Lucas Leiva – a talent destined for great things?
When you saw Lucas Leiva sitting on the bench for Brazil against England last Saturday, quite a few Liverpool fans would be asking the same question, ‘Why?’ Why is this man who clearly doesn’t have the talent to play in the first team at Anfield, now also being selected in the squad of his national team? I think on this issue it is probably time to say “just hold on his second.” Why do both two respected managers, Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez and Brazil’s coach and world-cup winner Dunga, rate the player so highly?
The pedigree of the player is undoubted; he burst onto the football scene playing for Gremio, becoming the youngest player ever to win the Bola de Ouro in October 2005. The honour is given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro (Brazilian Championship) and previously winners have been exalted names such as Zico, Romario, Kaka and Carlos Tevez. During his time at Gremio, they won their first Rio Grande do Sul State Championship in 2006 since 2001, and finished third in the National league during the same season. The following year, Lucas was part of a Gremio side that reached the final of the Copa Libertadores, which they lost 5-0 on aggregate to winners Boca Juniors.
The performances that really brought Lucas to prominence on the world stage however came during his time playing for Brazil’s youth teams. He captained Brazil’s U20s to the South American Youth Championship title in 2007, scoring four times in the process. The star of the tournament, the young Lucas impressed Brazil coach Dunga enough to put him in squad for a friendly against Al-Kuwait in October 2006. Lucas was by far the youngest player in the squad and also one of only two non-European based players.
Such a high-calibre talent was being chased by a host of top Spanish clubs as well Inter Milan, but Liverpool managed to nab him for 6million and he arrived in the summer of 2007. It was seen as quite a coup and Rafa Benitez was very excited about capturing the young Brazilian midfielder:
“I am really pleased he is coming to us… He is the captain of the Brazil Under-20 side and won the Golden Boot in his country last year, so we know he has quality and we also believe he has the mentality and the character you need to do well in England… A lot of clubs in England and Spain were asking about him but our scouting department has again been working really hard and it’s good that he’s coming to us”
So what has gone wrong for the Brazilian midfielder? Some supporters at Anfield would say that not much has gone wrong, and that he is taking time to develop. I would agree to an extent with this viewpoint, there is a need to be patient with the player. He certainly hasn’t always performed well for Liverpool, his tackling can be pretty poor at times and he needs to be more ambitious with his passing. Scoring four goals and being a golden boot winner at the South American Youth Championships in 2007 seems to suggest to me that there is more in him than being a defensive midfielder. He does have a penchant for spectacular goals, if his first goal for Liverpool against Havant & Waterlooville is anything to go by, but he has to improve his all round speed of play if he wants to succeed in England.
The pace of the Premier League is probably the biggest problem for Lucas to overcome if he wants to succeed in this country. There are signs that both last season and this season he is beginning to adapt and develop as a player. He played a big role in Liverpool’s 5-1 demolition of Newcastle last season, he played in place of Xabi Alonso in the 4-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, and he scored during Liverpool’s heroic 4-4 draw against Chelsea in the quarter final of the Champions League, when he started in place of Steven Gerrard. This season he is playing a bigger role in the first team due to the sale of Xabi Alonso, and he played a crucial part alongside Javier Mascherano in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory against Man Utd last month. They pressed and harassed both Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick all game, not allowing them time to control the ball or find space to pick out passes. If Lucas does realise the potential that his early career showed, and that he does possess the ability that both Dunga and Benitez believe he does, than he might just become a very good, if not a great player indeed.
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I agree, Lucas puzzles me as well, if you look at his Gremio record and potential in Brazil then its really odd to think he can be seen as such a joke here
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Get off his back Lucas is a decent player and is very young remember a payer peaks at the age of 26-28 Xabi was27 when he left us his prime so don’ty compare now Xabi was noone before he came to us age 22!!
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Since Lucas has put on some weight he’s shown real shades of his class.
He’s fighting for every ball, not easy to knock off like he was last season and bossing the midfield with Mascherano (some of the time, the United win being a prime example).
Like the post above said: Get off the lads back. He’s young and adapting to foreign football, not just any foreign football, the Premier League!
He’ll be great for us. Mark my words.
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No.
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Would he get into any of the Top 4 teams – NO. End of story.
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we are a top 4 team arent we? what a balloon you are
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Mate, you must be way beyond brain dead if you’re still trying to kid yourself that Lucas is a good footballer.
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OPTA stats don’t prove anything. The only important stat is how many points we get with him in the team and without him. With such fine margins between success and failure the free-kicks he gives away, lack of height etc can be the difference between a win and a draw. Look at the way he let Ireland stroll past him for Man City’s 2nd goal, the way he lost the man he was supposed to be marking for Birmingham’s 1st. With him out of the team of the last couple of seasons we average about 90 points over the 38 games; with him in we average about 70. That’s the difference between winning the title and struggling to qualify for the champions’ league. Also important is not what he does but what he doesn’t do. He can’t be the vital link between the defence and attack that Alonso was and I think Aquilani can be- with him in the team expect our results to pick up.
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Sorry, my heart sinks every time I see that average combo of Lucas, Kuyt and Insua take the field consistently. Judging from Gerard and Torres demeanor, I think they are torn between giving there all but totally frustrated by the banal average characterless players like Lucas etc around them
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