Yeah thanks. djphal's pretty good but I really think his source was either incorrect or that Purslow/Hodgson were completely wrong (most likely the latter). I don't believe for a second that Lucas is lazy or not a good trainer - I think I said before, having watched him these 5 years, both on the pitch and off it, and having watched him turn from whipping boy to having the captain's armband, it's extremely unlikely that he'd be the kind of person that was being suggested.
Same for me at the time, no fucking way Lucas is a consisently lazy trainer. No-one develops like he has without serious hours, sweat, effort and study off the pitch. What I was just about prepared to believe (but still thought unlikely) is that him and Aquilani trained poorly in some sessions simply because I can well imagine that Hodgson after Rafa would have been like patronisingly teaching a chinese calligraphy artist how to potato print.
Hodgson's whole ethos is to drill a defence into two banks of four, lots of repetition, lots of old school running based fitness work. After the tactical nuance, the many defensive modes, the positioning, the detail, the individualised fitness programmes of Rafa I could believe that even the most comitted of players and trainers might lose motivation in some or several training sessions.
Similar to Pepe and that 'keeping coach.
In short, it's hard to be motivated when you've learned more than your teacher is offering, and I honestly think that's what it was like for some of the more tactically aware players under Hodgson.
