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

[Hermes]

Yes, for Chester City.

[Redshadow]

I agree with some of what's on here and disagree with other bits;

 

I think Redknight is right and Lucas WAS the plan - I don't think Aquilani's on the bench due to Lucas at all - I think he's on the bench as Gerrard is fit and playing; IF Gerrard was injured and/or moved back into the midfield then I'd expect Aquilani to play as I believe and always have done since we bought him and I did some looking as to how he plays that he was meant to replace GERRARD, Not Alonso. I believe Lucas WAS always the plan to replace Alonso and to be fair he HAS shown flashes of Alonso like ability at times - I remember his pass against Newcastle last season and he's also created goals with passes against Blackburn (on Sunday), Man U (in October) and Fulham (2 seasons ago) so he DOES have it in him; He's also as I've argued elsewhere in this thread been rated by a number of top stats for some of this season as THE best passer in the Premiership or at least one of the best after 25th January 2010 so why SHOULDN'T he replace Alonso?

 

I think the problem is shown quite clearly by what many on here have argued; Everyone thinks he's there to replace Mascherano - he's NOT; I think Rafa's utterly Determined to hold on to Mascher at ALL costs no matter what and he always intended for Lucas to replace Alonso but has had to compensate for Masch's regular absences this season by effectively 'training' Lucas to do what Masch does with the holding role - hanging back and tackling, breaking up play rather than creating and generally destroying; This is NOT his natural game - does anyone remember when he FIRST came here and won a penalty in the derby after rampaging all round the pitch once he'd replaced Gerrard who was taken off? He was nothing like a holding midfielder then and was clearly a creative force/attacker or both - he's looked nothing like that recently as I think he's been acting on instructions but IF he gets his old game back and continues as a holding midfielder, I think he CAN replace Alonso as his passing stats show he knows how to HOLD onto the ball and to the person who said earlier he ALWAYS passes to teammates who are guarded?

 

No he doesn't - on Sunday he TWICE put in great forward passes which resulted in Torres goal and the chance from Maxi that flew under the bar and was only saved by Robinson at the Very last minute. As I said earlier - he's created goals against Fulham, Man U and Newcastle in the recent past with his passes forward as well. I don't think it's a case of Lucas being afraid to pass forward into space so much as teamates NOT making the movement for him and that having recently been stand in for Mascherano on many occasions he's been uncertain as to whether to go forward or to hold. When he DOES use his natural game though it's worth noting that we've often been devestating going forwards - guess who partnered Masch' or Gerrard? Yep Lucas - some of these games included those v Villa (A won 1-0), Spurs (H won 2-0), Hull (H - won 6-1), Stoke (H - Won 4-0), Burnley (H won 4-0), Bolton (H won 2-0) and of course Blackburn (H won 2-1) to name but a few; I don't think it was a coincidence that Lucas was in midfield in those games as our attack functioned as well as it did Last season in many of those games - the problems have come when we've set him up alongside Mascherano and told them BOTH to hold - IF we told one of them to dictate play as Lucas has done in some of the games above we'd have had far less problems but for some unknown reason - Rafa' WON'T do that when they both play alongside one another, don't know why but it's been immensely damaging.

 

BTW Belarus - if you think the Argentine's played well this season with THREE sending offs, a 3/4 month 'sulking' period at the seasons beginning re Barcelona and mistakes all over the place amongst the odd great performance then you're very much mistaken B - he hasn't, not at all and Lucas HAS outperformed him for much of the campaign. I think Lucas has grown into midfield this season and is worth his place commanding the midfield on merit - Why do I think this? 3 reasons; 1:) Our midfield now looks Weaker WITHOUT him which was never the case before so he's obviously adding something that we miss without him (and his stats show he's among the Premier League's best passers/tacklers as well); 2:) Our attack DOES function well with him in the midfield as has been shown in a number of games and we've actually won far MORE home games with Lucas in the middle than we did with Alonso there at the same stage last season which WAS our problem last year no? (This time last year we'd won 7 home league games - now? We've won 10 already and home draws have become comparatively rare - it's the away form that's a mess now again - It's actually in some ways turned out exactly as many of us thought it would - we HAVE won far more games in some respects this season but the downside? We've lost a lot more as well);

