Lucas Leiva and Mascherano

do you think rafa has bought Lucas to replace Mascherano at the end of this season? to my knowledge his loan is up at the end of this season and we have to pay £20 million or so to keep him? and rafa maybe dosent want to pay that much for him.

just a theory.

I'd pay that for him without hesitation considering the money we have at our disposal and Mashs absolute class.

And no, I don't think Leiva's been bought to replace him. They are different kinds of players and if we don't secure Mascherano's deal, Sissoko will stay.

That's cleary impossible! We can see that Mascherano hasn't any problem in the perevious season, he played well at Copa America too! (not including the final, I suppose!). I think boss Rafa Benitez just want an player to prepare in case of injury!

More like, as soon as we sign Mascherano to a long term deal, and Lucas shows his class, byebye Momo!

I haven't seen a lot of Leiva, only his pre season appearances & his last game for Gremio in the Copa Libatores, but from what's been reported he seems to be a different type of player from Mascherano. Mascherano is a holding midfielder playing in front of the back four, whereas Leiva by all accounts is a box to box midfielder, more in the Gerrard mould. If anyone's going to leave to make way for him I would suggest it would be Sissoko, as if Lucas lives up to expectations he should be able to do the job Momo does but with passing & shooting ability too.

Sissoko doesn't have his best now, his pre-season games wasn't really good, but I think if he can make up in the beginning of a new season, before 31st august, he will remain. The KOP has thier left-midfield-position open after Zendel leave, they just have Kewell now, but he always suffer injury, and then, he just has one year left at LiverpoolFC, so I hope boss Benitez can find someone to cover It. I don't know where's Leiva's favourite position, we'll see It soon, but I wish they could keep both Mascherano and Sissoko.

Sissoko doesn't have his best now, his pre-season games wasn't really good, but I think if he can make up in the beginning of a new season, before 31st august, he will remain. The KOP has thier left-midfield-position open after Zendel leave, they just have Kewell now, but he always suffer injury, and then, he just has one year left at LiverpoolFC, so I hope boss Benitez can find someone to cover It. I don't know where's Leiva's favourite position, we'll see It soon, but I wish they could keep both Mascherano and Sissoko.

I can't believe that you think that Sissoko hasn't had a good pre-season, all the games that I've seen him in, he's bossed the midfield and played extremely well, are you sure your watching the right player?

Sissoko doesn't have his best now, his pre-season games wasn't really good, but I think if he can make up in the beginning of a new season, before 31st august, he will remain. The KOP has thier left-midfield-position open after Zendel leave, they just have Kewell now, but he always suffer injury, and then, he just has one year left at LiverpoolFC, so I hope boss Benitez can find someone to cover It. I don't know where's Leiva's favourite position, we'll see It soon, but I wish they could keep both Mascherano and Sissoko.

You really think we're going to sell one of our central midfielders before Leiva has proved himself? Can't see it happening myself. With regards to the left side of midfield we have, Riise, Aurelio, Babel & Benayoun who can all play there, not 'just Kewell'.

Your profile lists your location as 'Other Planet'. On the basis of this post I'd have to agree.

You really think we're going to sell one of our central midfielders before Leiva has proved himself? Can't see it happening myself. With regards to the left side of midfield we have, Riise, Aurelio, Babel & Benayoun who can all play there, not 'just Kewell'.

Your profile lists your location as 'Other Planet'. On the basis of this post I'd have to agree.

I can't believe that you think that Sissoko hasn't had a good pre-season, all the games that I've seen him in, he's bossed the midfield and played extremely well, are you sure your watching the right player?

I'm really sorry! You might be right about the "Other planet" thing! I mean It when I wrote It. Since where I live is not really different from an other planet for You, not including that I have oxygene to breath and a TV with about 44 channels. I can barely watch some of our Premier ship and Champion League match, some of FA Cup match too and I don't have any chance to watch pre-seasons matchs, all I can do is read articles and watch hight-lights. My fault is that I wrote and judged everything follow my guess, when I don't even see It directly. I'm really sorry about It and I promise that I won't do It again. 

I think that this could be the case, Stevie/Xabi/Momo have all just signed long term deals so why would we offer them a deal if any were planning to be sold?

