http://thebibtheorists.com/2013/08/30/crying-out-for-a-defensive-midfielder/ -------------------------------- John Cullinane takes a look at the Premier League season up to now, and more specifically Lucas and his role in the midfield. Is Lucas the defensive midfielder we need or is giving him that job title too much alone? Brendan Rodgers bases his philosophy on quick, slick passing, the ability to interchange in the final third, tactical awareness, retaining possession and pressing the opposition high up the pitch. Also with the acquisitions of Phillipe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool now have the capability to counter-attack. Having the capacity to play in a variety of ways can only be profitable for the Red men. In Rodgers, Liverpool also have a manager who is not averse to changing his methods when necessity calls so fans will have no worries with the Northern Irishman being tactically stubborn. There is no doubt Liverpoolâs ability on the ball is probably the easiest on the eye in the Premier League. Their attacking prowess and intelligence can destroy any defence on any day. However when the reds find themselves out of possession and having to defend, every Liverpool fan curls up on the couch and bites their nails in anticipation of conceding a goal. This should not be the case. Liverpool must find the right balance between physical strength and technical competence. Pure swash-buckling strength is not required in all positions. For example, your creative attacking-midfield player doesnât need raw power because his role in the team doesnât necessitate it. But in such positions, such as centre-back, it does require it. Where physical strength is desired too is the defensive-midfield role, a position where Liverpool happen to be very weak in at the moment. People will now jump out of their chairs and shout âLUCAS LEIVAâ but it is sadly apparent that the Brazilian simply doesnât possess the qualities that this role demands. The defensive-midfield role is fundamental to a teamâs success. It entails breaking up and re-starting attacks for their team. To be a defensive-midfield player you must be tactically aware of everything that is going on around you. A positional sense where you pick up opposition attackers with ease and do not caught out leaving your defence outnumbered. However this is a situation where Lucas finds himself in all too often. Some might say that Lucas was Liverpoolâs man of the match in their opening game of the season against Stoke and to be fair he had a decent game, but you must factor in the opposition midfielders Glenn Whelan, Steven Nzonzi and Marc Wilson. Three players with no creative brain cell between them. This is why Lucasâ frailties went completely untested baring a last ten minute splurge which saw Simon Mignolet announce himself by saving a penalty and ultimately three points for the reds. In the first half of Liverpoolâs most recent game they completely dominated and outclassed Aston Villa, however one would argue that Villa were fatigued having already played Arsenal and Chelsea earlier in the week. Although this excuse would prove to be inaccurate in the second-half as the Birmingham outfit came storming out of the traps. Lucas was caught out of position too often for Rodgersâ liking in this half with the energy of Fabian Delph and Leandro Bacuna breezing past him. It almost seemed in the last half an hour that Lucas was beginning to tire, which led to many misplaced passes and positional errors. Luckily Liverpoolâs defence, goalkeeper and Sturridge saved a valuable three points for the Reds once again in this game â maintaining a 100% record. What is also worrying is that there is no discernible competition for Lucas. Liverpool literally have one defensive-midfield player in their squad, and even giving Lucas the tag of being a âdefensive-midfielderâ is very generous as he rarely fulfils his defensive duties. There has been no mention of bolstering the midfield in this window which suggests that the four of Lucas, Gerrard, Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson will be the cluster that the manager has to choose from. The sad reality is that with no out-and-out defensive midfield player, Liverpool will struggle against the creative and athletic midfielders of the league. For Rodgers to be seemingly content with his limited choices in midfield is very concerning. Indeed Gerrard is the other sitting player in the two with Lucas in midfield. Gerrard would be classed as having deep-lying playmaker task. However he doesnât occupy as much of the defensive obligations as the Brazilian but sometimes finds himself covering for Lucas when he is out of position. This in turn leads to Gerrardâs creative expertise being limited. This is not to say that Lucas isnât a decent midfielder, he has a great attitude and is an astute tackler. He would be an acceptable squad player but no more than that. The harsh reality is that Liverpool will persist with Lucas as their defensive-midfielder this season unless the problem becomes so distinct that they might look at it in the January window. On most occasions the attackers get all the plaudits for teams excelling and the defenders get the criticism when a team is struggling. The defensive-midfield role is one of such complexity that it sometimes goes unnoticed. Make no mistake about it, as the season wears on people will start to notice Lucasâ imperfections when he comes up against the intelligence of such attacking midfielders as David Silva, Santi Cazorla, and Juan Mata. Or when he faces the powerful and athletic midfielders such as Yaya Toure and Paulinho. Liverpoolâs success with Lucas remains to be seen. Nevertheless, one would argue if they had an upgrade on the holding-midfield position, their chances of success would be far greater
