Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is reportedly trying to lure Lucas Leiva away from Anfield, and although the Brazilian is generally a popular figure amongst Reds fans, it seems that many believe the the time is right for the midfielder to leave the club.
According to Italian newspaper Tutto Mercato this week:
* Benitez has been calling/messaging Lucas in a bid to convince him to leave Liverpool.
* Napoli are interested in a loan deal initially, with a possible option to buy.
£8m-rated Lucas was also linked with Inter Milan in May, and when asked about the possibility of a transfer, he hailed Serie A as a 'great league', but denied having contact with the club. He told reporters:
"I have received no offers. Liverpool have never contacted me regarding this possibility, so I can't say there is a chance of me going to Inter because I am under contract at Liverpool".
Last month, I conducted a survey on the site, asking fans whether Liverpool should sell or keep Lucas, - who Rodgers recently described as an 'incredible' - player:
* 15400 people (approx) voted.
* 77% of participants voted for LFC to sell.
That's quite an emphatic result, but hardly surprising given Lucas's struggle to remain relevant under Brendan Rodgers. Like Daniel Agger, the Brazilian is arguably surplus to requirements at Liverpool, and his time as an automatic first choice is clearly over.
As such, it seems to me that Lucas is set for the same fate as Joe Allen: perennial bench duty as a back-up for Gerrard, but with Emre Can in the squad, he's probably not even first-choice back-up. The overall central midfield pecking order is possibly along the following lines:
* Gerrard
* Henderson
* Can
* Allen
* Lucas
Add Lallana into the mix as another possible option, and it's clear Lucas will struggle for game time next season. The key question, as always, is this: if the Brazilian leaves, will it make any difference to Liverpool's forward progress? I submit that the answer is a resounding no.
Lucas is a superb squad player to have, and a model professional, but at this stage, is he a better option than new signing Emre Can? Possibly not. Additionally, in the prime of his career, will he want to spend most of his time on the bench next season?
Author: Jaimie K
According to Italian newspaper Tutto Mercato this week:
* Benitez has been calling/messaging Lucas in a bid to convince him to leave Liverpool.
* Napoli are interested in a loan deal initially, with a possible option to buy.
£8m-rated Lucas was also linked with Inter Milan in May, and when asked about the possibility of a transfer, he hailed Serie A as a 'great league', but denied having contact with the club. He told reporters:
"I have received no offers. Liverpool have never contacted me regarding this possibility, so I can't say there is a chance of me going to Inter because I am under contract at Liverpool".
Last month, I conducted a survey on the site, asking fans whether Liverpool should sell or keep Lucas, - who Rodgers recently described as an 'incredible' - player:
* 15400 people (approx) voted.
* 77% of participants voted for LFC to sell.
That's quite an emphatic result, but hardly surprising given Lucas's struggle to remain relevant under Brendan Rodgers. Like Daniel Agger, the Brazilian is arguably surplus to requirements at Liverpool, and his time as an automatic first choice is clearly over.
As such, it seems to me that Lucas is set for the same fate as Joe Allen: perennial bench duty as a back-up for Gerrard, but with Emre Can in the squad, he's probably not even first-choice back-up. The overall central midfield pecking order is possibly along the following lines:
* Gerrard
* Henderson
* Can
* Allen
* Lucas
Add Lallana into the mix as another possible option, and it's clear Lucas will struggle for game time next season. The key question, as always, is this: if the Brazilian leaves, will it make any difference to Liverpool's forward progress? I submit that the answer is a resounding no.
Lucas is a superb squad player to have, and a model professional, but at this stage, is he a better option than new signing Emre Can? Possibly not. Additionally, in the prime of his career, will he want to spend most of his time on the bench next season?
Author: Jaimie K
What do you mean with no Suarez the system will not work?
ReplyDeleteSuarez played up front. The players behind him did all the leg work.
Not sure what you are getting at?
Most teams have an unsung hero. When scholes dropped into the holding role Darren fletcher did all the running and the dirty work, allowing scholes the freedom to control play. Hendo does that for gerrard. Without these players doing all the running the regista is nowhere near as effective
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why many do not understand the system Rodgers deploys. Many think Gerrard is the defensive midfielder when he is not.
ReplyDeleteThats me Logan bring it on lad.and thanks for having me in your league.
ReplyDeleteChelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed the club pulled out of the race to sign Manchester United new boy Luke Shaw because of his excessive wage demands.
ReplyDelete"If we pay to a 19-year-old boy what we were being asked for, for Luke Shaw, we are dead," said Mourinho.
"We kill our stability with financial fair play. We kill the stability in our dressing room.
"Because when you pay that much to a 19-year-old kid — a good player, a fantastic player — but when you pay that amount of money, the next day the players knock on the club's door.
"They would have been saying 'How is it possible I play for this club 200 games and won this and that; how come a 19-year-old comes here and gets more money than I get?' It would kill immediately our balance and we don't allow that.
