23 May 2015

I May Quit: 'Incredible' €12m LFC star hints at Liverpool exit unless he's 'part of the project' next season

On Friday, multiple reports claimed that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is planning to dump Lucas Leiva this summer, and the Brazilian has now confirmed that his future at the club is very much up in the air.

According to The Mirror:

* Rodgers is 'willing to listen to offers' as he allegedly believes that Lucas 'is not dynamic enough', and 'prefers Joe Allen' in midfield.

* Rodgers also allegedly feels that €12m-rated Lucas 'offers the Reds little going forward'.

When asked on Friday evening about reports that he may be leaving Anfield this summer, Lucas - hailed by Rodgers for his 'incredible' attitude - told FCInterNews:

"My future is uncertain as I spent this last season as a bit-part player.

"I have to talk to Liverpool to see if I am part of the project next season. After that, we will see".


To be fair, Lucas's injuries are a major part of the reason why he's been in and out of the team:

* Feb 7th - Mar 20th: 41 days out with a groin strain (10 games missed)

* Apr 17 - May 2: 15 days out with another groin strain (4 games missed)

Since returning from his second injury, Lucas has spent much of his time as s substitute, including spending the last three consecutive games on the bench.

Rodgers allegedly prefers Joe Allen to Lucas, but the Welsh midfielder is also spending most of his time on the bench right now, and that doesn't seem likely to change.

Lucas is a fantastic player to have in the squad, but that's exactly what he should be: a squad player. However, at the age of 28, the Brazilian is in his prime years, and based on his comments throughout the season, it seems unlikely that he'll settle for perennial bench duty.

Author: Jaimie K


59 comments:

  1. So Lucas leaves and we have no dedicated DM's in our squad...


    Lucas is a very good player. The team performs better with him in it plus he is a proper professional, doesn't moans and always gives it is all. Rodgers clearly does not think defensive midfielders are required for his playing style. I have argued that point many times before. Rodgers is defensively naive. In the modern day game a defensive midfielder is a 100% must. We are going to have major problems as we have not scored enough goals this season and our defense is made up of forwards and midfielders.

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  2. When Liverpool changed to a back 3 ,with Lucas as a DM he was solid and helped Liverpool turn their season around

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  3. When Lucas played this season before his second injury we looked a settled team; I think he had a calming influence on the defence. I think it is probably the right time for him to go as I think he has lost that little bit of pace that he had before his cruciate injury, and IMO that has stopped him developing into the excellent DM that we badly need. Lucas has been a great servant for the club and will certainly leave (if he does) with most fans good wishes. I hope BR is thinking Alex Song as a replacement.

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  4. Same sh**, different season.
    I predict this summers' signings will be made up of under 21s and players from the relegated/relegation dodging clubs, along with a few 'free/cheap well past their sell by daters'.
    Last season was the blip that comes around every few years, like 08/09, 01/02...
    Next season, the squad will be no better than the vastly overhyped mediocrity it is now and we will not finish any higher than 5th, won't get to any finals and won't make it out of the Europa group, IF we qualify.
    Coutinho and/or Sturridge will be in Sterlings shoes next may.

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  5. The only way things will change is via change of manager.

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  6. Neither Locas or Allen are good enough - and injury prone The FOOL Raoodgers wants us to get behind Sterling and cheer him on tomorrow - GROW UP B R

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  7. Most do not like Gary Neville but you cannot argue with this...

    “The harsh reality for the club is that this situation has been 15 years in the making,” Neville wrote. “There is a wider context to this story and it centres on how Liverpool have gone from being from one of Europe’s great superpowers to one which is in danger of becoming a provincial club.

    “The uncomfortable truth is that this is nothing new for Liverpool. Just look back over the past 10 to 15 years and count the number of players who have left Anfield to pursue bigger and better things elsewhere.

    “Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez have all gone.”

    Luis Suarez is among the players who have left Liverpool in search of trophies

    Although Neville acknowledges that Liverpool remain alongside Manchester United in terms of global appeal, he feels the club have been responsible for their own decline.

    “While United have been happy to shout from the rooftops about how big they are and promote the legend and mythology of the club on a global scale for years, Liverpool seem to have been stuck in their own mud,” Neville added.

    While United have been happy to shout from the rooftops about how big they are and promote the legend and mythology of the club on a global scale for years Liverpool seem to have been stuck in their own mud.

    “They are years behind the biggest European clubs and, for me, their problems are a direct result of that failure to think beyond the confines of their city.

