Lucas Leiva

I doubt Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder Lucas was listening to Radio 5 Live last Monday. And if not, then he would have missed a most illuminating chat between one of the station’s generally excellent presenters and Dominic Matteo, almost certainly the finest defender of the last 10 years whose name Leeds fans can rhyme with stereo.
“What, Dominic, do you think Rafael Benitez is doing wrong?”
“Well, for me,” came the reply. “He’s not picking the right players, or putting them in their strongest positions.”
“Well,” his interrogator replied, not unfairly, “what changes do you think he should make?”
“That’s not up to me. I’m not the manager.”
Happy to say where people are going wrong, but not willing to actually have any ideas of your own? This way to the microphone.
Alan Green, of course, that doyen of sports broadcasting, can top that. In the build-up to Liverpool’s match with Manchester United, that season-defining moment which forced everyone in the media, your correspondent included, to remember that seasons are never defined in October, regardless of how much Sky pretend they are, Green gave a run-down of the Liverpool line-up.
“Reina, excellent. Johnson, overpriced. Carragher, over the hill. Agger, just returning from injury. Insua, young. Mascherano, wife unhappy on Merseyside. Lucas, two left feet. Kuyt, bought as a striker, but doesn’t score goals. Torres, wonderful.” What the Northern Irishman and Ferguson-baiter in chief said of Fabio Aurelio and Yossi Benayoun is lost in the mists of time, but it would have been along the theme of average at best for the former, and unpredictable for the latter. Suffice to say it was not his assessment of either which stood out.
Similarly, he was spot on in his descriptions of Pepe Reina, the best goalkeeper in England and among the top five in the world, and Fernando Torres, the finest exponent of attacking play on the planet. But then you do not need to be a highly-paid broadcaster to spot that.
Rather, his withering remarks on the rest of Liverpool’s team, which, rather annoyingly, beat the much-vaunted champions about two hours after Green’s unsolicited verdict, were so unfounded, so wilfully hyperbolic, that they remain lodged in the mind 24 hours later.
Glen Johnson was overpriced, of course, but is that a fair summation of his abilities? No. He is an English international right back. Daniel Alves cost £23 million, Philipp Lahm would go for more than that. Johnson is not in their class, but he is the closest this country can manage. He is a £12 million player, but the extra £6 million can be considered a tax on his nationality, in the same way Stewart Downing is not a £12 million player, nor Michael Carrick an £18 million one.
Carragher’s standards have slipped, but, as he proved on Sunday, he is still a fine defender on his day. Daniel Agger is the best ball-playing centre back in the country, despite his injury problems. Emiliano Insua is young, but he is also brimming with promise. He will, most likely, be Argentina’s first choice left-back for many years to come. He has the potential to be better than Johnson, though his lack of stature may hold him back.
Mascherano’s wife, reportedly, has been unsettled in Liverpool, and it seems to have affected his performances, as have Argentina’s recent struggles, though he has been improving in recent weeks. He is also one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
Kuyt was not bought solely as a striker, he was bought as an industrious, disciplined forward, who had spent much of his career wide, a position he continues to occupy for Holland. He also has a habit of scoring important goals, particularly in Europe.
But Lucas, two left feet? It would seem Mr Green has not watched Liverpool much this season. For all the criticism directed at the young Brazilian, he has been one of Liverpool’s more consistent performers in the last three months. Consistently bad, harrumph the more quick-witted on the band-wagon. It is an over simplistic assessment offered by those who prefer consensus to evidence.
Lucas’s range of passing is minimal, his accuracy poor, his decision-making unreliable. He is neither combative enough to play defensively, nor creative enough to play a more attacking role. So run the accusations.
Yet his main crime, put simply, is that he is not Xabi Alonso. He does not have the Basque’s guile, his vision, his control of time and space. Few players do. Only Xavi and Andrea Pirlo can match Alonso’s range of passing. Contrasting Lucas with his predecessor not only masks the fact that Lucas remains Liverpool’s third-choice central midfielder – behind Mascherano and Alberto Aquilani – but the qualities that made him a Brazilian international at the age of 20.
His energy, his tactical versatility, his economy of possession, the speed with which he moves the ball. Lucas should develop into a fine box-to-box player, rather than a master of the centre circle, as Alonso was. He has his flaws, of course – he does not score enough goals, he is prone to playing safe rather than challenging himself, he commits far too many unnecessary fouls – but casting him as a modern-day Ali Dia is absurd.
If he were, as competitive a manager as Rafael Benitez would not persist with him. Nor would Carlos Dunga. And he would not have gone toe-to-toe with Paul Scholes and Carrick and won. Perhaps his role in the destruction of United will put an end to the ill-considered, rambling sound bites of Green – and many others – in the media. Perhaps it will end the rumbling of discontent among those Liverpool fans who believe Jay Spearing – who did not stand out against League One Leeds, let alone Premier League Sunderland, and has not played for England’s under-21s, much less Brazil’s senior team – is the better player.
Then again, perhaps not. That’s the thing about band wagons. It’s hard to get off them.

was only a matter of time before a lucas thread appeared
think weve been in need of one of these for a long time.


he did not, he was playing ok then, not really that bad.
lucas was just a scape goat, the whole team was way under par at that stage.
like we are seeing now, luckily were starting to turn it around

I think you mis-understood what I was saying, Scouse. I said thank you for NOT being a stubborn prick. There are many that don't give credit where it's due, but you did. So well done to you

Lucas has won more tackles than Mascherano this year, interesting stats.

I actually said that he did very well, but you keep changing things to suit your argument 

It's one thing to say your being positive, it's another thing to actually BE positive.

Your being "positive" just seems to lead you to speak unrealistic and ever more biased nonsense though.

I prefer to be realistic.

He is really developing into a great player but will still be another season or 2 until he is 'great'.

He has done well this year, but he really did deserve the stick he was getting in seasons past. Some of that should have been directed more at Rafa for picking someone who looked to be way out of their depth, but with hindsight maybe that is what was needed to turn him into the player that he will become.

It all comes down to the hair cut though. Now lets get Voronin in to the same barber and we may have a half decent striker available to us.