 

I think this suggests that When the team bothers to trust Lucas and give him the movement to work with or When our best attackers are fit and he has the movement to work with he CAN shoulder the burden of running our attacks from midfield - He's a better short passer than Alonso was but FAR worse at long passing is the main difference - he's about the same at keeping the ball and in many of our home games this year he's added the dimension of a lot of short passes to our attack that's knocked off balance all those defences that used to sit back and absorb Xabi's long passes; The problems with Lucas come when we're decimated with injuries/he's unfairly and wrongly made to fill in for Masch' and with our defence off form magnifying ALL his mistakes. Finally 3:) Lucas is a young player at present - growing and gaining experience of just HOW to excel in the English league all the time as he goes along - He's the same age Alonso was when He first came to Liverpool actually and he didn't look to convincing at first either no? But look how he turned out. Lucas has clearly shown enough improvement this season to warrant a place in the team - to be fair he's HAD to improve out of all recognition from before - and if he continues to improve at his current rate he'll more than replace Alonso but it will be a gradual process;

 

Gradual processes are always hard but they're often worth waiting for especially for players - the best ones are always the hardest to wait for while they're developing but they DO often pay dividends in the end though; Look at how Alonso turned out after years of patience - Lucas will be the same in my view and sooner than we think as well. IF we show patience then he WILL reward us with his improvement and due to our current parlous financial state - we'll just have to trust Rafa's judgement won't we?................................

[Hermes]

I agree with some of what's on here and disagree with other bits;

 

I think Redknight is right and Lucas WAS the plan - I don't think Aquilani's on the bench due to Lucas at all - I think he's on the bench as Gerrard is fit and playing; IF Gerrard was injured and/or moved back into the midfield then I'd expect Aquilani to play as I believe and always have done since we bought him and I did some looking as to how he plays that he was meant to replace GERRARD, Not Alonso.

 

I believe Lucas WAS always the plan to replace Alonso and to be fair he HAS shown flashes of Alonso like ability at times - I remember his pass against Newcastle last season and he's also created goals with passes against Blackburn (on Sunday), Man U (in October) and Fulham (2 seasons ago) so he DOES have it in him; He's also as I've argued elsewhere in this thread been rated by a number of top stats for some of this season as THE best passer in the Premiership or at least one of the best after 25th January 2010 so why SHOULDN'T he replace Alonso?

 

I think the problem is shown quite clearly by what many on here have argued; Everyone thinks he's there to replace Mascherano - he's NOT; I think Rafa's utterly Determined to hold on to Mascher at ALL costs no matter what and he always intended for Lucas to replace Alonso but has had to compensate for Masch's regular absences this season by effectively 'training' Lucas to do what Masch does with the holding role - hanging back and tackling, breaking up play rather than creating and generally destroying;

 

This is NOT his natural game - does anyone remember when he FIRST came here and won a penalty in the derby after rampaging all round the pitch once he'd replaced Gerrard who was taken off? He was nothing like a holding midfielder then and was clearly a creative force/attacker or both - he's looked nothing like that recently as I think he's been acting on instructions but IF he gets his old game back and continues as a holding midfielder, I think he CAN replace Alonso as his passing stats show he knows how to HOLD onto the ball and to the person who said earlier he ALWAYS passes to teammates who are guarded?

 

No he doesn't - on Sunday he TWICE put in great forward passes which resulted in Torres goal and the chance from Maxi that flew under the bar and was only saved by Robinson at the Very last minute. As I said earlier - he's created goals against Fulham, Man U and Newcastle in the recent past with his passes forward as well. I don't think it's a case of Lucas being afraid to pass forward into space so much as teamates NOT making the movement for him AND that having recently been stand in for Mascherano on many occasions he's been uncertain as to whether to go forward or to hold.

