~ To the guy 'who can spot a good midfielder'
It's XABI Alonso. XABI. With a fucking B, for fucks sake.
Personally, it's getting to a stage now where I want Lucas to leave. I want him to leave because there are too many here willing to round on him after any less than stellar performance. More to the point, too many who make him the reason for any team performance that isn't up to standard. Every single game we've done poorly with Lucas in the side, it's been all his fault, every fucking time. His page gets jumped to the top - even when other players have played worse and had far more glaring mistakes, EG Carra Vs Spurs or Gerrard in this one.
I think what I'm really starting to fucking hate is the inconsistency. Sorry to bring up Alonso to compare, and I realise that Alonso was class, but it does wind me up that people will ask things of Lucas that Alonso never provided, as part of their 'proof' that Alonso was god and Lucas is a c*nt:
1) Lucas hardly ever shoots! - I forgot what a goalscoring Machine Alonso was - you could count on Xabi for at least one, maybe two goals in a season. FFS.
2) Lucas never plays through balls! - Again - did you watch us with Xabi in the team? Xabi's played about one, maybe two successful through passes in about the last 3 seasons with us.
3) Lucas stats show that he scores more, assists more, and tries more through balls per minute on the pitch than Xabi does. Again, Xabi was the better player, but let's not pretend he was something he wasn't in order to bash Lucas further, which is what many of you are doing. Witness:
4) All those backwards, sideways passes - ah yes. Keeping possession you mean - in other words the main thing Xabi did/does, and does brilliantly - the thing that got him sold to Madrid.
OK.
Then stuff that Lucas never gets credit for:
1) Where was he yesterday? He hid! Why doesn't he get forward enough?
Our best spell last night was the first 20 minutes or so of the second half. Lucas passed a few times into Kuyt/Benny/Gerrard's feet - difference - they actually made it stick, hence we played alright and looked decent.
2) Lucas was making forward runs CONSTANTLY. Once again he was ignored by his team-mates.
NEXT:
Why is it always Lucas responsibility to make things happen? Why is he always the one blamed for not 'stepping up' whenever we have an iffy display? Indeed, how is he even supposed to do that WHEN HIS TEAM MATES WON'T GIVE HIM THE FUCKING BALL?
His attacking runs never get picked up on. No-one tries to play give and goes with him, except perhaps Kuyt and now Johnson. Mascherano seems to constantly refuse to advance play by just giving Lucas little 10 yard balls to feet when Lucas is in space. Gerrard is happy to accept the ball from Lucas, and Lucas is again one of very few who is alive to Gerrard's own gove/goes and driving runs (has found him with those many times) but it doesn't go both ways - Gerrard gives Lucas fuck all support on the pitch, does fuck all to gee him up and boost his confidence (compare that to how the mancs bed in their youths - the encouragement players like Anderson get in their early games) - same goes for Carra, who does fuck all as a 'vice' - captain to boost the lad's confident, and also refuses to pass to him.
It's no-wonder Lucas confidence is so fragile - he's got the manager's trust but it rings hollow because, no matter how good his last game was, come the next he gets on to the pitch and once again that trust is missing from the stands and his fellow players.
So, again, I almost want him to leave. Perversely, I want him to go to Arsenal, because he is what Wenger seems to want from Denilson, and he would absolutely shine in their team, and would be given the ball because, for all their problems, they don't play favourites in the game of possession - you get the ball for being in the best position, not because Gerrard/Torres/Carra rate you more highly than your team-mates, as happens far too much here.
It was Gerrard was shite yesterday. We had a good spell when he dropped into CM, not because he did anything good there - he was shite - less ambitious than Lucas, no perceptive runs forward whatsoever PLUS he gave the ball away cheaply - something Lucas has never and will never do - but because Voronin came on instead of him at no10, worked and drifted, plus used his strength, which meant the ball was actually sticking when we played it into the final 3rd. THAT'S how bad Gerrard was last night - Voronin in his place was a big improvement in our attacking play.
Then Gerrard rounded it off by giving away a fucking criminal penalty - fucking criminal. it was 100% GAME ON! Before Gerrard did that. Only Gerrard could play as badly as he did in CM last night (even if it was only briefly) and have so many people baying for him to be put there as a 'solution'. Gerrard isn't the fucking solution. He's a less good Alonso in that role. An inferior replacement to Alonso is exactly what we DON'T want, IMO. At least with Lucas howlers they came from him trying to do the right thing, Gerrard had no such excuse. That was a shocking challenge anywhere on the pitch and in the penalty area? With a covering defender? When even without that it would have been a tight finish from an angle off the left foot of...REO-FUCKING-COKER then it was an absolute abomination.
Unlike Lucas, Gerrard also lost his head COMPLETELY after that challenge - refused to take any of his numerous chances to drive/pass/shoot into the box, instead laying the ball off slowly and safely to the wider players - with mere minutes left - and failing to even do that properly, as he gave the ball away with what felt like every 3rd pass.
