Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12 - Mod Note 4153

SlickRic wrote: »

i've not been online in a few days, but firstly, just to say, another super performance on Sunday. we should've won, and that's happening too often, where we should be winning, but bad finishing and brilliant visiting goalkeeping is denying us.

it all continues to be very encouraging though.

but i wanted to reserve a special word for our general, Mr Lucas Leiva.

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warning: long post ahead...

i'm saying it right off the bat, that right now, I wouldn't swap Lucas for any other DM playing in the EPL.

i trust him implicitly in that role. he's learned it. he knows it. he loves it. he's strong. his anticipation is as good as anyone's. his passing has great variety. his game-reading is super. at this moment, he exhibits a bit of everything. there is of course room for improvement, but i could barely be happier with him presently. and that stance has only grown stronger since about 2 years ago.

but one quality he has that makes me trust him even more, and makes me believe he will not let the side down at any point in the future, is that he is battle-hardened to the core after what he has been through at the club. and to think some fans still don't want him, or will admit that they were wrong to not trust in Rafa's judgment (and Stevie's btw) on him....

...anyway, i say battle-hardened, because does anyone remember this?? it's Lucas' take on the most difficult part of his career...from mid-2009



thank you Rafa and Stevie in particular for your belief in the lad through the difficult early years.

i remember defending Lucas around the 2008/2009 time. I was at Anfield, and did the tour as those i went with hadn't been before, and due to my defence of Lucas, and my belief that he would at least be a very good squad player for us, they encouraged me to sit beside my "homeboy" Lucas' shirt in the Anfield dressing room.

i still have the photo, and proud of it too

the man had to deal with the shadow of Alonso, a section of supporters deriding him, and then has had the courage and conviction in himself to work his balls off, learn the position, turn the vast majority of the boo-boys around, and become the anchor of the Liverpool midfield - the guy is now our pivot, our shield, our tempo setter, our general.

the performance on Sunday was the latest in an ever growing list of awesome performances, particularly against midfields he is "supposed" to be inferior to. he has helped dominate Chelsea twice last year, and more than match this. he's helped give us the edge in many of our games against United, and many other games over the last couple of years too.

in fact, speaking of United, the first United game he really stood out in, our 2-0 game when Pepe straddled N'Gog after our winner, was the one where it all really turned around for him. from the man himself...



as i say, Sunday was merely the latest example of his growing stature. he won a ridiculous amount of challenges. he hit passes of varying length, strength and purpose. he dominated our tempo. he snuffed out Silva's space. he joined our attack at times with quality. he won aerial duels. he did just about everything a holding midfielder can be asked to do.

and i say this too...if Scotty Parker had put in that performance, the media would be fingering themselves over it. i'm a big fan, but the amount of times i've seen performances of grit from that man without half the technical prowess and calm that Lucas showed on Sunday, and he gets lauded as incredible, is laughable. i've no problem with Parker getting praise, as i say, i'm a fan of his work, and i'm only picking on him because he's the 'Chosen One' in the English media right now...

but this sort of shít happens while Lucas barely gets a mention anywhere. he got MOTM on Sunday....hardly a whisper of recognition. the most you'll get is the odd patronising "isn't it wonderful to see he's improving after his start at Anfield", or something to that effect. almost 5 years on.

it's time for everyone to forget about what he was. he was a young man, coming to a new country, having to learn a different culture, language...as well as way to play the game. he's learned his craft, and he's now excelling, and i don't use these words lightly.

we don't need the media's recognition to know how good he now is, but it's worth pointing out that he gets a fraction of the plaudits he deserves, and this is reflected in the amount of rival fans, and occasionally our own, who still refuse to see what he has become...because 'Lucas' is a name you cannot possibly associate with "quality", purely because of the start of his career in England :rolleyes:

he's just about the first name on our teamsheet, only maybe after Pepe and Suarez.

the old Lucas is gone...long live our new general.

citytillidie wrote: »

Might be hard to get a stream.

Rafa in 2008 wrote:

”People just don’t know how good Lucas is. He is a fantastic player, he was captain of his club side at 19 and has already won full caps with Brazil.”

djPSB wrote: »

In fairness he was a bit jittery a the start but it never warranted the abuse he got.

Kess73 wrote: »

I heard that Phil Thompson started on him a few times during the radio broadcast of the game. He was musing aloud as to how the hell could Barry have ever been seen as any kind of replacement for Alonso.

I am pie wrote: »

At the start people were looking at a player who had been more attack minded in a brazilian league, probably (like myself) checked out a few goals he had scored over there and thought we were getting a mix of gerrard & alonso. He's neither but is crucial to the team these days, tremendous tackler and awesome work rate. Occassionally he would give the ball away in the first few seasons while adjusting to the pace of the game, but not often enough to warrant the ridiculous abuse he got. His distribution has improved a lot.

Daemonic wrote: »

Liveonlinefooty has it listed on their schedule so it is being televised somewhere and if thats the case the streams will follow