Lucas Leiva has credited Rafa Benitez's much maligned rotation policy with allowing him to get a foothold in the Liverpool squad.
Benitez seems to finally have discovered the virtues of a first-choice lineup, but not before the former Gremio standout established himself as a steady compliment to the likes of Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, by impressing in almost all of his 20 appearances so far this season.
"The manager, Rafa Benitez, has a philosophy whereby he likes to rotate, sometimes four players from game to game. And this has worked to my advantage," admitted the 21-year-old, who captained the Brazilian U-20 team before making the graduation to the full Selecao.
"Gerrard is undoubtedly the face of Liverpool Football Club, possibly the face of English football," he added. "But we can play together and have already done so to good effect.
"I must admit I suffered a bit when I first came to England," he added. "But then I realised that there was nothing to be intimidated by, everybody had two legs, we were all equal.
"I managed to get over this when I realized what I had already achieved. I had done big things like being selected for Brazil. Now, I have settled in and everyone has treated me well since I arrived."
Lucas became the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool in January of this year when he struck against Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup.
Benitez seems to finally have discovered the virtues of a first-choice lineup, but not before the former Gremio standout established himself as a steady compliment to the likes of Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, by impressing in almost all of his 20 appearances so far this season.
"The manager, Rafa Benitez, has a philosophy whereby he likes to rotate, sometimes four players from game to game. And this has worked to my advantage," admitted the 21-year-old, who captained the Brazilian U-20 team before making the graduation to the full Selecao.
"Gerrard is undoubtedly the face of Liverpool Football Club, possibly the face of English football," he added. "But we can play together and have already done so to good effect.
"I must admit I suffered a bit when I first came to England," he added. "But then I realised that there was nothing to be intimidated by, everybody had two legs, we were all equal.
"I managed to get over this when I realized what I had already achieved. I had done big things like being selected for Brazil. Now, I have settled in and everyone has treated me well since I arrived."
Lucas became the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool in January of this year when he struck against Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup.
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