GATESEYRED

Lucas is average in everything he does, his supporters on this forum like to say that if you don't appreciate him then you don't understand football..... absolute rubbish To win games you need to be better than the opposition, he would not get anywhere near the squads of our competition, it's not about wether you like the guy or not it's wether he's good enough which clearly he insn't, every now and then when we play a top side, Lucas has a good game becuase he works and closes down oppposition midfields but thats not the games that will win us the league! It's the majority of games we play against lesser opposition where his passing is below standard, does anyone think that he is a decent DM player, he gets knocked of the ball far too easily and gives away free kicks on the edge of the area because his timing of the tackle is poor Mascherano was a proper player If we want to be the team we all hope for, then players like Lucas need to go....

Do the opta statistics tell you how many times he gives the ball away, or how many times he gets knocked off it, or how many times he gives away a silly free kick in dangerous positions? How about how many games have we won since he's been a regular starter?

The future would be a lot brighter if we got rid of players like Kuyt and Lucas who depsite their best intentions are clearly not good enough to play the amount of games they do, Kuyt doesn't play as a striker for us because he's not good enough, Lucas can't tackle so how can he play DM. If we demanded quality over 'hard work' then maybe just maybe we might get back to where we belong... AT THE TOP

I fully expect to get a load of abuse for giving my opinon on Kuyt as he seems to get people on the offensive whatever you think of him, While giving '100%' comittment in every game is commendable and in the modern age of pampered players not always to be expected, i find myself asking if teams like Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona are in need of a 'KUYT' and the obvious answer is NO! As an attacking players of a club that has the aspirations to be one of the best in Europe (which is what we are) then he is clearly not good enough, his touch is shocking for a premier league player, he can see a pass but not make it, and the reason he has been moved wide is because he cannot strike a ball cleanly I have supported the reds for over thirty years and do not find it easy to criticise any player that is giving his all for the shirt, but the fact that he plays every week regardless of performance is unbelievable, has a player with such limited abiltiy ever played so many times for the reds?