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Has Lucas improved enough to warrant him being a first team regular?


WhiskeyJar
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Has Lucas improved enough to warrant him being a first team regular?  

351 members have voted

  1. 1. Has Lucas improved enough to warrant him being a first team regular?



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Should be back up to Mascherano, good squad player and he's improve a lot. However he is still limited and we need more quality on the ball than Mascherano and Lucas offer as a pair. That is why I think Gerrard should always be used in centre midfield.

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No. And he never will for a team who want to challenging for the title. However, we should certainly keep him and I'd be happy to have him as one of 4 central midfielder as cover. But not a first team starter.

 

There will be replies on here that say he is shit, etc, but he's not, and he passes forward more often then not and is looking for this type of pass all the time. He is a totally different player to the one from last year and certainly shouldn't be the source of peoples anger. He's a good solid player. However, as long as he is first choice, we will struggle to challenge for the title. A fully fit Torres and Gerrard in fromt of him for the season and 4th would be achieved with ease, but we want to be challenging for 1st.

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Tricky one this: is he good enough to be a regular starter in what we want a Liverpool squad to be, or in what the current Liverpool squad really is? I'm assuming the latter, so, based on my overall protective instincts of him against some of his more wildly over-the-top critics (and buoyed by a good performance yesterday) I'm saying yes.

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Poor mans Masch, no creativity! Too many sideways passes. Worst football we've ever played

 

His attitude is spot on, it's just a shame he's shit. So no, he's only playing because we are scared Aquilani might get injured/shot/bummed.

 

This is kind of what I was referring to. People just see what they want to see now. Both of those statement are plain rubbish, yet he will always carry them around with him. As I said, he is not a first team starter in a team wanting to challenge for titles, but he is good back up.

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He's a fucking mediocrity at very best and I will dance a frenetic jig of delight when he finally fucks off out of LFC forever

 

So that's a "no" from me.

 

Bit harsh, considering he is young, adapted well to the Premier League and is always improving. Instead of looking at what he can do, you still look at his limitations.

 

Would it be the same as saying Torres cannot defend?

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First of all, hello.

 

Secondly... No he doesnt warrant his place in the first team YET.

I'm actually a fan of Lucas, however he is very limited in his play. Many see him as too defensive, but I see a player who's being moulded into a defensive midfielder by his manager, a replacement for Mascherano should he leave, or a backup defensive midfielder to bring on as a sub to protect a lead or to bring in in a scrappy game.

 

Thirdly, point number two was not an attack on Benitez. I think he's done a good job up to this point, and one works with what is available. Lucas is currently available and is much more physical than Aquilani, which we currently need with the dour football we're playing. Hopefully as Aquilani gets to grips with the game he can be pushed to 3rd choice

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The only real criticisms I have for Lucas, is that he will occasionally dwell on the ball for too long. He also gives away some silly fouls.

 

He makes some nice runs off the ball, and in general his passing is good, even when it's backwards or sideways, at least he is retaining possession for the team. Of course he can still improve, and I for one think he will, he does need to chip in with a couple of goals, but this will come in time.

 

So, for me, it's a yes as things currently stand.

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for my money, he has improved enough that he is good enough to be a 1st team player, but thats different from being a first choice player.

 

I dont see how we can continue to play him alongside Masch, as far too often Mash is the player to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and charge forward, which is not what he is great at, but he has to because Lucas wont.

 

Lucas got his name sung twice yesterday, and those 2 times were probably the only two things of note that he did particularly well.

 

Also, JohnnyH, to say that he passess sideways too much is nonsense is totally wrong. He does. Its his most infuriating trait. If the ball is given to him in midfield, unless there is bags of space then you know one of 3 things will happen without exception. He will either (listed in order of prevalence)

a) Pass it straight back where it came from first time

b) turn and pass it simple to either side of him

c) dwell on it and lose posession or win a free kick (if hes lucky)

 

It is only when he has bags of time that anything worthwhile or with intent happens, and that is part of the reason that our midfield has lost its dynamicism. Xabi in the same role used the ball a million times better. I know xabi is gone forever, and i know Lucas has half the experience as him, but still, our play is stale for many reasons, but one major contributor is the lack of intent from within our central midfield.

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Had Alonso played that pass to Torres on Sunday some people would still be wanking over it now.

 

Good squad player but for me Mascherano and Gerrard should be the midfield combination.

 

fair point, but you also know that it wouldnt have been the first time since we beat Newcastle away last season that he'd tried such a pass. (possible exaggeration, but not many spring to mind)

 

I dont know if you watched Madrid last weekend against Villareal, but everything went through Xabi and it was like watching our midfield of old, fluent, quick play, with 9 times out of 10, an intent behind the pass, rathe than just keeping the ball and not giving it away easy, which seems to be lucas' first priority.

 

I quite like the lad, and his improvement from 2 years ago is marked, but unfortunately while he playes there next to masch, he will continue to be compared with Alonso, and the comparison just cannot ever stand up.

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He's very average but would be a decent squad player. His tackling has improved but he still gives away fouls in bad areas and his lack of pace and mobility means he struggles to cover back like Mascherano does. His passing is also very limited. He might have played a decent throught ball yesterday but 90%+ of his passes are 5-10 yard balls the way he is facing. You need more from a centre mid at a big club.

 

If i had to think of a comparable player in his position in a top end team it would be Tom Huddleston or maybe Denilson.

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fair point, but you also know that it wouldnt have been the first time since we beat Newcastle away last season that he'd tried such a pass. (possible exaggeration, but not many spring to mind)

 

I dont know if you watched Madrid last weekend against Villareal, but everything went through Xabi and it was like watching our midfield of old, fluent, quick play, with 9 times out of 10, an intent behind the pass, rathe than just keeping the ball and not giving it away easy, which seems to be lucas' first priority.

 

I quite like the lad, and his improvement from 2 years ago is marked, but unfortunately while he playes there next to masch, he will continue to be compared with Alonso, and the comparison just cannot ever stand up.

 

Alonso was a superb player of that there is no doubt and i agree that Lucas and Mascherano should not play alongside each other as they are too much alike in that neither of them are known for their creativity.

 

Lucas gets far more abuse then he warrants and whilst i don't believe he is a starting eleven player i do think that he is good enough to be in the first team squad.

 

We have missed the ability of a player to sit in midfield and dictate the play and at times Gerrard offered what we needed against Blackburn when we saw precise passing out to the wings or to the feet of Torres and Kuyt.

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