Earlier in the week, former Chelsea player Tony Cascarino slated Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel in the harshest terms possible. Is he right or wrong with his criticisms?
Cascarino told the Times: “Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabiano Aurelio, Martin Skrtel...Are they really fit to wear the Liverpool shirt? Are they really up for it or up to it?” Not from what I saw on Tuesday night, nor from what I've seen previously.”
“They're just not good enough, especially Lucas. The Brazilian is probably one of the most un-South American players I've ever seen and his impact in midfield, at best, appears negligible. If Steven Gerrard is off the boil, others have to step up to the plate. Lucas disappears; responsibility is not his forte.”
“Not that Aurelio, another Brazilian, gave him much support. He was similarly woeful. Insua, the left back, cannot defend for love nor money and Skrtel, all 6ft 4in of him, was given the runaround by Stevan Jovetic…Skrtel should be able to handle him. Allowing yourself to be bullied by a 19-year-old kid is simply embarrassing.”
“This foursome is just gruesome and I fail to comprehend why Rafa Benitez bought them. I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey. Those teams don't carry passengers.”
So, in summary:
1. Lucas, Insua, Aurelio and Skrtel are not fit to wear the shirt
2. Lucas has negligible impact on midfield
3. Lucas does not take responsibility in games
4. Aurelio is a woeful player
5. Skrtel is easily bullied off the ball
6. Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal don’t carry passengers/don’t have any players that are not good enough.
In my view, Cascarino is hilariously wide of the mark, and no real Liverpool fan would agree that any of them are 'not fit to wear the shirt'. Indeed, all four players have proved themselves worthy recently, and at various times in the past.
But what do you think?
Cascarino told the Times: “Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabiano Aurelio, Martin Skrtel...Are they really fit to wear the Liverpool shirt? Are they really up for it or up to it?” Not from what I saw on Tuesday night, nor from what I've seen previously.”
“They're just not good enough, especially Lucas. The Brazilian is probably one of the most un-South American players I've ever seen and his impact in midfield, at best, appears negligible. If Steven Gerrard is off the boil, others have to step up to the plate. Lucas disappears; responsibility is not his forte.”
“Not that Aurelio, another Brazilian, gave him much support. He was similarly woeful. Insua, the left back, cannot defend for love nor money and Skrtel, all 6ft 4in of him, was given the runaround by Stevan Jovetic…Skrtel should be able to handle him. Allowing yourself to be bullied by a 19-year-old kid is simply embarrassing.”
“This foursome is just gruesome and I fail to comprehend why Rafa Benitez bought them. I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey. Those teams don't carry passengers.”
So, in summary:
1. Lucas, Insua, Aurelio and Skrtel are not fit to wear the shirt
2. Lucas has negligible impact on midfield
3. Lucas does not take responsibility in games
4. Aurelio is a woeful player
5. Skrtel is easily bullied off the ball
6. Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal don’t carry passengers/don’t have any players that are not good enough.
In my view, Cascarino is hilariously wide of the mark, and no real Liverpool fan would agree that any of them are 'not fit to wear the shirt'. Indeed, all four players have proved themselves worthy recently, and at various times in the past.
But what do you think?
Obviously he has not seen a lot of Liverpool's games then. Aurelio is an excellent squad player who has always has spells of being a great player. He is not fully fit and Benitez played him out of position. Insua has been superb for the last 2 seasons, and this year has supplied or helped to create a number of goals for us. Skrtel i agree has not had a good start to the season at all, but in previous seasons he has been fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThe only player he is right about is Lucas Leiva. He really is not good enough to wear the shirt. He always disappears when the going gets tough, his maintaining of possession is woeful, passing is terrible, and he is weak and slow. His impact on games is almost none existent even when he has played his best!!!
The only other players what should never wear that red shirt are Dossena, who is the worst Italian defender ive ever seen, and Voronin who cares about liverpool and playing football, less than his hair. I will actually be amazed if Voronin scores a goal this season.
What hyperbole....these are squad players who cost in total approx.£14 million .
ReplyDeleteI bet we could sell them for £22 miilion ...not bad a 50% profit.
The real problem is that Rafa will have to think like this as the Americans squeeze the life out of the club through little or no real investment.This means that Rafa will only be able to generate transfer funds through buying and selling on.
