Lucas Leiva Lucas Leiva, EH EH!

Posted by

We all know the chant, but in my eyes it doesn’t get sung enough. Lucas Leiva is the perfect example of what a Liverpool player is and what a Liverpool player should be.

Remember when Lucas got stick from every Liverpool fan when he first came to Liverpool and especially in the 08-09 season; ’ he’s not up to scratch’, ‘he’s too young’ and ‘he’s not good enough’ were the words coming out the majority of fans mouths , after giving him chance after chance. We were losing patience with him. Booed him off the pitch against Fulham because of his performance; surely he’s not good enough to stay?

But one man had faith in him. One man knew exactly what he was capable of and defended him to the entire media. “People just don’t know how good Lucas is” were the words that came out of Benitez’s mouth… and the man was right.

Like a brilliant professional, Lucas took every bit of criticism on the chin and used it to his advantage, improving left right and centre by every game. Slowly creeping into the first team week after week, he was certainly proving his worth. In the 09/10 season he had a running of six games starting for us as a reward for the hard work and passion he puts in week in, week out without fail in a position he isn’t used to.

When I saw Lucas wearing the captain’s armband for Liverpool against Zurich, it really filled me with pride. To think that two/three years ago he was getting rated as one of the worst players to have played for Liverpool, to now captaining one of the biggest clubs in the world in a European match, proves that this lad is worth keeping hold of as an example to the future players of Liverpool.

He is the unsung hero to our ever improving side and deserves much more credit than he gets for the work rate, passion and effort he puts in for Liverpool every single week.

 

Lucas Leiva, this one’s for you. You’ll Never Walk Alone.

 

Lizzi Doyle

 

More Stories Lucas Leiva

33 Comments

  1. great one. lucas is a champion. he has a fantastic attitude. he has grown alot, keep faith in him.

  2. am still not a big fan of andy carroll, 35million still 2 much money for him, i think hes shit in over words wee neeed some1 sharper with speed, i would like 2 see 2 wingers in the summer, a young would b a great player with sanchez out right wing, Gary Cahill cb,ill love alonso back, wee miss him bad big time, so king kenny my wish is these 4 players see what u can do for me m8 lol

  3. Lucas is a true professional who will only get better in the coming seasons and a new contract is a just reward for all of the hard work he has put in over the years.

    Steadily improving, never complaining, he has earned the right to wear the red of Liverpool.

  4. agree, the little rag doll has improved a lot, i personally want to see upfront more!!

    come on little rag doll, YNWA

  5. I found it quite unfair back then when all blame was put on the poor lad. Anyway, he doesn’t look tailor-made for the role we are playing him in in my eyes. Think he is a more attacking minded player and we would benefit from using him in a more advanced/attacking role.

  6. Were 6th in the league and deserve to be there!

    Lucas has done well but he’s still no more than whats required from a squad player!

  7. Well said buddy! Lucas has been a great player for us over the last few seasons and just like rafa fought for control over the academy we are now reaping those rewards!!!
    He was right about lucas all this time and now the king also says it!

  8. The same could have been said or more of Aquilani,if he had been given the chances Lucas was given.He showed at Juventus this season that you dont have to play Bri-u-tish to be a good player.Aquilani is never a flop,he just wasnt played enough and wasnt appreciated.

  9. Liverpool will NEVER win anything with Lucas as first team player. Lucas is a decent player but decent players are not winners. He gets more critisim than he deserves so fans stick up for him, but I hate seeing liverpool fans saying he’s good enough for the first team

    Lucas is not a top 4 team, player

  10. he has proved over the last 2 years that he is good enough to play for us! im sick of people saying hes not, too many big egos and big names about football these days who care for nothing but themselves… but this lad has captained us, brazil and his previous team!

    king kenny plays him every single game for a reason and i think he knows what he’s doing, after all it is his job and why he is the king.

  11. Lets be honest, Lucas has improved, but he was so poor so thus people are shouting off without realising the following;

    1. He still can’t tackle, pass & move, shoot and pick a pass.
    2. Change a game with his ability.
    3. Is the weak link in the middle and a liability at giving away free kicks around our penalty area.

