Liverpool FC Forum

by **jacdaniel** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:43 am

I might get completely laughed at for even suggesting it... but does anyone else think Lucas and Jay might be our best CM partnership?

They seem to provide a good balance between defence + offense that we've been lacking in the league. (because Adam isn't offering enough)

It might also allow Gerrard to play in the hole or out wide if we need him there.

I personally can't see it happening giving the money we invested on Adam and Henderson and Gerrard preferring to play CM. But I do think it could work. It was working quite well at the end of last season.

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:47 am

by **stmichael** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:50 am

I like Spearing. I think he's underrated. Second half of last season he was excellent under Kenny. This season it would have been ideal if he could have gone on loan to another Premiership club to get games under his belt as I can't really see him featuring that much.

In my opinion we still lack a top class out and out defensive midfielder/ball winner. That is not Lucas' natural game although he'll do more than an adequate job at it. With the players we have now we should be playing 4-3-3 anyway and I don't know why we don't. Playing 4-4-2 doesn't make sense, especially given Adam's lack of mobility and the fact that we still don't have a proper right winger in the squad.

by **only me** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:17 pm

Here is an interesting new idea ,What if we put Agger as a CM? Would that work? He should be able to handle the defensive side (he is our opening CB after all) and he can move forward quite comfertably.

The obvious concern is that he is made of sticks and might break quite easilly in a punshing position as a CM.

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:37 pm

In all fairness, I like Spearing - he is tenacious. If anything he could deputise for Lucas better than others on the bench.

However with both Lucas and Spearing on the pitch you are missing quality distribution and attacking elements needed from the centre of midfield.

For me the strongest pairing is Lucas-Gerrard when playing two up top. Lucas-Adam-Gerrard who playing one up top.

by **Kenny Kan** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 1:46 pm

I'd actually forgot how useful he could be to be honest. During the tail end of last season he also put in some very solid performances and pretty much picked up where he left off last night. He's definitely given me food for thought and hopefully he's done the same for Kenny.

Going on last nights performance I wouldn't have any quarrels if he started against West Brom on the weekend - even though it is unlikely.

I don't know about him and Lucas as a partnership, for me it would have to be one or the other in the team more often than not. I really see him threatening Lucas' position if anything, I think Lucas will be Kenny's first choice but I don't think Jay would let us down if he replaced Lucas.

by **stmichael** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 1:56 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:However with both Lucas and Spearing on the pitch you are missing quality distribution and attacking elements needed from the centre of midfield.

I get where you're coming from. The partnership can work if you have four guys ahead of them who are all willing to interchange positions though. This is what we had excellently at the end of last season with the likes of Maxi in the side who excel in pass and move football.

Yes it may not be the most creative partnership in the world but it's a definite option, especially away from home. Spearing's willingness to move the ball quickly and to move into space makes him a good partner alongside Lucas for me.

by **Roger Red Hat** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 2:51 pm

I really never rated Spearing but last night he showed signs of a good player and for that I congratulate him. Keep this up Jay and you could be a regular first teamer.

by **woof woof !** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:22 pm

F'uck it, let's just forget that we once had Alonso and Mascherano running our midfield. As the saying goes "if at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations"

Spearing and Lucas, our new all conquering midfield, :buttrock

Surely I'm not slipping into the realms of Fantasy ?

:laugh:

by **ethanr** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:24 pm

Spearing put in a good shift yesterday, and could be like Lucas at some point in his career if he shows up. But at the moment Lucas and Spearing are very similar players. They go in hard for tackles and they have the ability to keep the ball moving, but they aren't creators. Even in a 4-5-1 I'd rather have Adam in for his creative ability then to have Gerrard Spearing and Lucas.

It's good to have Spearing on the bench, but to be honest I wouldn't mind sending him out on loan for a bit to a premier league side. I'm sure there are quite a few who would take him. He's good enough to get a lot of playing time and that would really benefit us in the future. We still have Lucas, Hendo, Adam and Gerrard for the CM slots, so we shouldn't have an issue with covering. It's gonna be hard for him to get better if he's not getting game time tho, and as we saw yesterday he's trying to prove a point.

by **Fowler_E7** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:34 pm

woof woof ! wrote:F'uck it, let's just forget that we once had Alonso and Mascherano running our midfield. As the saying goes "if at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations"

Spearing and Lucas, our new all conquering midfield,

Surely I'm not slipping into the realms of Fantasy ?

i understand were your coming from, when people go on about how good Lucas and co are, i think they forget who there replacing. However i think in this case i think people are talking more in the short term. I personally dont mind having Spearing around as a squad guy, especially as we lack ball winning players. He's extremely limited though in an attacking sense but he does a good job cleaning up the mess, so id say hes deffo a decent option if Lucas is injured or suspended, though id have serious misgivings if they were are regular central midfield pairing.

by **aCe'** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:46 pm

When Gerrard was injured, I was convinced Kenny would sooner or later go back to playing Lucas and Spearing in the middle to give the side a bit more balance in the middle. Sadly, it never happened and we most probably lost points because of that.

However as things stand with Gerrard back and Adam getting a significant amount of games in the first team, it might be a better idea giving the trio of Lucas-Adam-Gerrard a chance to prove their worth before deciding on dropping Adam for Spearing. Personally, I wouldnt mind having Spearing in for Adam one bit. On the one hand it would give Gerrard more attacking freedom and would probably be a more solid partnership defensively. However, against the stronger sides at home, we might struggle to get attacks started through the middle.

The concept is certainly not as outlandish as some make it seem, the two offer excellent balance down the middle and with Johnson and Enrique both pushing down the flanks we need all the energy we can get down the middle to cover on the counter. Spearing and Lucas are arguably the only 2 midfielders in the side who can provide that week in week out.

by **red till i die!!** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:29 am

ethanr wrote:Spearing put in a good shift yesterday, and could be like Lucas at some point in his career

if thats the best he can be then makes sense to move him on now as he's already refused a loan deal preseason in favor of fighting for a place.

he played well last night and is definately good enough for the prem but just not us atm with the amount of average players we already have.

by **aCe'** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:07 am

red till i die!! wrote:
ethanr wrote:Spearing put in a good shift yesterday, and could be like Lucas at some point in his career

if thats the best he can be then makes sense to move him on now as he's already refused a loan deal preseason in favor of fighting for a place.

he played well last night and is definately good enough for the prem but just not us atm with the amount of average players we already have.

He played the CM role yesterday better than Adam has in any of his 9 or so appearances with us this season so I don't really understand the logic behind what you're saying.

Might be the case that he becomes surplus to requirements once we sign a better caliber of players in the middle of the park (specifically a partner/replacement/backup for Lucas) but for now, he remains an important part of the squad imo and I dont understand how we'd consider loaning him out without having a backup defensive midfielder especially with Adam, Gerrard and Henderson (none of whom is reliable defensively) being our other options in central midfield.

by **killerp** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:15 am

jacdaniel wrote:I might get completely laughed at for even suggesting it... but does anyone else think Lucas and Jay might be our best CM partnership?

One good performance agaisnt Stoke does not mean this will work for 2 or more games in a row.

Jay is ok for the Carling Cup & subbing on to give other players a break but i can't see much more involvement than that this season.

Lucas is Lucas. Hot N Cold but better than Adam in our half.

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Lucas + spearing - Best cm partnership?

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