It's still very early days so far in the season, judge Liverpool when Agger, Aquilani, Mascherano etc , are playing and fully fit. Only Lucas is not responding and Aurelio is still not match fit, Insua is a very good player but still a baby. Let's see what happens tomorrow?, Im expecting a big performance and a win if we play together on song.
ReplyDeleteIn Lucas he is quite correct but Cascarino, if you read him regularly, hates Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteSkrtel has been poor this season. Hopefully Agger will be fully fit soon so he'd better pull his socks up. Carra is exposed because of Skrtel's form which makes him look poor himself.
Insua is a little inexperienced but he's still a very good player.
Aurelio nearly put Chelski out last season with his brilliance and the year before his injury gave Riise the chance to put us out. Aurelio should still be first choice left back and probably will be in another few weeks.
He is right about Lucas, but not the other three, especially the very talented Insua and of course Skrtel, who was great last year, and has just started this season inconsistently, as several other of our players.
ReplyDeleteif theses are squad players, and not first choice, who should we be playing at left back, centre back and central midfielder? Make no mistake, at least 3 of these will play whenever they are fit, and they are not up to the job
ReplyDeleteWhy do Liverpool get all this criticism, it is as if the media will do anything to undermind the club and Rafa. Wo is Tony Cascarino any way! Sounds like he is doing a good job for Chelsea, getting us lot talking about how bad we are just before we play them. I read an artical recently an interview with Steve G, in it he talked about how good Lucas is and what a great player he will befor Liverpool. I think Gerrard knows more about this than Cascarino, and with respect us lot. I remember last year the stick Benayoun was getting, I believe he was considered not good enough to wear the shirt. Lets just back the team, we will beat Chelsea tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteYou are talking rubbish mate along with Cascarino. Aurelio is a very good left back when fit. Insua is young and already good now but improving. I love the way the Da Silva brothers are touted as hot prospects yet Insua is slated, even though he is currently a far better player than them you have not got a clue if you seriously think what you have said is true, only Lucas I think is not good enough. When we were more defensive we got slated now we are more attacking we get slated. Get a grip and support the team.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most posters that Lucas is definitely not good enough. He's had enough chances to show he simply has no class and isn't good enough. Jay Spearing is a better player. Rafa's stubborness with Lucas is tiresome for me now and putting his own ego about the player above the team.
ReplyDeleteAurelio is a good left back, but he's always injured and that's his weakness. Skytel needs to get back to the form of last season. Insua is a talented lad but needs more focus in his defending.
Cascarino is always looking to make headlines so I wouldn't read him.
<span style="font-family: arial; color: #666666; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cascarino ur just a disgraced footballer who played for the republic of ireland under false pretenses, anyway now we are clear on your bitterness towards other international players, i must admit lucas' form is way below aceptable terms at times but both rafa and dunga could not be wrong in selecting the guy, hes still young and is the first to admit that he needs to improve but he still has time on his side and im sure will benifit from the negative response he gets like benyoun did last term and kuyt the year before. Aurellio is a fine player, its ridiculous to slate him or label him a bad player on one performance that he played out of position and in a team that just didnt click on the night, as for skrtl and being bullied off the ball, get a grip mate, yes he got turned easily and outshone by a quality player but is ferdinand suddenly a terrible defender because bellamy turned him and scored 2 weeks ago? i think not. I think the majority of non liverpool fans love to slate us at every given opportunity which is funny to me, every little issue at the club is blown out of praportion by the media and so called experts like out finances, bad performances by some of our players, carragher not up to it anymore, rubbish like this, i really feel this is jealousy, anyway im gonna stop ranting now but cascarino please show our club some respect, the respect we deserve as we our englands most successful team home and abroad</span>
ReplyDeleteI think we actually do deserve stick at the moment, we have players who are much better than we are seeing. The performance in Italy was shocking, this game tomorrow is the perfect game for Liverpool. We score more goals than anyone just like last season but the attitude has to be bang on, keep the faith boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete<span><span style="font-style: italic;">I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey</span></span>
ReplyDeleteArsenal: Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue
Chelsea: Alex, Malouda, Kalou, Obi Mikel
United: Brown, Nani, Berbatov, Valencia
<div id="TixyyLink" style="border: medium none; overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<span><span style="font-style: italic;">I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey</span></span>
ReplyDeleteArsenal: Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue
Chelsea: Alex, Malouda, Kalou, Obi Mikel
United: Brown, Nani, Berbatov, Valencia
<span><span style="font-style: italic;">I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey</span></span>
ReplyDeleteArsenal: Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue
Chelsea: Alex, Malouda, Kalou, Obi Mikel
United: Brown, Nani, Berbatov, Valencia
<div id="TixyyLink" style="border: medium none; overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<span><span style="font-style: italic;">I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey</span></span>
ReplyDeleteArsenal: Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue
Chelsea: Alex, Malouda, Kalou, Obi Mikel
United: Brown, Nani, Berbatov, Valencia
<div id="TixyyLink" style="border: medium none; overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<span><span style="font-style: italic;">I don't see Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal having four first-team players not good enough to slip on the jersey</span></span>
ReplyDeleteArsenal: Song, Bendtner, Diaby, Eboue
Chelsea: Alex, Malouda, Kalou, Obi Mikel
United: Brown, Nani, Berbatov, Valencia
Lucas is complete and utter dogshite.
