He looks almost natural back there but there is a main reason why I wouldn't play him in a CB pairing; I don't think he's big enough quite frankly. The nudges he gave in the back to their players (and I'm not talking about the last one) and conceded free kicks, would become the norm as his lack of height doesn't allow him to tower in behind the attacker, to win it fairly. If he played it fairly, he would lose many of these kind of balls especially against your Carrols, Lukaku's and what-nots, and they are quite frequent in the Prem. We're already gnash at defending set-pieces that we don't need to be giving-up defensive aerial battles in-play to teams as well.
He's an excellent reader of the game, and would suit playing the central role of a trio of CB's, like Matthaus in the sweeper role, only just not as good as the German with his timing in the tackle. In saying that though, I ain't no fan of a back three, so therefore for me, Lucas wouldn't make a permanent CB, a fill in from time to time like today but not permanent.
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