Lucas Leiva: Why the hate?

Author: Bobby VincentOn July 26, 2007, Liverpool signed a young Brazillian midfielder from Gremio for a fee believed to be around £5 million. His name was Lucas Leiva. Manager at the time – Rafa Benitez brought him into the club to be that deep, holding midfielder. The sort of midfielder who does all of the teams dirty work. The sort of player that produces ‘good fouls’. The sort of fouls that stops counter-attacks and lets your team slowly get back to their original positions. Now here we are in the 2013/14 season and Lucas is often criticized during and after games. In this article, I will be comparing some of his stats and raising the question; does he deserve all of the criticism?

Highest Pass Accuracy

1. Laurent Koscielny – Arsenal – 93%2. Matiheu Flamini – Arsenal – 92%3. Mikel Arteta – Arsenal – 92%4. Martin Skrtel – Liverpool – 92%5. Matija Nastasic – Man City – 92%6. Javi Garcia – Man City – 92%7. Mamadou Sakho – Liverpool – 92%8. Per Mertesacker – Arsenal – 92%9. Lucas Leiva - Liverpool – 91%10. Ki Sung Yeung – Sunderland – 91%

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Lucas sits 9th in the pass accuracy table with an impressive 92% of successful passes. I’ve heard and seen people criticize Lucas of being sloppy when in possession of the ball. This season, the stats suggest otherwise. I’m quite surprised that Joe Allen hasn’t made an appearance in the top 10. But in a way, Lucas has added accurate passing to his game, since the change of style implemented by Brendan Rodgers. Teams that play good possession football needs someone like Lucas Leiva or even Joe Allen. It gives players more confidence if you know that there will be an option deep in the centre of the field, also the chances are that Lucas won’t give the ball away.

The stats make Lucas the 4th most successful midfielder when it comes to pass accuracy too. You’d always think there will be defenders in front of him, especially if they play from the back. To be the 4th most successful midfielder is very impressive, considering how tight it can get in the centre of the pitch. Although he might not make game-changing passes across the pitch, like Steven Gerrard, Lucas does all of the simple things right on the ball. You often see Lucas pass to Gerrard and Coutinho; because he knows they’re the players that can change games, not him.

Most Tackles

1. Joel Ward – Crystal Palace – 652. Mile Jedinak – Crystal Palace – 593. Claudio Yacob – West Brom – 574. Aaron Ramsey – Arsenal – 565. Karim El Ahmadi – Aston Villa – 526. Lucas Leiva - Liverpool – 527. Ramires – Chelsea – 518. Erik Pieters – Stoke – 519. Steve Sidwell – Fulham – 5110. Pablo Zabaletta – Man City – 50

This stat in particular is very impressive. Because that’s what you want Lucas to do in your side. Brendan Rodgers will tell Lucas to get stuck in and break the play up and retain your sides possession of the ball. You don’t actually see Lucas make really physical and crunching challenges, which is a shame. I think that’s something Lucas could add to his game. But it has been reported frequently that Liverpool are after Rubin Kazan midfielder, Yann M’Vila, who is a more physical holding midfielder than Lucas.

Rodgers may look to bring someone in who is superb in the air too. Yaya Toure is a wonderful example of what he wants in his side. A very physical, box-to-box midfielder, who is brilliant defensively and is decent going forward. Obviously, the player he brings in will not be as good as Yaya Toure, it was just an example.

I think Lucas is one of those players that people will really miss when he’s gone. I don’t think he’ll leave Liverpool, as it appears that he is in love with the club. I don’t want him to leave either. I do think Liverpool can upgrade on him with players like Fernando Reges from Porto and Yann M’Vila from Rubin Kazan. I would really like an upgrade on him, but everybody likes better players for your side. Lucas Leiva gets plenty of stick, that I feel is very, very undeserved. Below are some more stats of Lucas’ league season so far:

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Lucas Leiva – 2013/14;Games Played – 18Starts – 17Minutes Played – 1,534Duels Won – 58.4%

Aerial Duels Won – 64.1 %

Tackles Won – 71%

Blocks – 6Clearances – 48Fouls Won – 13Fouls Conceded – 36Yellow Cards – 5Red Cards – 0

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