ReplyDeleteHe doesnt do a single thing to justify his inclusion.
Will someone please tell me what he does well or at all?
I forget his is playing mostly until he commits a foul that is.
Give me Igor Biscan all day!
I agree with Lucas. He shouldn't be first choice midfielder for us and he's not. You can play Lucas against Hull but not against the better sides. Insua is still young so it's too harsh to say he's not good enough for Liverpool. He will get better and better. Hopefully a lot better. Aurelio is very talented but injury prone player. He shouldn't be first choice midfielder or left back. Skrtel played very well last year but this year he has been almost as bad as Carragher. Hope they will improve a lot, otherwise our our defence will be one of the worst in the league. Bring on Aquilani and Agger!
ReplyDeleteSpearing a better player get a grip.If he wasn,t born in the area he would be long gone. Get off lucas back.Everyone going over the top about xabi leaving,you all seem to forget before last year he wasn,t setting the world alight was he
ReplyDeleteCan anyone actually give me an example of what Lucas has done wrong this season? Get of the lad's back. You lot are comparing him to Alonso last season, and as has already been stated, before last season Alonso was poor. Tell me honestly how many of you would have been disappointed to get £18M for him last summer, but because he punched above his weight last year, he was the player that made LFC tick - HA!
ReplyDeleteAs for all the parp about Carragher being past it it, again, too many people take other people's opinions and form them as their own. Have the guts to make your own opinions and stand by them. Carra has been poor because he has had to do the work of 2 men this year as Skrtel is so badly out of form (not a bad player, just in bad form). The first time I saw that lad I couldn't believe how big, quick and talented he was. I think he maybe resting on his laurels with Sami leaving last year and Agger being injured, and he just isn't cutting it at the moment - but he'll be back, make no mistake about it.
Cascarino is a fool, and was mediocre player in his time. Remind me who did he play for and what he won? Oh yeah, Millwall and nothing I seem to remember - he's as bad a pundit as he was a player.
I think he's well wide of the mark. Insua has shown great potential, Skrtel is the aggressive, dominant player we need at the back to compliment a more cultured player like Agger, or a more heart and soul player, like Carra. Lucas has shown good improvement and on his day is a good player and Aurelio has proved his worth on more than one occasion.
ReplyDeleteCascarino's made idiotic comments in the past and he seems to like the attention they get him.
Cascarino and Kanwar are lovers
ReplyDeleteCascarino is a washed up nobody - he's almost as bad as Stan Collymore !
ReplyDeletehe is right about lucas and insua, mabey skrtel, he doesnt use his strenght enough, but aurelio is pretty good
ReplyDeletecascarino is talking absolute rubbish!! insua is a great young player, agree with the point about the da silva's, insua is better but gets nowhere near thecoverage they do! aurelio is also a good player, not brilliant but has done nothing to deserve this. skrtel has been below par recently but has already proved himself to be top quality, and how is it embarrasing to get beaten by a 19 year old?? no-one was saying that when rooney etc were that age! lucas has been one of our best players this term and is beggining to find his feet after a poor start. and don't even get me started on the bit about the rest of the "big four" carrying pasengers!! cascarino you are an absoloute fool who has done nothing in football to pass judgement on better players than yourself
ReplyDeleteThis is typical Cascarino. Because he's unable to produce anything insightful he has to write Liverpool off and pick on a few easy targets (foreign players who don't have established reputations) to get people to read his articles. Im an Arsenal fan and he always does the same to us when we lose.
ReplyDeleteHe just talks rubbish, us and Man U line up three or four players of that ability each week, barring Lucas theyre all competent at the top level. Skrtels quite decent and insua's a good left back even at nineteen.
