The stand out player during pre-season, definitely had to be Lucas Leiva. He has beefed up physically, and we're now looking at a player who is a lot stronger, more confident and comfortable in his play.
In particular against Espanyol and Atletico, he displayed some of his immense talent with some visionary touches, dribbles and a good range of passing.
It should be expected that any young player will have consistency issues as they're still developing. But it seems a shame he had to endure so much criticism from 'fans' last season.
The way Lucas has responded to all that really shows his class and determination. His new found strength and confidence should ensure he comes into his own this season, and takes more control of games.
24 comments:
Maybe I'm missing something with Lucas. I have seen nothing in his 2 years to make me think he is nothing but championship material. Our pre-season has been pretty poor. The senior players won't have been motiviated highly enough yet. I have been impressed with Pacheco in his rare appearances apart from the XI. He is an immense talent. To say Lucas is an immense talent you must be wearing triple layer Rose tinted specs!!
Nothing would give more pleasure to be proved wrong as my loyalty is to the success of Liverpool not mediocrity we had to endure in the 90's!!
I haven't seen him in action during preseason since they don't show them here in Greenland, but liked what i saw last season. He developed very good at the end of the season. I hope to see him and Babel in a lot of games together this new season, along with Aquilani too so they can get a lot of experience. There's a reason Benitez is keeping them and i'm excited to see what he has seen, as they only showed, apparently, a small part of their skills until now (though Babel gave a little taste of his love for dribbles). For me, exciting times are up...Good luck, me boys! Plus! How about a big banner welcoming Aquilani on his debut when it comes. Make him feel welcome Italian style :)
@SI - I think it would be fair to say that at times, I'm very fond of wearing rose tinted specs.... but I really think Lucas has got serious potential.
@Isak - Babel is another I'm excited about seeing how he develops. I reckon Lucas is more a dead cert to succeed though.
I haven't seen the two games against Espanol or Athletico so I'll reserve judgment until I've seen the new beefed up more confident version. However to justify your comments Lucas would have to have improved radically from what I've seen of him over the previous two years. The fact Rafa is raving about him means nothing to me as Rafa has been well wide of the mark in his comments about Lucas before.
Exactly, so let Babel see the praise given to Lucas and get inspired...
@Isak - you were saying that the games aren't on in Greenland. However if you've got a decent broadband connection, you can check them out on LFC TV online (also has access to old games and exclusive interviews etc).
Just watching our 4-1 demolition of ManUre last season on it now ;-)
ANONYMOUS.....maybe YOU should be managing Liverpool and not Rafa, ....Start watching more of Liverpool first, than and, only than.comment on players, and for your info, LUCAS has been the MOTM, in both the games you have missed!!!
YNWA
I honestly do not rate Babel at all. He is just a dum player who goes on circles without a vision or purpose and he is easily dispossessed. To me he should be out and 11 millions for the lad is too much. Honestly, no wonder Arsene Wenger did not get him. As for Lucas, he has shown some determination and good movement that may grant some playing time. However, he's got only 2 months til Aquilani is fit again.
My concern is that i see the young players at liverpool are not good enough like the ones at Man U or Arsenal. And this is really worrying. For example look at the twin brazilians at Man U or Macceda. As for Arsenal look at the entire team...
Decent, eh? I happen to work in the only company delivering connections to the consumers, and i'm on duty tonight, with nothing to do at all :-) 4-1 demolition derby, one of the greatest ever! I'll look into LFC TV later.
On your blog, been looking for one like this one for months. Elegant, sofisticated, yet iformative. A luv it!
Walter...maybe I should but don't get your knickers in a twist just because someone has a bit of scepticism based on two years of viewing. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Lucas justify these comments so I'll be watching extra carefully to see if he does.
@walter - I guess it's only fair for many fans to be a little sceptical after 2 seasons. Just wish so many hadn't written him off cos he's still so young. In this case though, at least this particular anonymous fan is open minded enough to give him a chance and hope for the best.
@Isak - cheers for the compliments :-)
Anonymous...Glad to hear that you'll be watching extra carefully but, now I am sure that you are a female and,as for my knickers in a twist bit, they are not mine, you'll have to ask your sister about that......Oops
YNWA
@Isak ....if you go here...
http://myp2p.eu/register.php
You'll be able to watch all the Football you want.
YNWA
Walter you're obviously a class act but lets be honest...... with a face like yours wearing a womans knickers is about as close as you'll ever get to scoring on or off the pitch.
Anonymous...with a face like mine, I'm often told that, I have very artistic features and that, I should be an ACTOR.....anyway it's past my bedtime....soooooo...happy dreams!!
YNWA
Have any of you guys seen this article.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Lack-of-summer-signings-dents-Liverpool-s-title-dream-article107373.html
I've heard that contrary to many newspaper report Acquilani cost £15 million up front with a further £5 million in potential addons. Bearing in mind Alonso and other sales I calculate that Rafa has actually made a decent profit in the transfer market. This rather begs the question "What happened to the big net transfer budget for Rafa that our American owners were trumpeting not so long ago?". Was this just more BS and spin ? I'm sure most Liverpool fans will be anything but delighted to find that the Alonso money has been used to repay Hicks and Gillett's debts instead of strengthening the squad.
Lucas has everything to prove and time running out to prove it. Liverpool fans are loyal to our players and you rarely see lots of people turn on any red at Anfield unless he is really poor.
Lucas has been poor for his time at Anfield and no amount of Rafa's bull about him can stop people seeing with their own eyes he has been not good enough so far.
Let's hope he can step up now at last when we need him most because Aquilani won't be fit for a month or more and Lucas needs to help the team and not be a liability.
If he can't do it this season, he needs to be shown the door because he has had enough chances.
This is not the time to be starting players with 'potential'. Babel and Lucas have had enough time to show their worth and if Benitez persists with them we can kiss goodbye to the title. We should have won it last season, it was there for us as the other 4 were weaker than previous years and we didn't take our chances. I'm concerned that we are going to start slowly and Chelseas and Utd start off with 4 or 5 wins on the bounce. Lucas starting in midfield is not the answer, and Babel isn't good enough to clean Torres' boots.
havent watched any of preseason games so cant say... hope your right Paul... on another note has anyone noticed all our star players have been getting injured in the preseason... very worrying
I have watched the preseason games and was watching babel and lucas closely, alongside kelly, insua and spearing as well as Glen Johnson.
While babel performance is almost similar to last season, i noticed lucas performance have "improved". He seems to be doing a lot of running, looks stronger, better control of the ball, his passing seems to find the target and he actually gets into the penalty box more often.
There seems to be a little more confidence in him, unlike last season where he seems to be reluctant when the ball come to his feet. During a.madrid game, he keep asking for the ball and trying hard. there were even moments when he pushes up when gerrard drops to the midfield.
its still preseason, and i hope he maintains this form into the premiership.
@Walter - Yer'a-mate, thanks :)
@Paul - I'll let friends know about this place
Looking at fixtures...21 point for the first 7 games, anyone?
@Michael - I think Lucas could be a special case, and will prove to be more than good enough this season. Babel on the other hand still falls into that 'potential' category. I'm sure Rafa is smart enough to make Babel prove his worth as an impact sub before making him a regular starter.
@suley - yeah that kinda sucks, most of them are just minor niggling little injuries, but they've still exposed our lack of cover in central defence.
lucas's not good enough even for everton
@zulqarnain - hopefully he'll get to prove his worth this season....
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