Monday, September 14, 2009

Rafael Benitez: Lucas 'Key' For Liverpool Against Burnley


Yossi Benayoun may have scored a hat-trick and set up another goal in today's 4-0 drubbing of Burnley but manager Rafael Benitez attributes another player as Liverpool's show-stealer. Brazilian youngster Lucas Leiva - heavily criticised by the Anfield faithful for an as-yet mediocre two years in England - has his manager purring.

Benitez told the club's official website: "Lucas supported and managed in the middle and kept everyone else going forward,

"For me he was the key player today. We can talk about Yossi but it was thanks to Lucas. One thing everyone told me when I came here was that if you work hard the fans are with you. They could see again today that Lucas is a worker who had quality. He can challenge in the air, can tackle and pass the ball."

The 22-year-old arrived from Gremio in 2007 as the youngest player to ever to receive Placar magazine's 'Bola de Ouro' (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro. He was expected to star at The Kop but a string of uninspiring performances brought rise to doubts about his ability to impose himself on the Premier League. However, Benitez feels his young gun is often overlooked.

He continued: "He worked so hard in different positions and allowed the other players more freedom. For me he was a very important player for us today."

With Xabi Alonso's departure for Real Madrid, Lucas seems to be starring at the right time. Also starring is similarly unheralded Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun, whose hat-trick was a worthy by-product of intelligent movement and flawless technique today. Benitez saluted his performance.

"We know he's a player with quality. We have seen how good he is coming from the bench and we were talking about whether he could start or not. Today he was very, very good and his movement was fantastic for the team," Benitez said.

"During the internationals I was talking with some players about how they could change things, and it was just to work hard. Yossi was away but he wanted to play, and when a player wants to play it's very easy: you have to prove these things in every training session and in a game if you get the opportunity."

After two defeats in their first four matches, Liverpool's resounding victory over Burnley has hushed some critical whispers and kick-started their title challenge.

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