That said though I kind of agree that you probably wont win anything with your team as it stands.
That said none of them would get near
Lucas, I have to agree with I'm afraid, though I will him to succeed it doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon, he's simply at the wrong club. Aurelio, technically very good, is too injury prone and will never have a decent run in the 1st team. Also, sticking him in central midfield was a disaster but then he was playing alongside Lucas. Criticising Skrtal & Insua is plainly bizarre, especially generally. OK, against Fiorentina they were found wanting, but surely their class is obvious. Not to Cascarino it would seem. If you're going to criticise the likes of Skrtel & Insua then surely Babel, Voronin etc would be targets as well. He didn't appear to bother with them so you can only assume he's plucking names from the air because he's having problems finding subjects to write about.
ReplyDeleteTypical press tat !
ReplyDeleteSome of you guys may not remember this (and it's not a go, simply I have followed the reds for 25+ years, and you genuinely may not know) but Liverpool have always borne the brunt of the press always wanting to knock us.
Even when Utd got relegated in 1974 they were everything that was wonderful and got more plaudits than the teams that actually won things.
In 1990 when they won the FA Cup, the coverage they received was enough to make other people think that there was no league season that year !
Cascarino is just the latest to get on the bandwagon, he's clearly trying to make a name for himself because one thing is for certain, he didn't as a football player !!
As for his comments, he's just an idiot.
Ok Lucas is no Steven Gerrard, but given he has only played bit parts since his arrival the lad needs a break, and a few fans to get behind him. For God's sake, Alonso wasn't much cop before last year. He couldn't tackle, head or score goals, and I used to cringe when he stood over free kicks - it's amazing what one good season does for you !
Lets get behind the team AND Rafa, we're lucky to have him. We are a far better team than we were 5 years ago when he took over and we get better year on year. Under Rafa we will win the league,maybe not this year, but it will come if we show him the faith and loyalty he continues to show us.
This article in itself is excruciating in that we have to listen to the opinions of Tony Cascarino, who in my eyes and im sure most others who have had the unenviable pleasure of seeing him play,at very best stole a living as a professional footballer.Yet now someone has decided that we may be interested in what he thinks now that his playing days are over...well Tony from me to you...we most certainly aint..
ReplyDeleteThese lads(aurelio aside perhaps)are extremely young beginning there careers at the highest level and are at the very least deserving of a chance to prove themselves without the harshest of criticsms from somebody who should know better.By this i mean that when you make a career out of bluffing those that pay to watch you like Tony did,then at the very least you should afford the players you have criticised the same courtesy.
From me to you Tony...Wise up.
Anyone who is criticising Lucas doesnt know what they are talking about. I go to every game and the lad has been one of our best and most reliable players so far this season. Anybody who has a go at Lucas you can rest assured almost immediately that they do not watch football do not understand the game and just jump on whichever bandwagon seems to be around at the time. NOTICE NOBODY HAS MENTIONED LUCAS ALL SEASON AND ALL OF A SUDDEN HE HAS ONE OFF GAME AND EVERYBODY HATES HIM AGAIN. Gobshite fans that don't have a clue what they are talking about. ALSO WHOEVER THE DOPE WAS THAT SAID RAFA WAS STUBBORN COULDNT BE MORE WRONG IF RAFA CAN SEE A PLAYER IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH HE GETS RID STRAIGHT AWAY E.G ROBBIE KEANE KROMPKAMP PELLEGRINO MORIENTES PENNANT WHEREAS LUCAS IS STILL STARTING EVERY GAME. WHY DONT PEOPLE REALISE RAFA IS GETTING PAID MILLIONS A YEAR BECAUSE HE KNOWS ALOT MORE ABOUT FOOTBALL THAN WE DO!!!!!!!!!!! IF NOBHEAD FANS NO SO MUCH WHY ARNT THEY MANAGING IN THE PREM Lucas is a very good player ANYONE WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL CAN SEE THIS!!!!!!!!!! And Rafa knows he is good!!
ReplyDeleteChelsea are definitely beatable, and if we play the right formation, I'm sure we can win.