 

When he DOES use his natural game though it's worth noting that we've often been devestating going forwards - guess WHO partnered Masch' or Gerrard? Yep Lucas - some of these games included those v Villa (A won 1-0), Spurs (H won 2-0), Hull (H - won 6-1), Stoke (H - Won 4-0), Burnley (H won 4-0), Bolton (H won 2-0) and of course Blackburn (H won 2-1) to name but a few; I don't think it was a coincidence that Lucas was in midfield in those games as our attack functioned as well as it did Last season in many of those games - the problems have come when we've set him up alongside Mascherano and told them BOTH to hold - IF we told one of them to dictate play as Lucas has done in some of the games above we'd have had FAR less problems but for some unknown reason - Rafa' WON'T do that when they both play alongside one another, don't know why but it's been immensely damaging.

 

BTW Belarus - if you think the Argentine's played well this season with THREE sending offs, a 3/4 month 'sulking' period at the seasons beginning re Barcelona and mistakes all over the place amongst the odd great performance then you're VERY much mistaken B - he hasn't, not at all and Lucas HAS outperformed him for much of the campaign.

 

I think Lucas has grown into midfield this season and is worth his place commanding the midfield on merit - WHY do I think this? 3 reasons; 1:) Our midfield now looks Weaker WITHOUT him which was never the case before so he's obviously adding something that we miss without him (and his stats show he's among the Premier League's best passers/tacklers as well);

 

2:) Our attack DOES function well with him in the midfield as has been shown in a number of games and we've actually won far MORE home games with Lucas in the middle than we did with Alonso there at the same stage last season which WAS our problem last year no? (This time last year we'd won 7 home league games - now? We've won 10 already and home draws have become comparatively rare - it's the away form that's a mess now again);

 

I think this suggests that WHEN the team bothers to trust Lucas and give him the movement to work with or WHEN our best attackers are fit and he has the movement to work with he CAN shoulder the burden of running our attacks from midfield - He's a better short passer than Alonso was but FAR worse at long passing is the main difference - he's about the same at keeping the ball and in many of our home games this year he's added the dimension of a lot of short passes to our attack that's knocked off balance all those defences that used to sit back and absorb Xabi's long passes; The problems with Lucas come when we're decimated with injuries/he's unfairly and wrongly made to fill in for Masch' and with our defence off form magnifying ALL his mistakes.

 

Finally 3:) Lucas is a young player at present - growing and gaining experience of just HOW to excel in the English league all the time as he goes along - He's the same age Alonso was when HE first came to Liverpool actually and he didn't look to convincing at first either no? But look how he turned out. Lucas has clearly shown enough improvement this season to warrant a place in the team - to be fair he's HAD to improve out of all recognition from before - and if he continues to improve at his current rate he'll more than replace Alonso but it will be a gradual process;

 

Gradual processes are always hard but they're often worth waiting for ESPecially for players - the best ones are always the hardest to wait for while they're developing but they DO often pay dividends in the end though; Look at how Alonso turned out after years of patience - Lucas will be the same in my view and sooner than we think as well. IF we show patience then he WILL reward us with his improvement and due to our current parlous financial state - we'll just have to trust Rafa's judgement won't we?................................

 

Would you care to elaborate please?

[Redshadow]

Thought I made it pretty clear IF you read it Hermes? I said a number of things regarding Lucas - starting with the fact that I agree with the view of Rednick that HE - not Aquilani was meant to replace Alonso whilst Alberto is meant to back up/replace Gerrard as HIS legs aren't what they used to be.

