Lucas Leiva is Brazilian. In case you didn’t know, many of the stereotypes of Brazilian footballers are that they’re skillful, flair players who have amazing ball skills and can embarrass opposition with their quick feet. Amazingly, some of these Brazilian players are actually defensive players. Some were flair players and as they mature, become well rounded players who contribute to attack and defence rather than being a side show individual in the team.
Lucas came from Gremio to Liverpool and I’ll be honest, I didn’t rate him. I’m even quoted by a friend for asking “I want to see that lads passport as there is no way he is Brazilian”. I was young, naïve and didn’t see the player he could be. I shall hold my hands up there. Before I start to attempt the question that this article looks to answer; Is Lucas a defensive midfielder? I feel it would be valuable to deal with any issues of semantics.
In this article, the definition of a defensive midfielder will be a midfielder whose main objective is to break up play, tackle the opposition and merely act as the rock of midfield in front of the back four. Holding midfielders, in my opinion, are something a little different. A player who breaks up play but also sits and is responsible for passing the ball around, being a link up man between the advanced midfield players and the back four, I would define Joe Allen as this. You may not agree with my definitions, but this article will use these definitions going forward, essentially if you don’t agree with the definitions we’re going to be having a discussion about semantics. That’s are always boring. Seriously, it is.
A long-haired Lucas Leiva rocked up at Anfield in 2007, although this article will be looking at him only from the 2008/09 season, as this was when he broke into the first team fully. Lucas’ 08/09 season saw him play 13 games, he won 56% of his 50/50 ground battles and made 79 tackles; a solid defensive performance in hindsight. 2009/10 saw Lucas truly become a starter with 32 starts for the first team and he improved on his previous season with 64% 50/50 success and 148 tackles, making a defensive error every 2,844 minutes.
Lucas did not come to Liverpool as a defensive midfielder, he was a box to box midfielder for Gremio but Rafael Benitez believed he had the attributes to fulfil this position and slowly he was moulded towards that aim. 2010/2011 saw Lucas start again 32 times with only 59% 50/50 success but he won more tackles, making 172 of them and a defensive error every 2,857 minutes. That season, in my opinion, saw a side of Lucas that the statistics I have available to me sadly can’t show. He would cut out passes yes (making 60 interceptions) but he’d also ball chase and give away free kicks in terrible positions. A point that I believe Dave Hendrick alluded to on the Don’t Mention Lucas edition of TBT Talks. He had the bad habit of being sucked towards the play and leave large gaps or the central defenders exposed. Lucas at this time was still learning his limitations physically, as he is not the quickest player on the field.
2011/12 though, Lucas played 12 games before his season was ended by injury against Chelsea where he tore his ACL. A painful and potentially career ending injury and all at the worse time, Liverpool were getting the best out of Lucas at that point; he’d made 68 tackles, 66% ground duels won and looked to be in the form of his life. Lucas was showing that he can be a defensive midfielder, that he was the man to hold Liverpool’s midfield together and he was rightly praised for his work rate, determination and also looking like a much more mature footballer.
2012/2013 saw Lucas return, although he suffered from injuries again with niggling hamstring problem returning. All related to the ACL injury he had suffered the year prior. He started 24 times, 57% ground duel success and 123 tackles but with a defensive error every 488 minutes. A worrying statistic, although this was the year when many Liverpool players made defensive errors far too regularly.
As you’ll have noticed, I have only looked at Lucas’ defensive work and not his work on the ball. Believe it or not, Lucas is a good passer of the ball and yes, I know they are short passes but they are rarely the wrong pass. Throughout 2008-2013 seasons, Lucas pass completion has been between 83% (08/09) to 88% (2012/2013). Although, Lucas throughout his time at Liverpool averages a chance creating pass every 675 minutes. So, it’s fair to say he’s not the most creative player.
Critics of Lucas Leiva can say that he gets sucked out of position far too often and I’d agree that sometimes you’d prefer him not to gallivant off to cover somewhere that isn’t as necessarily dangerous as protecting the two centre backs. Mascherano could do this, he had a lot more agility and experience in the role than Lucas does but they’re different styles of defensive midfielder. Those who support Lucas would say that he works hard, busts a gut and makes key interceptions and tackles that protect our back four. An interesting observation from this season, when Johnson/Enrique go forward, is that Lucas slots into what would be an old fashioned centre half position (centre back and centre half are different positions FYI). He isn’t really in a defensive midfielder role but he also isn’t sat as a centre back, much like Busquets does for Barcelona in their system.
To conclude, is Lucas Leiva a a defensive midfielder? No. Is he a holding midfielder? I don’t think so. I believe that Lucas Leiva is a defensive minded midfield player but not a defensive midfielder. He has elements of his game that are traits of a defensive midfielder but he also has traits and attributes that not many defensive midfielders have. His passing ability isn’t looked at nearly enough in my opinion and like Bob said, it’s not the short pass or the long pass, it’s the right pass. More than often, I believe Lucas Leiva picks the correct pass.
My opinion on Lucas is that I enjoy the stability he provides our midfield, allowing Gerrard to link up higher up the pitch when needed and also to allow our full back to overlap and attack, without feeling that we’re exposed defensively. Do I think that Lucas needs competition? Yes. Although, I have faith in man from Dourados to keep improving and really become a player for the Liverpool history books.