ReplyDeleteTony Cascarino is an epic donk
ReplyDeleteand what is the right formation Mr. Kanwar. On another story someone asked u to post the team formationa dn instructions u would give to keep chelsea quiet and u said u would. Nothing yet I see. I'm sure however that should LFC lose or draw u'll crank out a few "bash Rafa "articles"" and should we win then u'll be on vacation for a while
ReplyDeleteHe is just a wanker who couldn't see two feet infront of him the players he mentioned are never going to be superstars but they make the most of the talent they have, they are good team players. If they aren't good enough then wat does that say for the reigning title holders?? Are Oshea, anderson, nani and Berbatov fit to be considered better then the four mentioned above?? They cost more and have done nothing to prove the money spent on them is well worth it So Tony unless u have a reasonable point to make then i suggest u keep quiet
ReplyDeleteTony cascarinoshit who the fuck are you to underestimate this players. You would have been proud , had you been half as good as this players. We all know what type of loser you were!
ReplyDeleteFUCK OFF YOU LAMPPOST LOSER FUCK!
ReplyDeleteWho the fuck is Cascarino?
ReplyDeleteFUCKING SHIT TONY BITCH!
ReplyDeleteShut up cause Skrtel is your daddy!
ReplyDeleteSo basically Lucas is good according to clowns like Crogs because Rafa says so? Sorry mate, how about watching a few games with the blinkers off.
ReplyDeleteLucas is 2nd rate all of the time. Danny Murphy was a better player. Didi Hamann could still do a better job for us than Lucas. Many trash players have played for Brazil, like Kleberson the Man Utd reject who played in the 2002 World Cup final. So where is he now, eh fool?
the point being made by Paulio is that the players named by Cascarino are only squad players, ie not supposed to be regular first teamers, and hence not good enough. Yet they are in the team week in week out, so, we have at least three regulars who are not good enough!!
ReplyDeleteIf we are going to play with these wing backs (or wingers as I like to think of them), then we should be playing with 3 centre backs and forget about defensive midfielders because we are constantly getting caught out by Carrgher et al being dragged out of position to cover for the missing defence. The game is too fast to expect this not to be exploited, for gods sake, even West Ham pulled us apart!
see you finally got the hang of using a name when leaving a comment, only took 4 attempts, and still nothing useful to say
ReplyDeletefairs fair, shouldn't every team have a player who can't pass, can't tackle and stands around admiring himself
ReplyDelete<span style="">
ReplyDelete<p style="">How this guy is in any position to comment on Liverpool or any other successful team's players is beyond me. I mean who is he? What honours did he achieve in the game? Hardly set the world alight, did he?
<p style="">The only time I can remember him making any headlines they were for adultery, assault and domestic violence. He's a disgrace. And it's a disgrace that The Times employs him at all.
<p style="">Furthermore, for a man that claims crippling self-doubt hampered his career, one would expect him to show a little more consideration for other professional footballers and *their* confidence levels.
</span>
Cascarino is saying that Martin Skrtel is at best, a squad player? Utter nonsense, he is a seasoned defender who unfortunately this season is often being pulled out of position because of Carra's waining pace (see Chelsea game yesterday.) the first choice pairing for the CB's will be Agger and Skrtel, this first point is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteSecondly on to Insua, a boy who has just been called up to the Argentina national squad? He is of course, still a prospect with some defensive frailties but to right him off already is short sighted and ignorant.
Thirdly, Lucas, to call him the most 'un-brazillian' Brazillian he has ever seen is an idiotic comment. Is it a pre-requisite then, in order to be Brazillian that you have to have all flair and no bite, a la Robinho?
Regarding Aurelio, the guy is a quality left back with a solid kick, if he didn't get injured making toast it would be better
Cascarino's comments are laughable at best and show why he's not in much demand as a football pundit these days.
Tell me please why most of you aggree with an over the top ex-chelsea player. I wonder if he is thinking the same after yesterdays game, which on balance we were unlucky and again we had a stoewall pen turned down (that's the forth). if we had been given that I am sure we would have won. In the end they had a little more luck than us but if our players were so poor why did we keep the chavs penned in their own half for the final 20mins. The players in question are all decent players and I am getting fed up at the amount of garbage being thrown at the players, especally Lucas who has been playing well and don't deserve all this nonsence going his way, so stop being lemmins and whatch the games with no pre-conceptions and you just may start seeing Lucas in a different light.
ReplyDeletecascarino - spot on open your eyes u thick scouse mugs. your club is finished, over, dead. now can u please all give back your stolen laptops and find something else to do instead of taking up peoples time with pointless debates. go away, you're finished forever. useless losers. YIDS
ReplyDelete