    We have better choices, Gerrard in front of the back four, Miereles in front of him supporting the front two to make it three. Two new wingers please and Charlie Adam to give us some alternatives to Gerard and Miereless. Lucas you never were, never are and never going to be good enough for the liverpool jersey.

  12. so you’re saying you wouldn’t keep him for when the likes of Gerrard and Mereiles are injured? You need to keep players like him who will play under any circumstance and put the work in for it, yeah I think Mereiles and Gerrard are better midfield players but he’s getting played in defensive rather than attacking. I think we need to keep hold of him because we’re always moaning we never have the players to fill in!

  13. @Kamster; “1. He still can’t tackle, pass & move, shoot and pick a pass.
    2. Change a game with his ability.
    3. Is the weak link in the middle and a liability at giving away free kicks around our penalty area.”

    Please tell me one player who has made more passes than Lucas in the our midfield! I see Skrtel, Carragher, Soto, Gerrard, Kuyt et al giving away those types of free kicks every week especially Skrtel (who I think should be sold along with about 10 others including Kuyt the Mule) but you only notice Lucas. You have people like Kuyt, Maxi, Cole, Carroll (yes Carroll!), Mereiles, Gerrard and Ngog whose jobs in the team is to create chances for others to score or as you put it “Change a game with his ability” and you choose to pick Lucas, who’s a DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER, for the team’s inability to attack. When’s the last time Gerrard changed a game with his ability for example?

    Lucas has been our best player till Luis Suarez came on board but most people are either too lazy to do a bit of research or watch a game and perform a proper analysis of our players THEN pass sound criticisms, or, they are just too patriotic/scared/naive to criticise Spearing, Gerrard (who’s been really rubbish this season because of a loss in form and injuries), Maxi, Cole, Mereiles and Kuyt The Mule. Our team is rubbish at the moment, we need to accept that and in so doing we’ll realise it’s not a single player’s fault why we can’t get the results we as LFC fans have come to expect but the team’s collective inaptitude.

    WELL DONE LUCAS, YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE!

  14. Kamster, you say Lucas can’t tackle, well here’s some stats for you.

    1David Vaughan Blackpool 93
    2Scott ParkerWest Ham United 89
    3Lucas Liverpool 82
    Source: Telegraph sport
    So he is the third highest COMPLETED tackler in the league… these are stats for tackles won, not lost.

    16 Lucas Liverpool 1406
    This is his number of total passes made…
    15 Lucas Liverpool 1180
    The number successful, a very high percentage of passes completed here. 84% of passes completed, which is one of the highest in the premier league, well inside the top 10, maybe even the top 5.

    Lucas isn’t perfect, i’m not saying he is. What he is however, is a player who is World Class and has many years ahead of him, he’s only 24 after all. The Liverpool players clearly respect him… (baby celebration at the Stadium of Light clearly shows that) He’s been picked CONSTANTLY by Kenny and Rafa and Mano Manezes. 3 Top Managers all play him… there’s no way all three of them are wrong. Quality player Lucas, keep it up for Liverpool.

    YNWA

  15. Well writen and good article. If Lucas is not good how comes he’s playing for Brasil. He’s player that Spearing and Shelvey will never be.If lucas was english everybody would have said that he’s great.YNWA lucas leiva

  16. Most of the passes he made were back to the defence not forwards… Any one can do that… But he has come a long way in this season.. Thats because we gave him lots of chances… What we need s some one with creativity… Aquaman had that.. Alonso had that in his last season here… Lucas s no way near them though he s a player in the squad after suarez n reina.. Thats the quality of our team… Sad..

  17. Are you all high? Do you really think lucas compares to players like essien, de jong, song, fellani or carrick? Compared to these he is nothing. I doubt he will ever fill the boots of mascherano or alonso. Lucas needs to go or atleast be a sub for someone much better who can take his position. YNWA

  18. i luv him, bt the lad aint world class yet. Hope he keeps ‘improving’. Coz he cant tackle or change a game with his ability. Oh how i miss Xabi, Javier and Aqua. They were quality. Even if pips say they r gone. It wont stop me from missing them. We were bullies in the midfield wit them around.

