Looks like a real Bargain!

If rumours are to be believed then Rodgers says that Lucas & Allen are his CDMs and he doesnt need another one.

Doesnt fill me with hope, his tackling has been poor this year %wise

Lucas made more tackles than most (2nd to only Diame) but in terms of actually WINNING the tackles, he ranks 30th in the PL. that includes all players who made 75 tackles or more during the season. including players who made 50 tackles or more, Lucas doesn't rank in the top 50.

MFs with better tackle win % than Lucas: Jack Colback. Bradley Johnson. Stephane Mbia. Gareth Barry. Chris Brunt. Alex Tettey. Steve Nzonzi.

Hopefully he gets back to his best next year

Yeah Lucas tackle % has never been high as well.

He's not on par with the worldclass DMs whose % are 82% and above.

He's always been that bracket below at about 76% and above which isnt exactly a bad thing but can be improved upon.

He puts himself about though so you cant blame his effort.

I still think he's a very good player

Agree that Shelvey could be sold, I don't think there's any doubt we could improve on him. If Eriksen is cheap enough, it's actually not inconceivable that we could get a good fee for Shelvey and only have to add another 4 or 5 million to compete for Eriksen, which is absolutely insane. Can't see us beating out Dortmund, though.

Also agree that if Brendan thinks Allen is the answer when Lucas is injured then we're in trouble. His distribution was excellent from DM when he filled in for Lucas, but we were so loose in midfield.

Lucas is never going to be quite as solid as someone like Mascherano who steadfastly sits in front of the central defenders, but he's a good tackler, is generally responsible with his positioning, has excellent passing ability along the ground and is a great presser (a trait that also means he'll never be quite as positionally solid as someone like Masch).

He hasn't been the same since his injury, though. Hopefully he'll be better after pre-season, but I still think we should add someone who'll really compete with him for the position.

I wouldnt call his passing great imo

I would, in terms of his job in our team at least.

He's not going to be pinging 50 yard passes like Alonso or carving defences open like Coutinho, but he's great at passing the ball along the floor to those in more advanced positions. Not just easy passes out to the full-backs; he's got the confidence to take the ball off the centre-backs and pass it through the midfield into the feet of our striker, our number 10 or a wide player.

In our team, the DM needs to be able to pass progressively and reliably, and Lucas fits the bill down to a tee IMO, the only question is whether he'll regain his mobility. I remember his comeback against Southampton at Anfield, he didn't even play the whole game but completed more forward passes than any midfielder in the league had in a single game up to that point.

Allen is a better passer, lucas' passing is good though.

Yeah I'd agree, Allen (on form!) looks great on the ball.

I just think Lucas gives away to many fouls!