    “Great football clubs like Liverpool will never go away, but they need to find a way to arrest the slide and make themselves a team that players want to play for rather than one they try to leave in search of bigger things elsewhere.

    “If Sterling leaves, then that will be another star player who has decided that Liverpool is a club that is unable to match their ambitions.”

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  8. If BR sells him he needs sacking.

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  9. Thanks mystic Meg. Any thoughts on tonight's lottery numbers?

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  10. how old are u mate, 10? your logic seems like it....

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  11. Old enough son!!!

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  12. If Lucas leaves because Rodgers prefers Allen, then there is something innately wrong in the club. If you ask any Liverpool fan who they would prefer between the two, almost everyone would pick Lucas. Lucas reads the game better, is more tactically astute, has experience and knows Liverpool. And if we are being frank, attacks more than Allen. The moment Lucas got injured, our season went down and despite his injury problems, I would take an injury prone Lucas over a fully fit Allen any day ( who not forgetting has had injury problems himself).

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  13. No great loss,has always been very average player with no skills that continually gives away free kicks for nothing.

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  14. Such a heartless person considering Suarez did not bit him

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  15. I share all the concerns raised. I remember when we brought a youngster into the club and we never saw them for 1-2 years. They then stepped into the 1st team as if they'd been there for ever.


    For me Lucas stays and we need to manage his pitch time to reduce the risk of recurring injuries. If not he goes, we bring a new player in and it takes them a year to settle in to the cub and we take another step backwards.

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  16. Just saw mirror back page were Brendan saying he's 150 percent sure of staying. ⛅worried

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  17. Neville's comments almost always make sense. He is 100% better than most pundits.

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  18. Why would he say anything else? He is facing the day tomorrow.

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  19. Always someone who will question ones age or support for LFC...

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  20. Clearly Neville is deluded it has already been determined that Sterling is just a mercenary and only interested in the money not winning things and being regarded as a star among players.

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  21. Neville's comments are absolutely true .
    Maybe the owners and the fans are not on the same page .
    Owners want to develop young players
    Fans want CL ????

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  22. A lot of other pundits are kn@bs though

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  23. Neville is saying that Sterling is 'another star player' who will leave because of the situation of the club. Look at our team and point out the star players?


    Coutinho and Henderson? Sturridge simply cannot be relied on. Who else is there?

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  24. The ideal is a team with a core of experienced players allowing young players to come in and develop.

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  25. No it can't be that as we all know it's just abut the money (smiley face)

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  26. The proplem is the core keeps on leaving or pushed out because they earn to much ?

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  27. The owners have done loads for this club. Invested heavily in the squad since taking over and kept to their promise to the stadium.


    FSG have spent total the region of £350m of LFC's money on transfer since joining the club. Over £200m of that made available to Rodgers.


    They have a Carling Cup to show for it, that is it. They do not buy the players, pick the team etc.

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  28. It seems to me that trying to take on the wage structure in football is one aim of FSG but it is swimming against the tide.

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  29. The point Im trying to make is ,
    That are the owners objectives ,
    Do they want to make money developing young players and selling on or
    Win CL and EPL at any cost ?

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  30. Agree , It will be a long hard road ,esp against agents .

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  31. Spent all that money and what to show for it ?

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  32. True. I might be more supportive of the owners if I though they were doing it to help the fans or the club but I think they are just trying to optimise the value of the club for their own benefit.


    Not a crime of course they are no fans but merely businessmen with an investment. to protect and maximise any returns.

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  33. Well investment = success = money? Football has changed. It is a business and that goes for each and every club.

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  34. True , BUT then the Yanks can do everthing and anything ( smiley face )

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  35. Investment = success = money.


    Unfortunately FSG have made some bad decisions themselves, what they do now to rectify the problem will determine the future for LFC.

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  36. Which way will the scale fall ?

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  37. That is the question...

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  38. Looking forward to yyour new name Loges?

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  39. Edwin Smeulders9:12 am, May 23, 2015

    and you would think tht an exta 40 odd mill for being in the CL every season would be of interest to FSG.....can`t figure their stupid `young players` policy out....judging by BR`s latest comments after meeting the FSG heirachy,nothing will change next season !!!!!!...gggrrrrrrrrr !!!

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  40. He is not going anywhere.