  19. i really like Lucas, right from when he was bought! he will be even better! great brazilian talent! and who knows, may take the armband for the Selecao soon!

  20. @bheko. When was the last tym Gerrard changed a game with his ability? What kind of a question be that? I dont think u were watching our games.
    I dont think u watched the Napoli game. Gerrard is class, that even when out of form, as u say, he changes games.
    Our biggest games of the season so far:
    Chelsea0-1 LFC (gerrard playd)
    Lfc 3-1 ManU (gerrard playd)
    Lfc 2-2 Everton (gerrard ddnt play)
    WBA 2-1 Lfc (ddnt play)
    Bragga 1-0 Lfc (ddnt play)

    Only a fool a say we dont miss him, coz we do. Badly.
    Nw on Lucas.
    As most of u have suggested. He has been our best player this season. I dont want to argue on that, even though i dont think its true.
    So we lose 13 games in the league after 31 games when Lucas is our best player. So we suck. Maybe THE PROBLEM IS WITH OUR KEY PLAYER, THE SO CALLED BEST PLAYER, LUCAS.

    We never had these problems with Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard in mid.
    Dont get me wrong, i like him to, bt to say he is world class is similar to blasphemy.
    Are u pro-Lucas fans suggesting he is as good as Masch, Dejong, Fellaini, Diarra, Essien or even Obi Michel.
    I think Coady is going to outmuscle out of that DMF position next season.

  21. Dude would somebody make a video compilation of Lucas’ GREAT PASSES AND TACKLES SO IDIOTS WOULD BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY WATCH HIM in highlight and stop blabbering. I saw so many quality through ball, wondered which player did that, and it turned out to be Lucas, i wished i could immediately capture those moments for stupid fans to WATCH and LEARN something instead of blabbering ‘Lucas cant pass nor tackle’. He’s similar to makelele like whom Madrid’s president claimed he’s shit, he cant pass nor tackle, but facts/statistics speak better than that.

    p.s: to those stupid fans who don’t know much about soccer, please save your critics for yourself.

  22. YT Lucas by El Alonso. He has done a fantastic compilation of Lucas playing for Brasil. He controls the play, whether passing forward or backwards. Remember he’s only 23.

  23. @vincent. Why are u getting emotional. Is it ‘stupid’ to have a different opinion from. Grow up lad.
    U said stats speak 4 emselves. We have lost 12 games with him in mid, which is way more than we lost in 2008-9 and 2009-10 combined. When we had Javier and Alonso.
    We actually started losin wen we lost Javier. At ManC. We were exposed and our midfield was outplayed
    we ave been outplayed many times this season small teams lik Stoke away and Blackpool coz of our DMF Lucas who easily gets out muscled by stronger opponents and gives the ball away too many tyms. Oh and he concedes too many fouls. It wasnt like that with Javier as our DMF. He’d give away free kicks yes, bt it was 4 the best.
    ITS A FACT THAT WE LOSE MORE GAMES WITH HIM AS DMF. If u deny this then u dont follow our team. If Javier or De jong or Essien were here it obviously would ave been different.
    Lucas aint even lyk Makeleke. He is lyk the DME players that were left at Real wen Makelele left, who couldnt stabilise the team.
    Conclusion:
    We also like Lucas, he is a fan like all of us. Bt he isnt world class yet. He needs to improve. Bt with Conor Cody, Adam and Yann Mvilla cuming next season. Our best player this season culd end up being a bench warmer.
    YNWA

  24. Just one thing that no one has explained… and I’d love to know… if he is so shit as some of you put. WHY is he picked for Brazil when they have a wealth of talent to pick from? I’d LOVE to know………….

  25. Lucas is part of a new breed of defensive midfielders. Not the charging tackler, but the intelligent interceptor. Why do you think Barcelona play Sergio Busquets week in, week out? Or why Arsenal plays Denilson? Or even Scumchester and Michael Carrick? I admit I was a Lucas hater once. But his commitment and his improvement has won me over. Well done, I say.

  26. waraqah08 the Red, I just wanted to say that your analysis is hilariously insane. Thanks for posting, it was entertaining to read.

Comments are closed