 

I think Lucas IS worth his place in the team, he CAN run our attack if in a slightly different way than what Alonso used to with short passes rather than long passes - which is harder to defend against WHEN it works (remember how much difficulty we had with Alonso IN the team in breaking down Everton, West Ham, Fulham and Hull to name but 4 last season?) The success of the different approach at home is amply demonstrated by us now having won 10 home league matches (but offset by 2 home league defeats and draws, along with only 2 European wins at home) by the start of March; I think that Lucas would work better in a whole TEAM attuned to short passing though and half our team are still on Xabi's wavelength despite his departure which explains the difficulties adjusting and that the lack of movement in the team AND the weakening of our defence have magnfied his errors and detracted from his improvement this season; Finally? I said I think that we should persevere with Lucas as we once did Alonso, since his improvement is coming at roughly the same level/speed Alonso's did when HE first came here at Lucas' current age (23). Basically, I think we should trust Rafa's Judgement in this and that Lucas WILL come good in our midfield eventually (I think that unlike Xabi who COULDN'T improve his short passing - Lucas can and WILL improve his long game) - Indeed, I think Lucas has already begun that improvement process and he Will get much better in time as well...............................................

 

NB I also happen to think that with a PROPER preseason to slot in/integrate all our players properly AND work out a system that involves our best midfielders - Gerrard, Lucas and Mascherano in the middle with Benayoun, Rodriguez/Riera on the flanks and one of Babel/Torres/Kuyt up front WITHOUT the sort of disruption we had from Alonso's camp and his eventual departure last August? We'll be fine and a LOT better next season.

 

NNB Although he's played a number of great games for us this season - Mascherano's had a lot of stinkers as well possibly due to him sulking over his non-move to Barcelona for about 4 months after the season began - His 3 sendings off haven't helped either. I don't think he's been Quite at the level he was last season this time around - but Lucas HAS improved out of all recognition and this time can challenge him for the title of our best midfielder due to that.

Edited March 2, 2010 by Redshadow

[Ring of Fire]

"Irony, isn't it a bit like goldie or bronzie only made of iron".....

[Arl arse]

Thought I made it pretty clear IF you read it Hermes? I said a number of things regarding Lucas - starting with the fact that I agree with the view of Rednick that HE - not Aquilani was meant to replace Alonso whilst Alberto is meant to back up/replace Gerrard as HIS legs aren't what they used to be.

 

I think Lucas IS worth his place in the team, he CAN run our attack if in a slightly different way than what Alonso used to with short passes rather than long passes - which is harder to defend against WHEN it works (remember how much difficulty we had with Alonso IN the team in breaking down Everton, West Ham, Fulham and Hull to name but 4 last season?) The success of the different approach at home is amply demonstrated by us now having won 10 home league matches (but offset by 2 home league defeats and draws, along with only 2 European wins at home) by the start of March; I think that Lucas would work better in a whole TEAM attuned to short passing though and half our team are still on Xabi's wavelength despite his departure which explains the difficulties adjusting and that the lack of movement in the team AND the weakening of our defence have magnfied his errors and detracted from his improvement this season; Finally? I said I think that we should persevere with Lucas as we once did Alonso, since his improvement is coming at roughly the same level/speed Alonso's did when HE first came here at Lucas' current age (23). Basically, I think we should trust Rafa's Judgement in this and that Lucas WILL come good in our midfield eventually (I think that unlike Xabi who COULDN'T improve his short passing - Lucas can and WILL improve his long game) - Indeed, I think Lucas has already begun that improvement process and he Will get much better in time as well...............................................

 

NB I also happen to think that with a PROPER preseason to slot in/integrate all our players properly AND work out a system that involves our best midfielders - Gerrard, Lucas and Mascherano in the middle with Benayoun, Rodriguez/Riera on the flanks and one of Babel/Torres/Kuyt up front WITHOUT the sort of disruption we had from Alonso's camp and his eventual departure last August? We'll be fine and a LOT better next season.

