Lucas Leiva (Liverpool > S.S. Lazio)

His best game yesterday pre injury  put in one thunderous tackle that shouldvhave banished all thoughts of the injury . Havnt been his biggest fan over the years but stood up to be counted yesterday  was the standout for me .

Have never liked this player.Starting by his position which I don´t like to see any team use.Hate defensive minded players outside of the back 4 but I´m being naive here,I know they are sometimes necessary and serve to not just scoop up the ball but start the attack,it´s just you don´t see that dynamic working that effectively sometimes and a DM is 1 less attacking player.But I admit it could work,it´s just all I´ve seen from Leiva have been yellow after yellow card,clumsy tackles and fouls.I know once he was sharper with his passing game and served as ignition for attacks but I honestly don´t see that anymore,haven´t for a looong time.However...

In our present situation I would use him as support for our defense and to let Gerrard loose upfield.For those 2 reasons alone we should stick with him.But then I think Allen should be doing this job without having to lie so deep,but he´s not really doing anything so...Problem is Lucas is much too clumsy/dirty and would give away tons of freekicks even penalties,I just don´t see anyone else that could be placed in that position (not sure if Can is supposed to be able to do this).Point is,we should stick with him at least until Summer,by which then we should have found a younger,fleeter of foot and mind,less dirty DM which can really give us that first spark of attack without all the yellow card baggage.

Until then,let´s play Lucas (without Allen at the same time  ) and free up Gerrard and the whole midfield to get us back up and running.Solution is not however to put Henderson,Lucas and Allen at the same time.If that´s the case I´d rather see him go just so BR would be forced to pick an attacking man.So Lucas...your time is now.Prove me wrong mate.

Hate defensive minded players outside of the back 4 but I´m being naive here,I know they are sometimes necessary and serve to not just scoop up the ball but start the attack,

So they start the attack. Lucas was an attack minded player in Brazil and still is. He doe what Busquets does; offers a pivot to play off, breaks up attacks and probes the ball forward so we keep possession. He is totally what we need and is good at it ad would be more instrumental to the team if he had been playing all season. This is obviously how I see it and players can dip in form but not playing Lucas is a travesty.

So they start the attack. Lucas was an attack minded player in Brazil and still is. He doe what Busquets does; offers a pivot to play off, breaks up attacks and probes the ball forward so we keep possession. He is totally what we need and is good at it ad would be more instrumental to the team if he had been playing all season. This is obviously how I see it and players can dip in form but not playing Lucas is a travesty.

True.We are in the perfect scenario for him.We have to use him.

Never thought I would say this, but Lucas has to start now.

There.  I said it.

Now I feel like I need a shower.

Never thought I would say this, but Lucas has to start now.

There.  I said it.

Now I feel like I need a shower.

Knew he would win you over eventually 

fair play he had a great game I still think Emre Can has more to offer and we should be using him due to his power,pace and ability to pick out better passes and slight chance of a goal now and again, But instead of Gerrard in that role i would put Lucas there for now whilst we are letting Can settle.

next season i cant see him still being at the club as i feel rogers wants to have Allen and Can as his two DM.

back to lucas maybe he benifits also from not starting every game and is something we could look at doing with him this season.

Never thought I would say this, but Lucas has to start now.

There.  I said it.

Now I feel like I need a shower.

One of us. One of us. One of us.

2 starts 2 wins.

We go again Lucas!

Boss.

Proving his critics wrong, especially the Boss who wanted to F**k him off in Jan.

I still reckon he will go in January and that will be the start of Can being our Anchor!

Another decent performance, Brendan may well regret letting Lucas go, in January, if rumours are correct.

Another decent performance, Brendan may well regret letting Lucas go, in January, if rumours are correct.

What rumours?

Be crazy to get rid of him at the moment, he's proving he can still be a big player for us.

What rumours?

Gets the odd link to Napoli now and then, nothing credible

Boss.

Proving his critics wrong, especially the Boss who wanted to f**k him off in Jan.

Aye, thought Lucas was probably MotM tonight.

There were still people trying to moan at him though, pretty sad that when his introduction has brought about an obvious turn around in defensive solidarity even with Migs and Skrtel trying their best to F**k it up.

Shows how far we've come backwards when Lucas is our best DM, there's still huge problems which come as a direct result of him being in the team. That said he's managing his game very well at the moment, and given the form of the rest of our squad he'd be pretty much the first name I'd have down on the sheet right now. If we are to continue to play with sitting midfielders though, our need for a top class one is absolutely glaring.

Gets the odd link to Napoli now and then, nothing credible

I´m afraid its credible with worrying quotes from Lucas re his playing time. Hope it changes now with Leiva back in the side and Brendan hopefully realising this lad is still valuable to the team. Another solid display from him tonight, made up.

Like Rickie Lambert and Kolo Toure, Lucas is doing an admirable job for Liverpool football club at the moment and he deserves to play every game he can. Anyone who thinks any one of those three is not only the long term answer but even the medium term answer if we want to compete in and amongst the top four though wants their bumps felt. 

I thought he was very good again. Does seem to have steadied the midfield.

Well done Lucas.

Hes in champions league form.

Fun fact : Liverpool this season in all comps with Lucas: WWLWWLWDWW (7W, 1D, 2L) Without: LWLDLWLDLLL (2W, 2D, 7L)

Shows how far we've come backwards when Lucas is our best DM, there's still huge problems which come as a direct result of him being in the team. That said he's managing his game very well at the moment, and given the form of the rest of our squad he'd be pretty much the first name I'd have down on the sheet right now. If we are to continue to play with sitting midfielders though, our need for a top class one is absolutely glaring.

Agree mate. I know we've won 2 out of 2 with him in the team but he makes me nervous still, with all those silly little free kicks he gives away. Don't remember if he got a yellow this morning but he did give quite a few FK's away in dangerous positions and if it had of been another Ref, he could have found himself getting a couple of yellows and been sent off.

He makes me twitchy but then again so does our whole defence! We are on a little run with him in the team so I can't see how he'd be dropped but I just want him to be more careful.

Well, I've just checked, and every single foul Lucas gave away was in the opposition half.
In other words, "safe" fouls that stopped counter attacks.

The best contribution he made for me was for the Lallana goal.
So many times we see players in that position who just hit it straight back into the box, but he looked up, saw everyone was offside, delayed, and delayed again, then when our players were back onside and turning, he put the ball into an area the goalkeeper did not want to come to, and more importantly, our players had the run on them and were attacking the space where the ball was going to drop.

Well, I've just checked, and every single foul Lucas gave away was in the opposition half.
In other words, "safe" fouls that stopped counter attacks.

The best contribution he made for me was for the Lallana goal.
So many times we see players in that position who just hit it straight back into the box, but he looked up, saw everyone was offside, delayed, and delayed again, then when our players were back onside and turning, he put the ball into an area the goalkeeper did not want to come to, and more importantly, our players had the run on them and were attacking the space where the ball was going to drop.

The stats are wrong mate. I sat and watched the game and can remember at least two fouls he gave away in dangerous positions. That said he did pretty well, and would be just about my first name on the team sheet at the moment. My one criticism (which seems bizarre coming from me) is that he's getting forward a bit too much. I much prefer him when we're playing as sh!te as we are to sit really close to the two centre halves and not move too far away from that point.