One can just imagine what UTD's wage bill is like. That is the only way they will attract players without CL football. Offering the highest wages...
Happy to have you on board!
ReplyDeleteyeah I might have a bit of this :D ......
ReplyDeleteGood!
ReplyDeleteExactly. We don't play with a recognised defensive midfielder hence the lack of space for Lucas in the squad
ReplyDeleteI would keep Lucas this season as back up for Gerrard though. Lucas has the ability to read the game and plenty of experience but with the signing of Can his days are clearly numbered.
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers should sell L Leiva(27) for no less than £10M, R Benitez is trying to get bargain bucket deals out of us all the time. They are now haggling over paying £3.5M for P Reina(31) who is still a world class GK and better than S Mignolet(25).
ReplyDeleteThe problem with P Reina(31) was he fell out with B Rodgers,and he is on a ridiculous weekly wage and then wrote that letter before he went on loan to Napoli.
But When R Benitez has brought in players like Callejon, De Vries and Higuain he has paid a high price. But every player from Liverpool he wants , he tries to get them on loan. And then haggle over the price set in the deal at the end of loan.
B Rodgers should sell L Leiva(27) for £10-£14M to Napoli and then B Rodgers should spend £56M on three class central midfielders:
1: DM: E Banega(26) Of Valencia should be brought for £5-£8M to compete with S Gerrard(34) and E Can(21) , Banega would bring class, experience, mobility and a presence in the centre of park.
2: CM: Our Marquee signing this summer should be : T Alacantra(23) Of B Munich should be brought to club for £25-£36M.
To dictate the speed, tempo from centre of the park. ( J Allen(24) can compete with Thiago)
we could build the side's attacking creativity for now and future around Alacantra(23), Coutinho(21), Ibe(18), Sterling(19) and Suso(20)
3: CM: M Sissoko(24) Of Newcastle for £7-£12M to bring class, creativity, experience, goals, mobility, pace, power and speed to centre midfield. ( J Henderson(24) would compete with Moussa)
If B Rodgers brought those three centre midfielders to club, we will have midfield capable of competing with any top side in Europe.
Midfield trio combinations:
Alacantra Henderson
Can
Allen Sissoko
Gerrard/ Banega
Probably pie in the sky, but if Lucas is going, this (http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/07/26/cl-stats-why-arturo-vidal-is-a-must-buy-for-liverpool/?) is the sort of player we need, if we are gonna field the type of midfield players we've just purchased?
ReplyDeleteI think, Lucas is chancing for his Brazil cap a well. Anyone can realize that any LFC CM/DM 'll not get that many matches, rather BR 'll rotate them, while for Lucas, he might not even come from bench in most of EPL or CL matches. At Napoli, almost certainly Rafa 'll start him regularly & probably 'll play him at a slightly advanced CM role. Brazil had a pathetic WC & with Scolari gone, I am sure the new Manager 'll shake the world & build an entirely new team. At 27, if Lucas can start regularly for a Seria A CL side; chances are high that he 'll be in 2018 squad.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. In fact kudos to all the stats compilers. Putting what we see in numbers is good if only for the arguments.
ReplyDeleteLucas is a likeable guy and worked his butt off after injury to recover. That said, he is slow and has a penchant for committing fouls at bad times and bad locations on the pitch. Our whole game plan hinges on mobility. He is not mobile. Neither is Stevie any more but one is the face of the franchise and one is not. Lucas is a goner and probably for the best.....Allen, Coates, Reina, Assaidi, Yesil and probably Robinson should exit to help defray cost of new signings and make room for the promising youth kids who should be worked into the squad over the net 6-24 months.
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going to come to grips with the fact that we GROSSLY overpaid for Allen and is a squad player at best. Sell him, get a replacement and work in more of our academy youth over time.
ReplyDelete100% agree. See my posts as well. It is a bit sad given his work ethic in recovering from injury. Sports though can often be black and white and clinical.
ReplyDeleteVidal is a ball winner. That's why he would be an enormous boost to our team. He and Henderson would cork up the opposition, big time.
ReplyDeleteVidal; get Vidal!
ReplyDeleteI still think we need an experienced more rudimentary defensive midfield alternative to Gerrard. Allen and Can are square pegs. Can lacks the range of passing to play as a regista like Gerrard but I don't really see him as being mature enough to be a holding midfielder. Allen is too lightweight and not good enough positionally to be a holding midfielder and also lacks the range to replace Gerrard as a deep lying metronome.
ReplyDeleteWe could do with either keeping Lucas (great option from the bench too to close down games) as he is a great pro and is much more experienced than most of our players or bringing in a stop gap signing. Like Kolo last season, but a DM. Barry at Everton is a good example of the kind of player I'm talking about. Solid, calm and positionally aware.