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  41. Agreed with some of his point, it's all down to shambolic transfer dealings. No one knows what he's up for, David fallows (spelling ) in particular... Will stand up and say let's go and sign Carroll for 35M he's the next zlotan ibrahimovic, no one will say No he's not worth that amount and come up with an idea.. The next thing... Brendan will ask them "is he outstanding"? Fallows will probably say yes.., then Brendan will now send out Ayres (another who doesn't know his left and right ) . What I'm trying to say now none of this group are up to lfc standard and fsg should just clear Asap!

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  42. Still a biased point of view, there is a lot of mixed contradictions in this critique of Liverpool to make it credible.

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  43. So Joe Allen, winner of the FIFA BALLON D'OR for the past ten years is the one who is dynamic. Give me a break.

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  44. Lucas was a good DM 4 or 5 years ago. Not any more.

    You need athleticism in the center of the park. Look at the 4 CL semi-finalists, at the yards players like Schweinsteiger, Pogba, Vidal, Kroos, and Rakitic put in. Lucas can't match that. Rodgers gave him a chance to show he could adapt, but Lucas didn't quite have the engine or the ability.


    The deeper and less mobile players are Xabi and Busquets but these are playmakers and pivots more than destroyers. If you want to dominate the opposition, to give yourself a chance of winning a *lot* of games, and to play great football, you don't line up with the kind of DM who was fashionable ten years ago. Instead, in terms of defense, you create instant pressure on the ball and make rapid defensive transitions when you lose it. Lucas doesn't have the quality to be a playmaker in that area. He just doesn't fit what the top teams are trying to do these days.


    Rodgers' tactics are comparable in their intentions to those of Guardiola, Ancelotti, Enrique, and Allegri. You can add to that list Wenger, Simeone, and Bielsa. The only top manager who plays anything like a destructive DM as a matter of course is Mourinho, who basically plays 5 of them because he is an *awful*, *awful* man. Rodgers' decisions in terms of tactics, which seem to excite so many people into foaming ignorant wrath, are consistent with the modern trends established by the leading coaches in the game.

    Just lastly, I strongly doubt that Rodgers sees Allen in the same roles he sees Lucas covering. That's just a wind-up. We'll doubtless be getting in another midfielder or two this summer -- hopefully guys with a bit more to their game than Lucas. He has been a good player for us at times, but it's time to say thanks and goodbye and move on.

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  45. No Stuart. How can you be so naive. The ideal is 11 enormous piles of money with famous and exotic names that fans in Belarus, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia -- traditional hotbeds of support for the Liverpool Soccer Reds -- can identify with aspirationally, thus giving our beloved Franchise the advantage in the global marketplace for the sale of advertising space.

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  46. If BR sells Lucas and does not sign a dedicated DM for all his tactical ingenuity then he hasn't learnt anything .A Manager who fails to adapt and adjust ,considering the type of expansive and high pressing football he wants to play ,is an idiot and likely to fail especially against quality opposition.Allen is not a DM period no matter how rosy be the picture BR paints.

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  47. If his numbers do come up the winning ticket will be in the washing machine on a boil wash and as he attempts to open the machine it will catch fire and burn the house down which will be the last straw for his wife who will leave him for his best mate taking the dog with him. Still chin up

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  48. Not so sure it's biased when I have read and listened to many Liverpool supporting journalists and commentators etc say the exact same thing.

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  49. Sometimes a person's support or maturity deserve to be questioned.

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  50. Yeah lets chase off all the experienced players brilliant job by BR

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  51. What pundits and why?

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  52. Do you remember when Lucas was a sub as we had Alonso, masch and Gerrard in mid. Them Benitez days when we were no1 in Europe were rubbish!! BR will never ever get us out of a CL group, to be honest, he wont get us back in one!!

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  53. Since football became professional its been a business.

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  54. If not biased certainly contradictory.

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  55. This is something I have been saying for a while now yet you believe Logan that simply changing the manager will solve all of our problems.


    It wont. No manager can repair 15 - 20 years of bad management over night or in a couple of years.


    It will takes years to repair that kind of damage.


    FSG have made a very good start, in fact they have made a great start and whilst I might not like BR I also know that consistently changing managers managers will accomplish nothing.


    With that in mind and considering I have in the past said BR needs to go I will give him another year.

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  56. Stan Dinaround6:24 pm, May 23, 2015

    Offers nothing going forward, classic, he's a defender, don't rightly know how you'd miss that... But now it all become clear when we think back to Nuri Sahin... Brendan, even though he was a defender, doesn't believe in defenders......

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