there is no such thing as a DM.. only players lacking ability. Its easy to "sit" and play sideways and then kick lads like scott parker. this si why after all he was fired out of chelsea. Lucas and Gerrard are actually playing very similar roles right now and they are not so much "sitting" as keeping with play. V villa we all say back so they too did so. V stoke the whole team pushed forward so they did too. The thing that blows this stuff out of the water is when you watch agger stride forward and seegerrard step in to cover or when you see gerrard making the tackles. what the article ought to say is LFC have two capable midfielders and are using henderson not as that but as a willing runner... sort of reminiscent of a houghton or even johnston on the right. LFC could in theory play allen and henderson but the real question should be are they good enough to play a proper CM role? the question is are we short of CMs not the "DM" tpye limited player. This can equally be said of the "AM" rubbish. there's a reason why stephen ireland is nowhere not and why shelvey was sold... or dare i even suggest WHY FABREGAS benchwarms. its cos they beleive they don't need to defend, don't need to be in line with the ball but simply run off on thier own little game and expect somone else to pass to him. Finally people will say what about gerrard and torres.... well what about them?? you had two real midfielders in masch and alonso who were under rated going forward totally while gerrard played no 10. he just played second striker really and passed to torres. a role a suarez or coutinho would try to play today. don't forget that gerrard is just that damned talented he can play anywhere... it cost him physically but he could do it all.
I think Gerrard has adapted to the deeper role and if Lucas was out injured Gerrard would be the DM with maybe Henderson or Allen playing further forward.
Still would like to see a Diame/Mulumbu type in that position as well. Would be cheap and a position that I feel you have dime a dozen in terms of choices.
I'm happier with Mascha and Alonso.......sorry Lucas and Gerrard, but you get my point. One breaks up play the other drives us on and picks passes they remind me of the former two. I agree that it is a worry if one of them is out though.
Disagree. Mascherano was definitely a DM (still is IMO despite playing CB for Barca). Javier was able to get forward, he used his pace well to counter-attack from set pieces, he could get plenty of power behind a shot (very rarely hit the target though) and was able to find both short and long passes, but he was very much a DM imo. Not a CM, box-to-box or creative midfielder, simply a DM and the best one we've seen IMO at Liverpool.
still see nothing to change my opinion... there are no dms only players lacking ability. great players break up play too... gerrard breaks up a lot of stuff... pirlo and xavi don't hang round not beothering when their sides don't have the ball. in short: if you have 60% possession.... and a guy like parker then he's a liability.... lets give lucas some credit for some ability to pass the thing forward. 70% possession and this is why masch plays cb for barca... they could not afford him in cm.... funny eh? Masch is under rated going forward but does lack some vision. Again this is why javi martinez cost what he did for bayern and why when we sold alonso the quote form real president was he was the only guy in the world to make their system work... just that plain good. ............................. exmaples: steve mcmahon.... DM? nope... hard tacklet but he could pass he played positive Souness.... DM only... nope. bad examples dunga. Deschamps.. the quote "water carrier" its not a compliment!!! sure both were great players in their way but this is why the likes of phil blooming jones can play midfield... a total waste of a position. the message form me is go buy a real talent.
Completely agree. With Lucas and Gerrard, I get the sense that they need henderson to provide the engine, the legs, the energy. I'm sorry but 2 CM's should not be relying on someone else to do the running. In a CM partnership, one should dictate the tempo (Gerrard) and the other should be the legs and break up play. Lucas breaks up play but gets caught out and isn't quick enough to cover the ground.
