until the new lad is fit.

[The 5th Benitel]

I thought Lucas was really good. Broke up their attacks and retained the ball well for us. Looks like he's finally got used to the pace of the game over here although he does need to get the ball into the attackers a bit quicker.

 

Some gobshite behind me was waiting until he mislpaced his first pace and was shouting 'Look, not fit to lace Xabi's boots!' He hadn't said a word when Mascehrano was twating it out of play everytime he touched it.

 

I'm gutted Xabi has gone and Lucas put insome terrible displays but he's a young lad who clearly has some talent and he plays for us. Support him or fuck off.

[Gonzo]

As fas as Lucas goes, I know there's a really intelligent player in there but have been left tearing my hair out with some of the performances from him. That said, he's got some bollox on him. He's taken an unebelievable amount of abuse but you never hear a peep, he simply gets on with playing and by the looks of things going away and working hard on improving. He might have had his off days in the past but it wasn't because he couldn't be arsed. I've no idea if the lad will make it, but I'm with Chris on this and hope he can as it would be great reward for his efforts. Let's see how the lad gets on with a bit more responsibility and see if he can fulfil the potential so many coaches are convinced he has. Worse case scenario, if he carries on like he has (only a few pre-season games and now two in the league I know), he's keeping the ship steady until Aqua man is fit.

[Red Nick]

Did anyone else not notice that the Lucas played a more advanced position than he did against Spurs?

 

He looked far better in that position than as a defensive midfielder alongside Mascher.

[Al Campbell]

Played well enough, looked for the forward pass far more often than he did on Sunday and his tackling was excellent. That performance, while not anything special, should give him a huge confidence boost.

[jackofdk]

Did anyone else not notice that the Lucas played a more advanced position than he did against Spurs?

 

He looked far better in that position than as a defensive midfielder alongside Mascher.

 

I agree. It's pretty obvious to me that Rafa wants to make Xabi's old position a more attacking one this season.

[aws]

He's steadily developing from average to a good squad player. I doubt he'll ever be top class but he's starting to look like a Premership standard player.

 

Works hard, good attitude. I think his early progress was hindered by being brought on as sub for Gerrard in that derby as a section of the crowd have been on his back ever since.

[Thants]

I thought he had a god game

 

That good?