20 Jan 2015 11:33:39
Just reading the following story on Sky.

"Lucas Leiva is pivotal to Liverpool's recent upturn in form and must not be sold, says Jamie Carragher"

Really glad to see this. If only so the types that get all their opinions from pundits might finally see the obvious.

If only Gerrard had expressed such thoughts to the press regarding Lucas, perhaps then, he (Lucas) wouldn't have been marginalised by BR to the point that he is/was on the verge of quitting.

But then, Stevie had his place in the team - so he clearly had a conflict in interest - and he made it clear that he would not be a bit-part player. He'd seemingly rather we endured him at DM against Palace and Utd (with obvious results), rather than question the mistreatment of Lucas.

Fair play to Carra. He always has displayed more knowledge about the coaching and tactical side of the game than Gerrard.

Now maybe even BR will get the message regarding Lucas.

Maybe Rodgers can apologise to him, and start trying to convince him to stay.

Lucas has been our player of the season imo - he has turned the season round, and held our shambles of a setup together well enough to help scrape us some badly-needed points, following a disastrous tactical calamity of a start.

- yet despite all this - our manager doesn't even seem sure that he should be in our squad!

You couldn't make this stuff up.

:)

{Ed002's Note - Carragher has no influence over transfers or anything else going on at Liverpool. There has been interest in Lucas from both Napoli and Inter - and both would have liked to take him on loan in January. The player has made it clear that he does not wish to move to Naples but would like to move to Inter Milan and his representatives negotiated a deal for a permanent move to Inter. There was however a complication in that Inter were in negotiations with another player (but the deal would require the approval of FIFA). However, Inter dropped their interes in the other player and made an offer to Liverpool. That was rejected and although it looked like a second offer would be made, Inter feel that they are being messed around by Liverpool in this matter and have turned their attention to Atletico's Mario Suarez. Napoli may press again but with Benitez leaving at the end of the season they may not provide a longer-term solution the player is looking for. The interest of Gremio will likely be rejected by the player but his representatives are looking to approach Atletico and Arsenal if they cannot get interest from Inter rekindled.}

1.) 20 Jan 2015
Thanks for the info ed.

If he signed for Arsenal that would sting a bit! I hope we can recover the situation - but alas, it may be too late.
:)

{Ed002's Note - I think a move to Arsenal unlikely - they are looking in another direction.}

2.) 20 Jan 2015
Would be awfully bad management yet again behind scenes if we were to keep Lucas.
What I mean by that is players have timelines and values, we missed the boat with Agger Skrtel Reina in terms of negotiating a 20m 10m and at least 15m fee's only for them to stagnate, lose form or run down their contracts, don't forget it's now 50% business management 50% sporting interest running a football club.
Back to Lucas, fantastic professional and has often divided opinion since his arrival but everytime he's risen above it and just got on with playing.
I'm in agreement his inclusion has allowed us to play a little more freely but let's not forget he always show's up in a positive playing in a struggling team, also let's look at why he's playing so well? I would say with confidence the wing back scenario suits him down to the ground, he's not as exposed to speed and now doesn't have to worry about numbers running at him which often lead to him giving away stupid fouls in dangerous areas!
So all in all, he's still an average player at best just doing a job anyone can do when the system them to just sit and sweep up, all you need is eyes and a will power to keep your position.
Fact remains he's staying and I would hope his value remains and this "form" keeps interested clubs keen to do business in the summer because if not we have yet again acted inept imo in a business sense. I pray he doesn't lose form or his place which could lead to us struggling to offload a player who clearly wanted to leave in Jan.
Prendergel

3.) 20 Jan 2015
I have to agree with you on your point of view to lucas, I've been saying the same thing,

you can't ignore tha fact he does make mistakes and gives fouls away in stupid areas, but as you have said he has given the other players the freedom to do their own thing, he has helped the team because they know he is playing to his full potential and playing well so don't have to worry about covering him,

i agree the way he is playing heshould be sold now because we won't get the same money if his form dips or the team start losing, then his value will go down, i am saying this for a couple of reasons i think the club want to sell him, he is not going to get any better and we can get a better Def-Mid or my option would be is to use Emre Can there abd let him have a good run of games and for him to grow into the role which will only make EC play better because of the game time and the experience, because i think any player with potential only needs to be playing every game to get better with game time and experience of playing in games big and small, look and sterling and ibe and couthinio, because they have been playing every game they have been getting better and better look at sterling he would never had got as good as he is at the moment if he had not played all the games he has played since last season, let's hope jordan ibe gets the same game time or it was a mistake to bring him back just to sit on the bench and not get the game time he was getting at the club he was on loan

4.) 20 Jan 2015
So do you want gerrard to come out and say he is not good enough to play for the first team and lucas should be played instead of him? I fail to see what the fuss is all about suso and lucas that majority of the posters are drooling over in recent months. They are both average at best.

{Ed001's Note - no they are not. I guess Lucas will never win over people like you, I don't blame the lad for wanting to leave. The defence has suddenly stopped conceding ludicrous amounts of goals due to him getting back in the team yet still you call him average at best. You will never make a scout with that lack of insight.}

5.) 20 Jan 2015
Personally think the 'fouls in stupid areas' Lucas gives away is what is helping us to a degree at the moment.
When Gerrard was the DMF a lot of the goals we were conceding (from open play anyway) were coming from midfield runners running off him, he had no awareness of them and just saw the ball and ended up running from player to player chasing it like a headless chicken. Lucas has much better awareness of midfield runners, spots them and either tackles them or ends up giving away a foul. Although fouling them is allowing them a shot on goal or to cross it into our box, it is from a distance of 20+ yards with a wall in the way and the keeper has a chance to set and position himself correctly.
I would rather see a player taking a free-kick against us from 25-30 yards than running through one on one against our GK.

6.) 20 Jan 2015
As far as I am concerned he has put in a good shift and if he feels like a new challenge I will wish him all the best. Considering how Brendan has treated him prior to his run in the team this year who could blame him. With respect to his value to the team it is unquestionable and only the blind would attest to anything different. I hope he gets the move he wants as he would deserve it and Liverpool can either replace him with a decent player or as I suspect waste it

7.) 20 Jan 2015
It's rather hypocritical ZinedineKilbane that you denigrate those who take their opinion from pundits and in the same breath use another pundit as justification for your own.

8.) 21 Jan 2015
Spank the monkfish.

There is no hypocrisy. People such as myself know the difference between reasoned opinion and drivel, unlike the plebeians.

My views do not need justification either.

I am unsurprised that you do not know the difference.
:)

9.) 21 Jan 2015
Ed01 regarding Lucas`detractors, there is literally NO hope for many of them. As you may have already heard, "You can force a horse to the bank of a river BUT you cannot force it to drink".

10.) 21 Jan 2015
Lucas will never get a fair shake from fans. He is humble, gives time to fans, plays well consistently, has been one of the main factors in our recent upturn of form yet people still call him "average" and crave Gerrard to be reinstated into the starting line-up. It's an absolute joke. Oh and all those fouls Lucas gives away? That's what a DM is supposed to do, read the game, read the danger and, if there isn't cover or the team is exposed, commit the foul in order to deny a clear goal scoring opportunity perhaps 10 seconds later. Anyone who doesn't that rewatch games with Gerrard as DM and marvel at the amount of time and space teams have to carve us open.

I will only be If/when Lucas leaves that fans will be able to grasp his importance to the side - that is very sad.

p.s. I use the term "fans" in a general sense as I know there are good numbers who do appreciate Lucas.

11.) 22 Jan 2015
Seano, the same fans slating him now are the same ones who will be calling for his return if/when he leaves.