Samba boy Lucas Leiva, the successor to Xabi Alonso, so says Rafa

[Kiwi8]

The Electric New Paper :
EPL
3 days to the Big Kick-off
FOUND
The successor to Xabi Alonso, so says Rafa
13 August 2009

LIVERPOOL fans, fret not, for Rafa Benitez has found the replacement for creative midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Five years younger and 10 centimetres shorter than the Spaniard, the 22-year-old Brazilian is silky smooth (at least his blonde hair is) - his acheivements are in the league of football luminaries like Zico, Falcao, Romario, Kaka and Tevez, having won the Bola de Ouro (Brazilian league equivalent of Footballer of the Year) in 2006.

That's right. Benitez believes samba boy Lucas Leiva can help fill the gap left by Alonso's departure - and the Brazilian youngster agrees.

The Liverpool boss believes Lucas has been the club's most impressive player during pre-season, and he underlined that with a goal and an eye-catching display in Saturday's 2-1 home friendly defeat to Atletico Madrid.

Kop fans are still disappointed that Alonso has left, even if Liverpool have got £30 million ($71.4m) from Real Madrid for the Spain international.

And Benitez is aware the more adventurous (but injured) Alberto Aquilani, bought from Roma for £20m last Friday, is not yet ready to replace Alonso in midfield, paving the way for Lucas to make his mark.

He said: 'Lucas has been the best player in pre-season. He showed why again against Atletico. He is really focused, working hard and is showing quality.

'He knows Aquilani will need time. When we decided to bring in Aquilani we knew he would be out for one month or so, so we analysed the squad and we think that with Javier Mascherano, Lucas, Steven Gerrard and Damien Plessis we have enough (strength in depth).'

For Lucas, this is a great chance to win over the Anfield fans, who dished out plenty of criticism last season.

Lucas arrived at Liverpool with great pedigree. He was captain of former club, Brazilian side Gremio, as well as his country's under-20 team.

But his confidence took a beating when Liverpool fans started jeering him after a lacklustre draw against Fulham. Lucas was also sent off in a cup tie against bitter Merseyside rivals Everton, which the Reds lost.

However, there were also bright sparks last season which showed that he is ready to take over Alonso's mantle. In the memorable 4-1 victory over league champions Man United, Lucas started in place of an injured Alonso and played a key role in the drubbing.

Statistics

His statistics for the season was not far off Alonso's mark either - three goals in 39 games compared to the Spaniard's five in 43.

Blowing his own horn, Lucas said: 'I am always ready and now Xabi is gone I hope there will be more opportunities for me.

'I am just working hard in training to try to earn a position in the team.

'I have played a lot of minutes in pre-season and that has given me more confidence. I am feeling better and hopefully it will be a good season for me.'

Despite Alonso's absence, Lucas is confident of his own contributions to Liverpool's league title aspirations. He added: 'We will miss him of course but I think we can cope without him. We did not play all the games last season with Xabi, and still finished runners-up.

'He is a really good player but we also have a lot of other quality players here.'

PA Sport
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Do u agree with Rafa's assessment?

[TitanSmall]

the heading is misleading... did rafa say anything abt it?

[Kiwi8]

Originally Posted by TitanSmall

the heading is misleading... did rafa say anything abt it?

Did u even read the article? Of course he did.

[khui09]

what wrong with the gdfather saying such stuff about his gdson jr...

won't be surprised if he say that gdson snr is successor to torres...

those three sort of a bermuda triangle...don't bother to understand what they saying...

[TrueBeliever_jh]

gotten him in my fantasy league team liaoz

[jungon]

cannot be la. his passing so lousy!

[silent_espy]

as a liverpool fan i will honestly say rafa is better off getting me to replace alonso at least i can pass the ball accurately and do through passes lucas is hopeless at the art of passing.

[Kiwi8]

Wow! Then who is Rafa trying to fool?

[Kennedy]

Anyone who dares to insult my fav player Lucas will get it from me!



You can insult Gerrard, Torres I don't care

but don't let me see you laugh at my fav players Lucas, Dossena, Voroninator, Degen

[anfielder]

Originally Posted by Kiwi8

Did u even read the article? Of course he did.

he did praise Lucas but that's not quite the same as saying Lucas is Alonso's successor.

[Jian19]

Originally Posted by Kennedy

Anyone who dares to insult my fav player Lucas will get it from me!



You can insult Gerrard, Torres I don't care

but don't let me see you laugh at my fav players Lucas, Dossena, Voroninator, Degen

u sure have a weird taste on fav players

[odyas]

Honestly, what do you expect Rafa to say? Lucas not good enough? At this time where the season is about to begin, he needs cover for midfield and by saying good thing about Lucas will actually boost his morale. He may or may not perform but that is another story.

[(Zero)]

only time will tell

[lyfeforce]

Successor to the position? Maybe... Successor to the player? I hardly think so. But he has definitely improved over the pre-season. One can only hope the improvement spills over to the new season.

[Boi_racer]

Hope he can step up and really grab this opportunity.........