Lucas began his career at Grêmio in Brasil, in 2006 his second as a proffessional he became the youngest player ever to receive the Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Brasilian top flight an honour previously won by the likes of Zico, Falcão, Careca, Alex, Romario, Robinho, Kaká and Tévez. At the start of the 2007-2008 season Rafa Benitez signed Lucas for around £6 million. On 27 January 2008 when he curled a 25-yard shot into the top corner during an FA Cup match against Havant and Waterlooville, becoming the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool In the 2008-2009 season things were not looking good for Lucas, he was booed off the pitch by Liverpool fans after a poor performance against Fulham. Rafa came out fighting saying that someone who has captained Gremio at such a young age and who captained the Brasil youth team could not be a bad player. But things got worse after getting sent off against Everton and giving a penalty away against Wigan. Lucas had become very unpopular with the vast majority of Liverpool fans and was considered not good enough for the club. In the 2009-2010 season there was a marked improvement but most fans still thought of him as surplus to requirement and that the club needed to find a new Defensive Midfielder. Many radio and TV phone in shows would have Liverpool fans blaming him for the failings on the pitch. Throughout this period the young player kept his head down, never responding to critical fans or pundits, he was a young man in a foreign country and was taking almost the full blame for another inconsistent season. On 17th April 2011, during Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Emirates Staidum, Lucas played a pivotal role in ousting out Cesc Fà bregas in midfield. Following the game, Kenny Dalglish praised him "he may be the one who stops the guy going past the first fella then sets us on our way,". On 24 May, Lucas was voted the Standard Chartered Fans player of the year for the 2010-11 season, winning 40% of the 129,774 votes cast. He also made the most tackles in the top 4 European leagues in the 2010-2011 season. The transformation was incredible Lucas is now one of the most highly rated Defensive Midfielders in europe, the fans now love him and not only for his uncompromising performances, great ball retention and tackling but for the fact that during the hard times he had kept his mouth shut when he could have bitten back at fans (and would have maybe been right to do so). Liverpool fans owe Lucas a big apology and unwavering support. Something that was seen recently against Man City when fans chanted his name. He will be much missed over the next few games, hopefully the injury is not too bad.
Lucas has come on heaps and bounds since he joined us. I was 1 of many fans who would cover their eyes when he got on the ball or was going in for a tackle.And felt that he was not good enough for us,but look at him now he has matured with good guidance from the managers who he has played for Rafa defended him each time bad things were said about Lucas. Like said above the lad is QUALITY Hopefully the injury is not to bad and he will be back with shortly
Lucas is now a cult figure at Anfield.We all owed him apologies.I rembember when he gave away a last minute penalty at Wigan every one was calling for his head.We must appreciate it that he also tolorated us another player must have gone by now. We hope he is not going to be out for long.My fear -who's going to play in his position, as we do not have many options in that department.Well done Lucas.