My point was, Mascherano didn't lack ability but his acceleration/pace, power/strength, aggression and tackling made him a specialist at protecting the back four. He is 100% a DM in my eyes but not because he was limited in terms of ability. Makelle was the same (not attributes wise) in that he had bags of ability but was extra special in a DM role.
Try mixing it up slightly. I see a Alonso and Lucas partnership in similar light to XA and JM, it lacks fight, aggression and tenacity. Put Gerrard and Mascherano together, does that look better? IMO, yes. It looks a lot better although I'd still prefer Alonso and Javier. My point is, it isn't so much the partnership, it is the dog fighter that was Mascherano that is missing. Putting Gerrard in there is as close as we are going to get to replacing Xabi. Stick Lucas AND Henderson in there and they are able to work together to cover a Mascherano.
I agree with you. We're missing that physical, nasty presence in the middle. Lucas simply doesn't provide that. Gerrard and Lucas both need Henderson. The way I see it is that it's a waste of a player. 2 adequate CM's wouldn't need Henderson. Henderson could then be replaced with a more offensive player.
Speaking of Mash... Gerrard did a fantastic tackle coming from far behind against United Sunday... looked like something Mash would be proud of. Stevie is an excellent DM... think he lacks going forward now but DM he still excels at. Don't discount Allen. One day his shoulder will heal and he'll be good again. Seriously though... why can't he be like he was his first 6 or so games with us? What has changed? Confidence? Does he need to loan out and get 1st team for a while somewhere with less pressure? If he could be what he started out with us as... we wouldn't need a DM.
the systems have changed over the years but the reality has not. I will maintain that henderson is not just in there to run for gerrard and lucas. neither is having one DM enough. what I see is teams needing tactical discipline to close all the gaps and every player needs to be in there. one dm cannot cover both full backs over lapping and mark players trying to bet between the lines. a whole midfield effort is required. Further henderson is playing more like a right side midfielder thus allowing aspas to move infield where he is standing virtually with sturridge at times. he has in the last two games dropped in to that wide area when we are defending also. I would maintain that if we added another midfielder they would have to do this AND if we had alonso and masch in thier prime and gerrard in his prime that gerrard would be wide right just like this! having one donkey is not the way. look at essien for example. makelele, ok pure destructive player, negative... low socring... essien was dynamic. lok at keane at utd... defensive... no... dirty yes... he drove them on and played box to box. finally... our system requires the cbs to pass the ball to run forward and it requires BOTH full backs to create width. in this case it is simply vital the two CMs are tactically disciplined but also move for passes laterally and show for the ball. when agger or toure decide to make the extra man cos no-one closes them down someone has to step in behind and close the space.... someone has to cover right full when johnson is i nthe pen area.... we are making extra men going forward so someone must show the discipline to stop attacks. I'll contend that there are indeed probably 50 men about there you could buy that are better players than our two but... but our two are doing whats asked of them. I'll also say that with coutinho quiet in the last two games and aspas anonymous our midfield had to do a lot of work.... put moses in and move coutinho central and i think we'll improve.... its a whole package.
gerrard is lacking the 50 yard sprint. he looks leggy when he gets there. thats comparing something truely awesome to todays player... allen needs games. he did ok in preseason but henderson came on and must have impressed and honeslty while i think henderson is our most technically weak player o nthe pitch his physical attributes make up for it.
If we could fix Allen make him what he briefly was... that would be ideal rather than getting someone new. Besides it would piss Swansea off if Allen developed into a world class player.
What a load of bollocks. Lucas is a very good holding midfielder and he fits our system perfectly. He has an exceptional ability to be able to read play, win the ball, then play it forwards effectively. We would look like a much more fragile side without him, and we would certainly struggle to counter attack as effectively without him. I would certainly like to see some sort of competition though as we don't want complacency or injury to squander our hopes for another season. But it's extremely difficult to bring in players as 'backup', you would have to question the motivations of a player who is happy to sit in as his understudy? However if we are still looking for cheap backup... *cough* Momo Sissoko *cough*
