KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Stato's Five & Five Moments [Game 2]

That stat was wrong, as I stated in my post.

Lucas gave away 3 free kicks yesterday, and 2 against Stoke.

And in the big picture, if SG plays as a pure DM, he doesn't get forward (like yesterday). The 10 goals and 10 assists he got last year don't happen. Plus, I really don't think his legs would hold out for the whole season if he spent the whole time running around putting out fires. We actually got a full season out of him for the first time in a while because he was in a free-playmaker role where he could sit back and ping passes. He didn't have to be the dynamic all action midfielder, and his age was much less of a handicap.

But SG doesn't play as a pure DM. He is much more versatile than that.

In the Villa game he went forward a few times in the first half when we controlled the game and had possession of the ball. In the second half almost none of the LFC players went forward, simply because we were defending in our own half of the pitch.

If he is the only DM, he won't be able to surge forward. He doesn't have the stamina to do both. We need Lucas in the side.

With limitied players like Lucas we can kiss top 4 good bye.

Same goes for players in the Skrtel mould. Not awful but certainly not top 4 material.

If we feel we "need" them in the side then it´s time to lower our ambitions IMO.

I'm sorry, I disagree. Lucas is the best tackler in the league and one of the best DMs around. He has excellent positioning, and he almost never gives the ball away. Unless we sign another one, we need to play him, because Allen won't cut it there and playing Stevie there is wasteful on multiple levels.

I agree with redordead. Lucas is great at tackling as well as cutting off passes and runs from opponents. He is highly under rated, IMO he is one of them players that many dont appreciate and dont really acknowlegde what he does until he isnt there.

What we learned this weekend... (according to Ralph Ellis at the Mail)

1. Lucas Leiva is key for Liverpool...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footbal...contention.html

like it or not lucas has become a vital part of the team every side in the prem has to have a DM that does the basic things ie winning tackles and getting possession back as quick as poss this will inevitably lead to the odd free kick being given in a game but all in all to have the ball 77 times and find a team mate 70 of them is pretty impressive I never liked lucas for about 2 or 3 seasons but fair play to lad even after a bad injury he is getting back to do what he does best winning possession and distributing to another team mate.

I still disagree.

IF we do need Lucas then it´s a bad sign that others in the team aren´t good enough (or versatile enough) in their own roles.

To have 1 player specialized in the defensive department is wasteful IMO. To say we need him to cover for other players lack of talent/competence doesn't make it more right.

My stance is that we should have midfield players versatile enough to cover both their defensive and offensive tasks. Maybe not at the same time, but they should be capable enough to be able to switch roles between (or even during ongoing) games.

I mean, to start with we have a goalkeeper to take care of that work. We have defenders to cover that area. We have midfielders to operate in that area, and we have forwards to take care of those tasks.

We do only have 11 players out on the pitch at the same time, and we can make only 3 subs during a match. If we had players in their respective area (defenders, midfielders and forwards) suited to their roles, but with different specialized skills only, then we would need to be able to make at least 11 subs depending on how the match situation turned out. The more versatile a player, the less need for subs, or alternatively spoken: the less restrictions in the manner the team would be able to perform and change their style of play during a match - given what would be demanded from them from time to time.

For example: 11 allround players who could play in all positions (and under all available tactical set ups) out on the pitch would surely be easier to manage and gain better results than 11 players suited only for their own role and for only 1 formation.