Its Rafas tactic to employ Lucas and Masch in central defence, thats the negativity about it, the tactics. When Masch and Alonso paired with each other last season, there were no shouts with the team playing negatively. Personally Id rather sacrifice Lucas, because as much as I think hes a 'decent' player, hes shining because the team is doing awful at the moment.
So drop one of the only players performing up to scratch, is that it?
Some don't like to look at statistics as they don't always paint the full picture but one thing is absolute this season, Lucas and Mascherano have been up there with the best passers and tacklers in the league. And not because of the extremely off the mark myth that they only make sideways or backwards passes, but rather because they have consistently won back possession for us and kept us moving even when at our most laboured.
People need to stop looking for problems where there currently aren't any. When the likes of Kuyt, Torres, Gerrard, and Benayoun repeatedly lose possession in the final third and keep having pressure piled upon our defence and centre-midfield, perhaps it is they who should be criticised rather than the relatively faultless centre-midfield pairing we currently have.