 

NNB Although he's played a number of great games for us this season - Mascherano's had a lot of stinkers as well possibly due to him sulking over his non-move to Barcelona for about 4 months after the season began - His 3 sendings off haven't helped either. I don't think he's been Quite at the level he was last season this time around - but Lucas HAS improved out of all recognition and this time can challenge him for the title of our best midfielder due to that.

 

 

Nope, I still don't quite understand....... maybe a 5000 word borefest might help me.

[stringvest]

Would you care to elaborate please?

 

it's your bloody fault, you asked for it.

[Redshadow]

Who are you Arl arse? I was talking to Hermes - Anyway - Oh FFS; Lucas IS worth a place in the team, IS the main reason we've done well this season when we've attacked well from midfield (our home forms gone RIGHT up with him there as well -we've won TEN home league games - only one less than Chelsea who've won more than anyone else and Lucas is a BIG part of the reason for that); Lucas IS also growing into the role of Alonso's replacement (which he IS in case anyone wondered who that was) and we WILL have him there for a while to come so we'd better damn well get used to him; Is THAT little lot clear enough?

[Hermes]

it's your bloody fault, you asked for it.

 

It's in the post:

 

[WhiskeyJar]

I agree with some of what's on here and disagree with other bits;

 

I think Redknight is right and Lucas WAS the plan - I don't think Aquilani's on the bench due to Lucas at all - I think he's on the bench as Gerrard is fit and playing; IF Gerrard was injured and/or moved back into the midfield then I'd expect Aquilani to play as I believe and always have done since we bought him and I did some looking as to how he plays that he was meant to replace GERRARD, Not Alonso. I believe Lucas WAS always the plan to replace Alonso and to be fair he HAS shown flashes of Alonso like ability at times - I remember his pass against Newcastle last season and he's also created goals with passes against Blackburn (on Sunday), Man U (in October) and Fulham (2 seasons ago) so he DOES have it in him; He's also as I've argued elsewhere in this thread been rated by a number of top stats for some of this season as THE best passer in the Premiership or at least one of the best after 25th January 2010 so why SHOULDN'T he replace Alonso?

 

I think the problem is shown quite clearly by what many on here have argued; Everyone thinks he's there to replace Mascherano - he's NOT; I think Rafa's utterly Determined to hold on to Mascher at ALL costs no matter what and he always intended for Lucas to replace Alonso but has had to compensate for Masch's regular absences this season by effectively 'training' Lucas to do what Masch does with the holding role - hanging back and tackling, breaking up play rather than creating and generally destroying; This is NOT his natural game - does anyone remember when he FIRST came here and won a penalty in the derby after rampaging all round the pitch once he'd replaced Gerrard who was taken off? He was nothing like a holding midfielder then and was clearly a creative force/attacker or both - he's looked nothing like that recently as I think he's been acting on instructions but IF he gets his old game back and continues as a holding midfielder, I think he CAN replace Alonso as his passing stats show he knows how to HOLD onto the ball and to the person who said earlier he ALWAYS passes to teammates who are guarded?

 

No he doesn't - on Sunday he TWICE put in great forward passes which resulted in Torres goal and the chance from Maxi that flew under the bar and was only saved by Robinson at the Very last minute. As I said earlier - he's created goals against Fulham, Man U and Newcastle in the recent past with his passes forward as well. I don't think it's a case of Lucas being afraid to pass forward into space so much as teamates NOT making the movement for him and that having recently been stand in for Mascherano on many occasions he's been uncertain as to whether to go forward or to hold. When he DOES use his natural game though it's worth noting that we've often been devestating going forwards - guess who partnered Masch' or Gerrard? Yep Lucas - some of these games included those v Villa (A won 1-0), Spurs (H won 2-0), Hull (H - won 6-1), Stoke (H - Won 4-0), Burnley (H won 4-0), Bolton (H won 2-0) and of course Blackburn (H won 2-1) to name but a few; I don't think it was a coincidence that Lucas was in midfield in those games as our attack functioned as well as it did Last season in many of those games - the problems have come when we've set him up alongside Mascherano and told them BOTH to hold - IF we told one of them to dictate play as Lucas has done in some of the games above we'd have had far less problems but for some unknown reason - Rafa' WON'T do that when they both play alongside one another, don't know why but it's been immensely damaging.