Agree with all bar Barry.
ReplyDeleteDon't you ever get bored?
ReplyDeleteA lot of those stats are in Skrtels favour because he played the most minutes if you can find stats per game or per 90 minutes maybe we will get a more accurate representation of who is better
ReplyDeleteBut if we had that during the Benitez era with Torres we would have won the title
ReplyDeleteI hope he goes..
ReplyDeleteHe played very well for them last season. I wouldn't specifically want Barry, but someone of his profile.
ReplyDeleteI am in
ReplyDeleteLast season Stevie G wasn`t the most reliable of all players, he made some really bad errors shall we sell him? i love the bones of our captain fantastic but he`s human just like Lucas who did have a fairly poor year with injurys and all, but when Stevie came back from his injury and wasn`t brilliant for a while did we hitch him? Lucas to me is better than Allen who also had a topsy turvy season imo, so when it comes to our team defending a lead and the opposition are pressing us, who`s the better defensive player Gerrard? Allen? no its Lucas without a doubt ok the lad Can looks a bit more than usefull, if Lucas goes will Can be put into that defensive roll if Stevie G gets rested, or picks up an injury but will this be good for him because what i`ve seen of him he looks more of a attacking mid than defensive. So to me theirs less room for Allen at the moment than Leiva, in my book but Rodgers still thinks he`s the welsh xavi, I just hope we don`t end up regretting it if Lucas goes.
ReplyDeleteLucas still is a good player, he just may not fit into our system, doesn't make him any less of a player, it just shows how far we have come along.
ReplyDeleteYou do remember he was our player of the season a few seasons ago and before he got injured, he was immense.
ReplyDeleteYesil has suffered from injuries, but should still be considered a promising youth kid. Allen is needed for depth. Same to a point with Robinson, unless of course we buy a new LB.
ReplyDeleteAnd Luke Shaw says he chose Man Utd because they are the biggest/best club in the world. Interesting which one was the correct statement.
ReplyDeleteOk, first off, Banega is not very good. He came to Valencia from Boca Juniors with high expectations and failed to live up to those expectations, which is why he has been loaned out twice since his move. Also because he hasn't played for the Argentina national side recently, he may not get a visa, which is exactly the reason why his move to Everton failed to materialise. Secondly, you say we should buy Thiago Alcantara as our marquee player for 25-36M. Tell me then why for a player that is supposedly, according to you worth that much, why didn't he play regularly for Bayern Munich, in fact, he only made 16 appearances, including substitutions. In fact, for a 23 year old, he has made 59 appearances for Barca B, 68 appearances for Barca and 16 for Bayern. That is a total of 143 appearances, made since 2008, which makes it roughly 24 appearances per season, that includes substitutes. This does not make him a marquee player and definitely not worth up to 36M, especially being that he is unproven. Frankly, we don't need either Banega or Alcantara. Moussa Sissoko would be nice, but again, we do not need him. We have the depth and quality in midfield that we don't need any of these players.
ReplyDeleteGaz, What are you talking about E Banega(26) is better than J Allen(24) and L Leiva(27) combined together any day of the week, he offers more class and creativity.
ReplyDeleteAnd would be a very good signing
T Alacantra(23) is an awesome footballer and when i worked at the bridge two seasons ago as a security steward the game in which Chelsea and Barcelona played a 0 0 , Barcelona struggled to impose their game and had one glorious chance in game which Fabregas(27) set up Sanchez(25) and he missed target and shot wide.
But after 65mins T Alacantra(23) and Pedro(26) came on and both upped the tempo and for the last 25mins it was one way traffic. And no one in the centre of the park could get near Alacantra(23) he was sparying the ball around for fun and everything became two touch or one touch and go. T Alacantra(23) is in the same class calibre as Fabregas, Herrera, Kroos, Modric and Rakitic.
And B Rodgers should spend £25-£35M bringing him to club as he would be player for now and future of the club.
Burts got it sussed lads Its obvious Rodgers likes high energy players which agger and Lucas aren't
ReplyDeleteLucas(27) wants to try and get back in the Brazil national team and he does not want to be a squad player. He wants to be first choice, but he is simply not good enough to be ahead of S Gerrard(34) in side.
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers needs to sell L Leiva(27) for £10-£14M to Napoli and no less and then he needs to reinvest £6-£8M of that on Ever Banega(26) Of Valencia. He is mobile, Aggressive/ tough in tackle, class, creative ,quality and can and would pass the life out of teams from the centre of the park.
I'd be happy to have a punt on Banega, but I'd want a loan with an option to buy. He has proven that he doesn't have the attitude to match his undoubted talent and until he can prove he'd mesh with the squad and respect Rodgers' ways, I wouldn't want him as a permanent fixture.
ReplyDeleteI understand Lucas wont be enthusiastic about staying, but I think we can keep him until January at least. By that time someone suitable may be available.