Boss: Lucas can be my scout
We've picked out some of the best bits below...
On Lucas being a scout during his injury...
He has been one of the players that has come in and he was really excited about this way of working. He understands totally the ideas of what I'm trying to implement. So, for him, this was going to showcase his qualities even more. I'm going to use him to also go out and look at some games for me, because he's tactically very good. He's someone that I will get to go with my analysts and look at some games to make sure that tactically he still stays in the game. Because that's important. When I put the idea to him, he thought it was good. Hopefully when we get him back, he will have benefited from it and come back a better player.
On why he chose Liverpool...
I came here first and foremost because of the history of the club. I could have stayed in my comfortable chair in South Wales, Swansea, having been the first Welsh team to be promoted. But for me I wanted to work at a club that was world class and at the very, very top. I had some choices to make in the summer and I could have gone elsewhere. I genuinely came here because of the owners. I felt a real, genuine honesty in their approach to football and how they want to go forward with the football club. I knew there was going to be a wee bit of pain short term; I understood that. But hopefully for the longer-term gain, this is what we will have to go through.
On his vision for Liverpool's playing style...
I don't enjoy the percentage. There are times when you have got to kick it longer, you have got to go that little bit longer. I've always worked along the statistic that if you can dominate the game with the ball, you have a 79 per cent chance of winning a game of football. So if you're better than the other team with the ball, you have got an eight out of 10 chance, nearly, of winning the game. But this is what Liverpool is about. Liverpool is a team that builds through the phases, and it's certainly how I work. What we will become better at is doing it quicker. That will come once the methods are more installed with the players.
On the transfer window...
I've always been an advocate that as soon as the season starts, then it should finish. For me, there is a moral issue as well. Your season starts and you've got a couple of weeks to run through to the end of August. You've got players in your changing room who maybe don't want to be there, but you're fighting for your life and for points for your club, for your supporters, for your city. And you have maybe got some players who actually don't want to be here. But you have to involve them and have them around because they are part of your group. That's the bit, morally, that's wrong. I think for clubs it's not good, in terms of managers getting your squad together. It's only after the whole thing shuts, that there's a bit of peace and you can get on with doing your work.
Author: Phil Reade and Chris Shaw
7th Sep 2012 - Latest News
On Lucas being a scout during his injury...
He has been one of the players that has come in and he was really excited about this way of working. He understands totally the ideas of what I'm trying to implement. So, for him, this was going to showcase his qualities even more. I'm going to use him to also go out and look at some games for me, because he's tactically very good. He's someone that I will get to go with my analysts and look at some games to make sure that tactically he still stays in the game. Because that's important. When I put the idea to him, he thought it was good. Hopefully when we get him back, he will have benefited from it and come back a better player.
On why he chose Liverpool...
I came here first and foremost because of the history of the club. I could have stayed in my comfortable chair in South Wales, Swansea, having been the first Welsh team to be promoted. But for me I wanted to work at a club that was world class and at the very, very top. I had some choices to make in the summer and I could have gone elsewhere. I genuinely came here because of the owners. I felt a real, genuine honesty in their approach to football and how they want to go forward with the football club. I knew there was going to be a wee bit of pain short term; I understood that. But hopefully for the longer-term gain, this is what we will have to go through.
On his vision for Liverpool's playing style...
I don't enjoy the percentage. There are times when you have got to kick it longer, you have got to go that little bit longer. I've always worked along the statistic that if you can dominate the game with the ball, you have a 79 per cent chance of winning a game of football. So if you're better than the other team with the ball, you have got an eight out of 10 chance, nearly, of winning the game. But this is what Liverpool is about. Liverpool is a team that builds through the phases, and it's certainly how I work. What we will become better at is doing it quicker. That will come once the methods are more installed with the players.
On the transfer window...
I've always been an advocate that as soon as the season starts, then it should finish. For me, there is a moral issue as well. Your season starts and you've got a couple of weeks to run through to the end of August. You've got players in your changing room who maybe don't want to be there, but you're fighting for your life and for points for your club, for your supporters, for your city. And you have maybe got some players who actually don't want to be here. But you have to involve them and have them around because they are part of your group. That's the bit, morally, that's wrong. I think for clubs it's not good, in terms of managers getting your squad together. It's only after the whole thing shuts, that there's a bit of peace and you can get on with doing your work.
Author: Phil Reade and Chris Shaw