 

BTW Belarus - if you think the Argentine's played well this season with THREE sending offs, a 3/4 month 'sulking' period at the seasons beginning re Barcelona and mistakes all over the place amongst the odd great performance then you're very much mistaken B - he hasn't, not at all and Lucas HAS outperformed him for much of the campaign. I think Lucas has grown into midfield this season and is worth his place commanding the midfield on merit - Why do I think this? 3 reasons; 1:) Our midfield now looks Weaker WITHOUT him which was never the case before so he's obviously adding something that we miss without him (and his stats show he's among the Premier League's best passers/tacklers as well); 2:) Our attack DOES function well with him in the midfield as has been shown in a number of games and we've actually won far MORE home games with Lucas in the middle than we did with Alonso there at the same stage last season which WAS our problem last year no? (This time last year we'd won 7 home league games - now? We've won 10 already and home draws have become comparatively rare - it's the away form that's a mess now again - It's actually in some ways turned out exactly as many of us thought it would - we HAVE won far more games in some respects this season but the downside? We've lost a lot more as well);

 

I think this suggests that When the team bothers to trust Lucas and give him the movement to work with or When our best attackers are fit and he has the movement to work with he CAN shoulder the burden of running our attacks from midfield - He's a better short passer than Alonso was but FAR worse at long passing is the main difference - he's about the same at keeping the ball and in many of our home games this year he's added the dimension of a lot of short passes to our attack that's knocked off balance all those defences that used to sit back and absorb Xabi's long passes; The problems with Lucas come when we're decimated with injuries/he's unfairly and wrongly made to fill in for Masch' and with our defence off form magnifying ALL his mistakes. Finally 3:) Lucas is a young player at present - growing and gaining experience of just HOW to excel in the English league all the time as he goes along - He's the same age Alonso was when He first came to Liverpool actually and he didn't look to convincing at first either no? But look how he turned out. Lucas has clearly shown enough improvement this season to warrant a place in the team - to be fair he's HAD to improve out of all recognition from before - and if he continues to improve at his current rate he'll more than replace Alonso but it will be a gradual process;

 

Gradual processes are always hard but they're often worth waiting for especially for players - the best ones are always the hardest to wait for while they're developing but they DO often pay dividends in the end though; Look at how Alonso turned out after years of patience - Lucas will be the same in my view and sooner than we think as well. IF we show patience then he WILL reward us with his improvement and due to our current parlous financial state - we'll just have to trust Rafa's judgement won't we?................................

 

Bit long....but outstanding post.

 

Agree with all of that.

[jackofdk]

In my opinion it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that Aquilani was bought as back up for Gerrard and that Rafa wanted Lucas to fill in for Xabi.

 

Aquilani was, in Rafa's words, bought to play between Masch and Gerrard. And he hasn't played instead of Gerrard when Gerrard has been injured, so I can't see anything to support that theory.

 

Aquilani was a fucking shit buy by Rafa and noone thinks so more than himself. We don't see him in training, but 99.9 percent of us would've given him way more chances on the pitch than Rafa has.

 

Rafa bought an expensive player he doesn't rate as he did with Keane and to a lesser extent Dossena.

 

Lucas is just a convenient scape goat, as Aquilani's shitness has given him a lot of games alongside another defensive midfielder. And Cold Hand Luke is many things, but a playmaker he ain't.

 

Aight?

[hamstrung]

Redshadow HAS to be a joke...

 

Right?

