An Apology to Lucas.....KOP Hero

Its been 3 years since I last wrote on this blog and after reading older posts I really felt the need to apologise to a Kop hero....Lucas Leiva.

Back in 2009 when Rafa insisted on playing Mascherano, Alonso AND Lucas many(including me!) questioned Lucas inclusion. Why 3 'holding' midfielders...why Lucas!!!

While I knew Lucas was a class player I questioned his inclusion into an already steady midfield and was frustrated because we could obviously use an extra attacking player instead of another defensive one.
Barely a season later and I was made to eat my words and admitted it to every Liverpool fan I knew.

With Alonso moving on to Real Madrid and Masherano following soon after to Barcelona, Lucas was left to hold the midfield and boy did he step up. He soon established himself as the number one midfielder and our most productive player with the exception of the ever present Captain Stevie. He became a Kop hero...

No one was more excited to see Lucas come on as a sub on the recent American tour than me. Lucas was back to stabilise our fragile midfield that hurt so much under King Kenny when he got injured last season against Chelsea. Liverpool FC looked to step up a gear last season after Kenny was signed on as permanent manager but that progress was soon halted when Lucas got injured against Chelsea in the League Cup. With that our league form dipped, we just could'nt match other teams in midfield. Even the great Stevie G commented that Lucas was the form player when he got injured and it hurt the team. No one really stood out as an adequate replacement for Lucas in midfield and the team suffered. Yes we outplayed a lot of teams and suffered terrible luck in front of goal but for me the key to our miserable season was the loss of Lucas.

The Rogers Revolution started decently with some stella performances in the States and the inclusion of Lucas was a great sight once again. In the opening day of the season against West Brom we lost but we were never outplayed in that game, 3-0 was a flattering score line. Although Lucas was tiring in midfield I felt that his substitution was a major factor in us conceding 2 goals late on. It allowed West Brom to have a better share of the midfield. Lucas just covers so much ground and breaks ups much of the opposition plays.

We will once again lose the services of Lucas who was injured early on against Manchester City.... at least this time it wont be for the whole season. I'm really looking forward to enjoying your contribution on the field in his new Rogers system.

We need you to be back soon and stronger in our push for the Champions League places and hopefully we can shut a few doubters up and even challenge for that elusive League Title.

C'mon Lucas ....The Kop Hero from Sunny Brasil....