Can't agree with much here...
Lucas is a good, solid player and the only one in our squad capable of playing as a defensive midfielder. Not a deep lying playmaker, or a ball playing pivot who turns defense into attack, but a defensive midfielder. It's a specialist role which works depending on the formation you play.
If you have 5 attackers (or 6 with two fullbacks in our current system) you need someone defensive in the midfield to sit deep and track runners, make interceptions, tackle and to make those little fouls to break their play up. Lucas does that. No one else in the team is capable of doing it. You take him out and persist with those 5/6 forward players but with Gerrard or Henderson that spot (or both) and the midfield collapses and we seep goals.
Sure, there's better in the world than Lucas, no one is denying that, but I'm not really sure where the recent Lucas criticism is coming from (this isn't the first time) when it's so obvious that he's playing an important balancing role in the team and isn't really doing bad - except when paired with Gerrard or pushed higher up so Gerrard can play deep. Put him in his proper spot and we look a much better team. Not because he's a superior technician or better player, but because of balance.
Think of it this way, a team of superstars won't work because you need players in and around them to put in a shift and do the non flashy stuff like marking and tracking back or to make those little fouls which break up play. There's a long list of players we should be offloading before Lucas. Replacing him is not a high priority.
Equally, Skrtel has had some great moments for LFC. He's not a world beater either, but he's a competent and solid defender with a leader next to him. Not everyone is a leader. Next to Agger (who was a poorer defender, but better organiser) we had a working CB pairing in which weaknesses were covered by the other. So much criticism for him (particularly the shirt pulling which every ****ing defender does and gets away with - it was just flavour of the month to call Skrtel up on it) but pair him with a vocal leader and he's a good, no nonsense defender. For any rugby union fans, I likened those two to Greenwood and Tindall in our 2003 WC winning team. Brains and brawn - compatible partnership.