[Guest Pistonbroke]

In the current squad and the fact Aqualini has become a mystery then he gets into the team. If we want to play a more attack minded game and have aspirations of better things then he is a squad player at best.

[dirty_sanchez]

It's sadly indicative of the state of the FF at the moment, that a reasoned and well argued post gets the piss taken out of it rather than anyone actually taking the time to respond.

[Roy Hobbs]

I wouldn't play him every game cos Mascherano is better.

 

Deserves to play regularly though. Cos he's a good player.

 

Voted yes but the above sums up my thoughts very concisely

[Thants]

Redshadows post isn't that easy to read on a forum as it rambles a little but it's still worth a read. It's actually a very good post and well reasoned and balanced. It also backs up the stats and the MOTM table so far.

Take 3 minutes out and read it.

[RedBrian84]

I'm not so sure- but not because I don't think he's good enough, but because I believe its time Rafa returned Gerrard to the middle of the park and set our play up to flow through him.

 

Lucas has certainly improved a hell of a lot in the past 12 months. I've been one of his defenders on here and I believe he's a good player. He still requires a fair bit of work to improve though; such as taking games by the neck like Mascherano does in the same position when we are struggling, and I'd like to see more efforts on goal and more of a desire to get forward and complement the attack. Coupled with this he really needs to stop giving silly little niggly fouls away in dangerous positions- do it on the halfway line yes, to hamper the oppositions flow like Hamaan used to do so well, but not in the danger areas around the box- and I think he'll go on improving.

 

However, I cannot see a first team place for him ahead of Mascherano. He just isn't that good unfortunately.

 

But he gives his all, never less than 100% and on that basis then I suppose he merits his inclusion. In a different system though (which I truly believe we need to adapt) he wouldn't be in the starting eleven for me.

 

Incidentally- Redshadow's post is a damn good read.

[Guest TK-421]

Redshadow HAS to be a joke...

 

Right?

 

WRONG

 

[jackofdk]

Just thought I'd look into those Opta stats. Pretty impressive from Lucas, I must say. Among the highest in tackles and passing.

 

 

 

Tacklers Team Tackles Success rate

Mascherano Liverpool 127 83%

Thomas Wigan 127 76%

Palacios Tottenham 113 74%

Lucas Liverpool 111 67%

Muamba Bolton 101 66%

 

 

Passers Team Passes Accuracy

Fabregas Arsenal 1615 80%

Mascherano Liverpool 1577 82%

Lucas Liverpool 1463 84%

Terry Chelsea 1454 88%

Huddlestone Tottenham 1424 80%

 

Sky Sports | Football | Features | Premier League stats

[silverlining]

Can't tackle, not mobile enough, not creative enough, does not score goals, slows the play down when he receives the ball, first thought is to pass back and sidewards leaving the defenders to start attacks, a very limited player who has played has more games at this club than he should have but sums up everything about the way we now play football under Benitez.

 

 

*wild applause*

[silverlining]

Who are you Arl arse? I was talking to Hermes - Anyway - Oh FFS; Lucas IS worth a place in the team, IS the main reason we've done well this season when we've attacked well from midfield (our home forms gone RIGHT up with him there as well -we've won TEN home league games - only one less than Chelsea who've won more than anyone else and Lucas is a BIG part of the reason for that); Lucas IS also growing into the role of Alonso's replacement (which he IS in case anyone wondered who that was) and we WILL have him there for a while to come so we'd better damn well get used to him; Is THAT little lot clear enough?

 

You ARE a FUCKING bellend

[silverlining]

Redshadow HAS to be a joke...

 

Right?

 

I don't think so.

 

Which is quite amazing.

[Thants]

You ARE a FUCKING bellend

 

Nice discussion.

[silverlining]

Nice discussion.

 

I think it's worth discussing

[dirty_sanchez]

You ARE a FUCKING bellend

 

Way to go on improving the discussion level. Try contributing something useful and if you can't do that, at least be funny.