Replace the name "Poulson" (Poulsen FFS) with Lucas and it turns into a pretty good read.
LFC fans are totally WRONG about Lucas. And here's the *PROOF*
Every season without fail, fans seem to target one or two players for incessant criticism and continual scapegoating that defies reality, reason and any sense of fairness. Last season it was Lucas Leiva; this season it is STILL Lucas. Baseless, unfounded fan criticism of players is something that really irritates me, and as I will illustrate, the the constant criticism of Lucas once again highlights the depressing ignorance of some fans.
In my view, there is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION for the endless criticism of Lucas. I keep hearing the same old cliches about him (he's rubbish/slow/poor at tackling etc) but none of the criticism is qualified with examples; it's all vague, generalised negativity for the sake of it, repeated ad nauseum irrespective of Lucas's individual *impact* on the team.
To fairly judge Lucas's effectiveness we need to consider the following questions:
Q. What position does he play?
A. Defensive midfielder
Q. What is his primary role in the team?
A. To break up play and stop the other team attacking. To stop goals being scored. To prevent Liverpool from losing.
Q. How do we fairly judge his specific, measurable impact?
A. By looking at how effective the team performs with Lucas in it (i.e. goals conceded; games lost etc)
Lucas is NOT a creative midfielder; it' s NOT his job to create chances, score goals or take a big part in attacking play. As such, it is unfair to consider his impact in those areas when assessing his effectiveness.
Javier Mascherano had the same primary role as Lucas; was he judged on anything but his defensive ability? No. Why then should Lucas be constantly criticised for doing exactly the same job?
This season, Liverpool is MORE effective with Lucas in the team than when he's not, which makes a complete mockery of the ridiculous barracking he receives.
