Lucas Leiva is a bit of an enigma really. He was brought to the club as "the best young Brazilian around" for a fee of £6m, which is quite a lot of money. He played a few times for the reserves, and did OK. He has always been on the fringes of the first team, much to most fans annoyance. His performances for The Reds up to February last season were not of Liverpool quality, and the fans had got on his back.
Roll on 7 months. Lucas, the former Brazilian U-21 captain, has been called up to the full Brazilian squad (something Aurelio cannot manage!). The last part of last season Lucas actually played quite well, but most put it down to luck. He went to the Olympics and came home with a Bronze medal. Then came pre-season. He was arguably our best player in pre-season. So far this season he has played extremely well, apart from one bad game against Villa.
So what do we make of this reformed player? He has come out in the press lately saying he would have left if it wasn’t for Rafa`s constant encouragement, and lets face it, you wouldn’t have blamed him! He is now saying he’s happy at Liverpool and glad that the fans are more appreciative. Now I will say this. I normally sit in the Kemlyn upper (sorry, it’s still Kemlyn to me!), and last season even up to the end, there was intense hatred of Lucas. This season however, things have changed, and changed in a big way.
Fans are now accepting him as a squad player. No longer are the pre-match talks about how Rafa is failing by picking that useless Lucas. It is accepted that he is doing a job for Liverpool, and doing it rather well. He’ll never be a Gerrard, but then why should we expect him to be. Gerrard is a phenomenon. He is up there with King Kenny as one of Liverpool's all time greats. You just don’t buy them for £6m.
I was in the Kop on Wednesday in Block 305, which has been the most vociferous in its attacks on Lucas. Not a whisper of discontent. Not one sarcastic comment. A few songs to praise him as well. It’s a whole new atmosphere when Lucas appears on our team sheet.
Long may it continue, and long may Lucas continue to improve at the rate he is doing at present.
Roll on 7 months. Lucas, the former Brazilian U-21 captain, has been called up to the full Brazilian squad (something Aurelio cannot manage!). The last part of last season Lucas actually played quite well, but most put it down to luck. He went to the Olympics and came home with a Bronze medal. Then came pre-season. He was arguably our best player in pre-season. So far this season he has played extremely well, apart from one bad game against Villa.
So what do we make of this reformed player? He has come out in the press lately saying he would have left if it wasn’t for Rafa`s constant encouragement, and lets face it, you wouldn’t have blamed him! He is now saying he’s happy at Liverpool and glad that the fans are more appreciative. Now I will say this. I normally sit in the Kemlyn upper (sorry, it’s still Kemlyn to me!), and last season even up to the end, there was intense hatred of Lucas. This season however, things have changed, and changed in a big way.
Fans are now accepting him as a squad player. No longer are the pre-match talks about how Rafa is failing by picking that useless Lucas. It is accepted that he is doing a job for Liverpool, and doing it rather well. He’ll never be a Gerrard, but then why should we expect him to be. Gerrard is a phenomenon. He is up there with King Kenny as one of Liverpool's all time greats. You just don’t buy them for £6m.
I was in the Kop on Wednesday in Block 305, which has been the most vociferous in its attacks on Lucas. Not a whisper of discontent. Not one sarcastic comment. A few songs to praise him as well. It’s a whole new atmosphere when Lucas appears on our team sheet.
Long may it continue, and long may Lucas continue to improve at the rate he is doing at present.
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