I dont think we'll sign Masch if we do have to pay 20m for him unless we were planning to play a different formation??

I think that this could be the case, Stevie/Xabi/Momo have all just signed long term deals so why would we offer them a deal if any were planning to be sold?

Even if we are selling one of them, a long term contract would help retain their value. Judging by the styles of players they are, if Lucas breaks through nicely I can see Sissoko being the one to make way.

Even if we are selling one of them, a long term contract would help retain their value. Judging by the styles of players they are, if Lucas breaks through nicely I can see Sissoko being the one to make way.

But Sissoko should be saved for our Skumsea, SkumUtd matches.

I saw a Feyenoord player tripped over him at the weekend and the small guy got up realised who it was and thought better of having ago.

But I do think he we have seen the best of him now maybe 1 more season if he's lucky.

But Sissoko should be saved for our Skumsea, SkumUtd matches.

I agree that he is a player who is ideal for those type of games, a destructive midfielder who doesn't give the opposition time on the ball. He can't pass or shoot to save his life though, and by all accounts Leiva is capable of doing Momo's job combined with those two simple skills too. If this is the case & he realises his potential then it would be time for Momo to go, but not any sooner, some people talking about him leaving this summer is just crazy.

do you think rafa has bought Lucas to replace Mascherano at the end of this season? to my knowledge his loan is up at the end of this season and we have to pay £20 million or so to keep him? and rafa maybe dosent want to pay that much for him.

just a theory.

well i hope he stays and think he will but he hasn't got lucas in as a replacement, mascher sits more where as lucas like to gte forward and score goals so on that level they are not like for like

Lucas and Mascherano are very different players. If anything Lucas is more similar to Gerrard in terms of being a box-to-box midfielder and attacking. To compare them, tis folly.

I thought Sissoko had a great pre season, back to his best before his injury.  Mascherano was a revelation when he arrived from West Ham and look what he did to Kaka in the Champions League Final.  I haven't seen enough of Lucas to make a judgment yet and the Premiership is a different matter to pre season friendlies.

What I am excited about is that we are having this discussion about which of three world class players is surplus to Liverpool's requirements!!

I'll leave it up to Rafa to solve the conundrum.

Strange one, the masch deal.  We all know he signed on an 18 month loan and when the season ends the price is apparently £20M.  Thing is though, Tevez was meant to cost £30M but Man Ure (unfortunately) havent paid that, they've signed him on a two year loan deal (great business for them).  These third party deals are really strange and leave a bad taste in the mouth in my opinion, it's almost like a prostitution kind of deal, all be it of the high class escort variety.  I'd like to know who gets paid what in all this.
All in though if Mascherano stays longer than next year and Leiva turns out to be quality then i think it will be Momo that has to watch his back. He's great at what he does but as Eddie said earlier he cannot pass the ball and isn't going to score any goals, although he is young and can improve, as Viera wasn't that good in these respects when he arrived at Arsenal.  Isn't it a wonderfull problem to have five potentially world class central midfielders at our disposal, as it wasn't that long ago we had Igor, Cheyrou and Diao to chose from.   

We need Masch and Momo to stay. As similar players, slightly different qualities, we need them to cover for each other, and Leiva we need to cover for Stevie. Again, similar players, different qualities. Its no good having a world class player in the treatment room with no cover. God willing it won't hapen but we have the cover and they get rotated to keep them sharp and hungry, we just need our stongest, or 'on top form' players for the right matches.

We need Masch and Momo to stay. As similar players, slightly different qualities

I wouldn't say they're similar players at all. Mascherano plays a holding role sitting in front of the back four offering extra protection, whilst Sissoko plays a lot higher up the pitch harrying the opposition & not giving them any time on the ball. Also Sissoko is very good at what he does, but he's a bit of a one trick pony, he can't pass dribble or shoot to save his life, Mascherano has a lot more to his all round game. As I've said before, I haven't seen a lot of him but from what I've heard Leiva would seem the ideal replacement for Sissoko if he makes the grade. By all accounts his energy levels are very high & he also doesn't give the opposition any time on the ball, but can actually pass & shoot too.

Lucas IMO is more similar to Gerrard/Alonso than Mascherano/Sissoko.
A well rounded game featuring longshots, passing and defence.