The Metamorphosis of Lucas

The Metamorphosis of Lucas

The Metamorphosis of Lucas

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By Amy Eustace

“People just don’t know how good Lucas is,” prophesised Rafael Benitez, three years ago to the month. It was December 2008, and Liverpool had found themselves in a somewhat unfamiliar position by recent standards. Top of the table, ahead of the pack and with just one defeat for the first half of the season away to Spurs, the only problem was a smattering of frustrating draws. That, and for a rather large section of fans, the performances of a young, blond-haired Brazilian who had apparently worked his way into Benitez’s heart - and subsequently, a talented Liverpool midfield.

Those mind-boggling stalemates set angry Kop tongues wagging, and the then-21 year old would be on the receiving end of plenty of Scouse ire. Lucas Leiva certainly wasn’t the only villain that term - summer signing Robbie Keane’s stock was so low on the Anfield terraces that he was sent packing back down to London at the first available opportunity. Benitez wasn’t shy of admitting he had gotten the Keane question wrong, but he was so quick to defend the Gremio starlet who had appeared wildly out of his depth on Merseyside. Why? Liverpool supporters and the baying critics, by and large, didn’t see whatever it was that Benitez saw. They saw a shaggy-haired boy, supposedly highly-rated in his native, football-crazed country, who simply didn’t make the exceedingly high grade in the Premier League.

A particularly dreary scoreless draw against Fulham was the catalyst for a cruel outburst of criticism on the subject of Lucas, but Benitez was having none of it. He pointed to the Brazilian’s already impressive CV, and the wealth of talent ahead of him in the well-established Liverpool squad, but even though Lucas would go on to perform commendably in other games over the course of the season – including a 4-1 drubbing of Manchester United on their own turf, deputising for Xabi Alonso – he would be the scapegoat for Liverpool’s failure to hang on to top spot after the turn of the year, and indeed for the entire season after. 2009/10 would be Benitez’s last chance to defend his £5m signing – Rafa and Liverpool cut ties in the summer of 2010, paving the way for then LMA Manager of the Year, Roy Hodgson, to enter the fray. And we all know how that turned out… 

(*shudder*)

Hodgson was the personification of popular sentiment back then, when the English press had almost single-handedly lifted him to the level of top four calibre manager and prospective England coach thanks to his Europa League exploits with Fulham. Hodgson was everything the Sunday Supplement crew would have wanted:  man-marking and 4-4-2 and, importantly, not so keen on Lucas. In fact, he was the very antithesis of Benitez. Early on, Hodgson preferred Christian Poulsen in the holding midfield spot over the unappreciated Brazilian, which only had the effect of proving that Liverpool fans had no idea of what a truly awful defensive midfielder was before then. If Lucas had been poor, Poulsen was an abomination (although to be fair, much of Poulsen’s criticism was augmented by association with Hodgson). So, when Hodgson eventually gave up on flogging the dead horse, and Lucas returned to the side, his influence was seen for what it really was. Lucas, who had endured a steady stream of insults in his three years at the club and in the absence of his biggest apologist, was emerging from his ‘ugly duckling’ phase.

The rest, as they say, is history. When Kenny Dalglish arrived in January, and abandoned his predecessor’s rigid style for the more favourable ‘pass and move’ approach, Lucas took to the new look Liverpool like a duck to water. In May, he was deservedly crowned player of the season. By November, it already looked as though he’d scoop the award a second season in a row. His impact on the side was such that his old boo-boys in the Kop almost completely converted.

It was that same pairing that had been so adept at resigning Lucas to the sidelines – Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso – that had allowed Lucas to develop into the player he is now. With Mascherano playing the gung-ho, terrier-style holding player, and Alonso’s emphasis on flawless distribution, they were the double pivot that set Liverpool apart from the rest in 2008 and 2009. When Lucas arrived, he was nowhere near either of these, but when they left (Alonso in the summer of 2009 and Mascherano shortly after the start of the 10/11 season), he managed to carve out an impressive niche in which he utilised the best of both – the dispossession skills of the Argentinean, and the elegance and composure of the Spaniard. Before long Lucas was indispensible, and the gaping hole that had been left by his predecessors was more than ably filled.

 And then, the unimaginable happened. A seemingly harmless tussle with Juan Mata in Liverpool’s 2-0 League Cup victory over Chelsea resulted in the Brazilian leaving the field on a stretcher. Liverpool’s worst fears were realised when the diagnosis was revealed – cruciate ligament damage, requiring surgery, and a six-month layoff for the influential midfielder.

The resulting dismay from the Liverpool camp was no surprise, given how crucial he had become. He had only missed one game all season through suspension (a one-all stalemate with Norwich at Anfield), and since Dalglish’s return, had been a constant. In a year when both Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher had been sidelined with injury without the news causing any real concern, it was a testament to how far Lucas had come that his absence was treated with more panic than that of the long standing Scouse captains. His injury even raised doubts over whether the club could sustain its challenge for a Champions League place. What once might’ve been seen as a boon to the club’s fans was now a massive loss.

You only have to look at Liverpool’s first match after Lucas’s injury – a 1-0 defeat at Fulham’s Craven Cottage – to see how important Lucas had become. Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele ran riot in the wide gap between defence and midfield – a vantage point from which Lucas would normally dictate the ebb and flow of the game. To make matters worse, his stand-in, Jay Spearing, was sent off for a challenge with Dembele, while Dempsey scored late on to secure three points for the home side. Something was missing for Liverpool, and nobody could have had any doubts as to what that missing piece was.

Lucas may not be as skilful as Suarez, as effective in front of goal as Fernando Torres once was, or as replete with heroism as Steven Gerrard, but as far as Liverpool idols go, he is destined to be up there with the best. Others – older, and better acquainted with the fickleness of English fans – have buckled under the pressure of universal criticism before, but Lucas’s rise to the forefront of Liverpool’s most expensive squad ever is all the more admirable for the tough times he endured. Not one to be discouraged, or hold a grudge, the young Brazilian set out to prove his doubters wrong. And nobody could argue that he hasn’t done that, and more, in the last two years.

Rafael Benitez was wrong about a lot of things. But not Lucas - in fact, he was one of the very few people right about Lucas.  Back in 2008, when Benitez gave his strident defence of Leiva, few could have imagined how true his words would turn out to be. Apart from then Brazil coach, Dunga, who, lest we forget, was himself an inimitable defensive midfielder in his day. Lucas was regularly called up to Dunga’s Brazil squad, even when fans of his own club questioned his ability, and last year the coach described him as a ‘champion for the future’. Brazil had faith in his potential long before Liverpool did.

With no established holding midfielder among their ranks, Liverpool have to cope with below-par replacements. Even Jay Spearing hadn’t played a game in the Premier League without Lucas alongside him before he was thrust into the spotlight (with disastrous results) against Fulham. Jonjo Shelvey was recalled from a fruitful loan spell at Blackpool to make up the midfield numbers, but is much more of an attacking player and less comfortable in defence. It’s certainly a position which Liverpool will look to strengthen in January.

Meanwhile, one cannot help but feel sorry for Lucas. Just as the world was beginning to recognise his ability (not to mention his laudable work ethic), disaster struck. But if Liverpool fans have learned anything from Lucas, it’s not to count him out. If his metamorphosis from zero to hero is anything to go by, he’ll be back, better than ever, in no time at all.