Lucas has become one of the key components in the Liverpool side and his absence is hurting the reds. This was perhaps never more evident than during yesterdays disappointing defeat to Arsenal. Both teams went into the game looking to find their form ,with both hovering in the bottom half of the table prior to kick off. Arsenal met Liverpool at a good time, with no recognised defensive midfielder in the team, they went on to expose the reds weaknesses in a way Hearts just could not manage in Thursday night’s Europa league encounter. Had the Scottish side been blessed with a couple more talent individuals then Liverpool would not be in the group stages.
Lucas is one of those players that has taken time to earn his stripes at Liverpool, but how the team missed him yesterday. Arsenal played classic counter attacking football, this was nothing special tactically but Arsene Wenger had done his homework and it paid off. Liverpool now play with two deep sitting centre backs, the full backs then push up beyond a defensive midfielder who works to protect the centre backs as they move across the width of the pitch. The problem yesterday was that there was nobody there to carry out this role and time and again Arsenal moved the ball from defence to attack with relative ease, exposing Liverpool’s fragile back line.
Lucas has a pivotal role to play in this formation, protecting the final third of the pitch and nullifying opposition attacks before they reach the 18 yard box. In any Brendan Rodgers team, the mantra is to keep the ball and to win it back quickly if you have lost it. Lucas is key to winning the ball back, he is a pain for the opposition, that kind of player who appears from the side just when you thought you had made the space for a shot on goal. In fact, it can be argued that he is the only player of his kind in the current first team squad. This is one reason why his absence will be felt so significantly.
This season, Liverpool have suddenly started to look like a team that will leak goals. What is surprising is how quickly opposition teams have identified the weaknesses in the formation and team. So far, in the first three Premier League games alone, the reds have managed to concede 7 goals, if this continues then there will be an even greater need to put the chances away at the opposition end, something Liverpool certainly struggled to do last season.
Neither Joe Allen or Nuri Sahin are natural replacements for Lucas, while they can fill this role, it will be at the expense of their natural role and results in a lack of balance within the team. The team are caught between going forward or sitting back and then tend to do neither very well. If the reshaped midfield during the absence of Lucas is to be Sahin, Allen and Gerrard then perhaps Gerrard is the player to be sacrificed although even he does not fit naturally in a more defensive role. As the manager stated after yesterday’s defeat, there were only 19 players at training on Saturday and there is not a lot to choose from in a relatively threadbare squad.
If Liverpool are to challenge for the top four this season, or even the top six given this form, sorting out the gaps in a leaky defence will be vital to their chances of success. Solving the problem caused by the injury to Lucas, and sooner rather than later, must be one of the key priorities for the coaching team at Melwood. Any continuation of this form will mean Liverpool give away far too much ground at the beginning of the season.