Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Lucas Leiva Enjoying Partnership With Charlie Adam

Liverpool FC’s Lucas Leiva believes his double act with Charlie Adam is starting to click.

The central midfielders were two of Liverpool FC's outstanding performers in Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Lucas worked tirelessly to win back possession and Adam played a big part in both of Liverpool’s goals.

They have started 11 of the club’s 12 Premier League games this season alongside each other and the Brazilian is relishing playing with the Scotland international.

“Charlie is an offensive player and I try to give him the licence to go forward and make a key pass,” Lucas said.

“You could see the pass he put on for Glen Johnson for the winning goal.

“When we’re defending he gets back and tries to help me. Charlie is learning a lot about the defensive role.

“There are a lot of new players in the team and it takes a little bit of time to get an understanding but like everyone I’m really happy and enjoying playing with Charlie.

“If we play more games together then we will be even better because the understanding will improve.”

Victory over Chelsea kick-started Liverpool’s push for Champions League qualification after the frustrating home draw with Swansea City.

Lucas says Kenny Dalglish’s side must go into every game with the attitude they showed in the capital – starting with this Sunday’s showdown with leaders Manchester City at Anfield.

“If we approach every single game like we approached the Chelsea game, then we would be in a better position,” Lucas said.

“We were really pleased with the performance, especially in the first half when we did very well. When they came back for the second half they changed the system and we lost the way we played a little bit. But after a few changes and a talk with the manager we settled and looked for the second goal.

“They had the ball a lot at the back, and our strategy was to let the centre-backs have the ball and then press at the right moment.

“When you regain the ball close to or in the opposition’s half, you always have a chance to break and you can find space. That’s what happened when we got the ball off Mikel and scored our first goal.

“If you see Barcelona play, they play the ball out from the back a lot and they can be open if you regain the ball. But the problem is that against Barcelona, you can’t get the ball off them!

“We could do that against Chelsea though, and that was important.

“We had to get the three points because we had dropped points at home.

“Now we need to find a good way of playing at home. We have to improve our record there.

“When we play away, the first thing we do is defend very well and on the counter-attack we are dangerous.

“We have to find out the way to play at home. If we can do that then we can have a very good season.”

Lucas was delighted for Glen Johnson and Maxi Rodriguez who both scored their first league goals of the season at Stamford Bridge.

Johnson missed the first two months of the season due to injury, while Rodriguez had been limited to just 14 minutes of league football prior to Sunday.

“Glen has been suffering with injuries but he has had a few games together now to get fit and his confidence is back,” Lucas said. “We know he’s capable of doing something like that. It was a very important goal. I was really pleased for Maxi as well. After a lot of time out of the team, he showed how important he is and deserved his goal.”

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