Lucas Leiva

First Name	Lucas
Surname	Leiva
Squad Number	21
Position	Central Midfield
Height	1.79m
Weight	73 kg
D.O.B.	9 Jan 1987
Town of Birth	Dourados
Country of Birth	Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Total Appearances	183
Total Goals	6

Lucas, a Brazilian, plays as a holding mid-fielder for both Liverpool FC and Brazil.

This South American, during his initial days found it very difficult to win over the Anfield loyals, but as the saying goes ‘Class is permanent, form is temporary’, his class has shown now that only a certain Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez appear more often in the back of the fan wear than himself.

He arrived at Anfield in 2007 from Gremio during the days when Rafael Benitez was at charge. It was quite a coup, with a large number of European clubs apparently circling the Brazilian.

Lucas broke into the scene in 2005 and soon became the youngest player to win the Bola de Ouro, an award that was previously won by the likes of Zico, Romario, Kaka and Carlos Tevez. This award is given to the best player in Campeonato Brasileiro.

The Brazilian notched up more than 30 appearances in his debut season, breaking his Anfield duck in style with a 25-yard curler in the FA Cup against Havant and Waterlooville.

The No.21 tallied a further 39 appearances during his second season at Anfield despite stiff competition from established stars Mascherano and Xabi Alonso. The highlight came when he stood in for the latter as Liverpool thrashed title rivals Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford in March 2009.

Alonso's departure to Real Madrid a few months later meant Lucas was now an integral part of the team - and he seemed to relish his new found responsibility. The Brazilian was voted our Young Player of the Season for 2009-10, proof of how far he'd come in the eyes of Kopites.

The following season, with Kenny Dalglish now at the helm, the likeable anchor-man signed a new long-term contract before going one better than the previous year by winning the fans' Player of the Season.

Now one of the first names on the teamsheet for Brazil, he featured in the Copa America 2011 - but it ended miserably for the Liverpool man when he earned a red card during a quarter-final defeat to Paraguay.

Back in England, Lucas's performances just kept getting better in 2011-12 and he was now regarded as one of the Premier League's finest midfielders, but his campaign ended cruelly in November when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his knee during a Carling Cup victory at Stamford Bridge.

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Liverpool FC vs AS Roma

This is Fenway Park

This is Fenway Park

Fenway Park, a ground with a lot of history, hosted Liverpool FC second match of the LFC Tour 2012. The match was between Fenway group owned Liverpool FC v AS Roma from Rome, Italy. The baseball ground was converted to a football ground, with a sold out crowd to cheer their team.

Liverpool started the match with a similar formation to their previous match, against Toronto FC which they drew 1-1. Gulacsi and Sterling was given the nod ahead of Jones and Pacheco for this match, while Joe Cole started instead of Charlie Adam. Ryan McLaughlin was also given a run for this match.

AS Roma kicked the match off at Fenway Park and they got the first good opportunity in the match as well, as early as the 8th minute, when a miss pass from Jay Spearing was intercepted and they attack that followed was saved brilliantly by Gulacsi.

Raheem Sterling, handed a start, produced the first shot from a red player and Bogdan Lobont was forced to make a save on 16’ minutes. Roma responded quickly and should have taken the lead when Pablo Osvaldo dribbled past Jamie Carragher and found himself one-on-one with Gulacsi, but again the Hungarian stood tall and pushed the shot around the post for a corner.

As both teams increased their tempo, Jonjo Shelvey almost helped the Reds break the deadlock twice in quick succession. First, the 20-year-old drove from midfield before sending a shot at goal which Lobont had to parry, then the midfielder played in Nathan Eccleston, whose rising shot went wide.

Two of the Reds' returning stars combined on 32 minutes but were denied by the woodwork. Alberto Aquilani's precise dink forward found Cole, who, spotting Lobont off his line, lobbed the 'keeper but saw his attempt bounce clear off the top of the crossbar.

Shelvey brought another save out of Lobont five minutes before half-time after creating a chance for himself out of nothing. The Reds No.33 carried the ball past two Roma defenders and hit a left-footed strike towards goal but the goalkeeper was down quickly to save, and Lobont was called into action again a minute before the break, stopping a Cole shot to ensure the half ended goalless.

Pacheco fizzed a shot high and wide after linking with Shelvey but, as in the first half, Tachtsidis forced the first save of the period. Fed by half-time substitute Erik Lamela, the midfielder's shot from the edge of the area was deflected but smartly saved by Jones.

A swerving free-kick by Shelvey had Lobont diving in despair but the youngster's effort curled around the wrong side of the post, before Roma full-back Aleandro Rosi latched onto a clever through ball from Bradley but thrashed his shot well over when one-on-one with Jones.

In the 63rd minute, the Reds fell behind to a strike from USA midfielder Bradley. Found a yard inside the Liverpool box by Lamela, the new Roma signing took one touch to set himself and rifled a finish beyond Jones into the corner.

Suso could have levelled two minutes later after Pacheco beat his man on the left and delivered into the six-yard box but his Spanish compatriot could not find the target, and the Reds paid the price on 69 minutes when the Italians doubled their advantage.

Lamela was again at the heart of the Roma move, completing a one-two to find space in the Liverpool area. The Argentinian's shot was saved by Jones but arrived perfectly in the path of Florenzi, who blasted home to make it 2-0.

Adam gave Liverpool a lifeline with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Flanagan delivered a deep cross from the right to Pacheco, who set the ball up for Adam to drive into the far corner past Lobont from 20 yards.

Lamela should have put the game beyond the Reds in the 86th minute but his shot came back off Jones' right post. Roma held on regardless, though, with the Reds unable to produce an equaliser during the final minutes.

Both teams come out to Fenway Park

Liverpool FC Squad for First Half

 

Yeah, we are all present

Liverpool line-up first half:

Peter Gulacsi (GK)

Ryan McLaughlin (RB)

Martin Skrtel (CB)

Jamie Carragher (CB)

Jose Enrique (LB)

Jay Spearing (CDM)

Alberto Aquilani (LCM)

Jonjo Shelvey (RCM)

Joe Cole (RWM)

Raheem Sterling (LWM)

Nathan Eccleston (ST)

Analysis:

Peter Gulacsi: Came up with a few good saves from as early as the 8^th minute.

Ryan McLaughlin: Made a few good runs down the right side, but has to improve on his defensive skills.

Martin Skrtel: Was kind-off rusty and couldn’t find the same wavelength as Jamie Carragher.

Jamie Carragher: Made a few errors that a player of his experience shouldn’t have done.

Jose Enrique: Was poor on the left flank. His performance has not been good since some time, needs to turn the screws.

Jay Spearing: For a player who plays in the all-important CDM/CM position, should have played with more maturity, with the kind of experience he has. Gave the ball away cheaply often.

Alberto Aquilani: Was good in the centre of the mid-field. Everyone who saw that match could see the fire in his eyes, that he wanted to impress the new manager.

Jonjo Shelvey: Man of the Match. Made quite a lot of opportunities and even got couple of shots on target.

Joe Cole: Was very good in the right wing and made things happen. Was unlucky that his chip hit the cross-bar and not the back of the net.

Raheem Sterling: Was almost invisible for the 2^nd part of 1^st half, even though, he made a few good chances in the former.

Nathan Eccleston: Was a single minded player. Didn’t make use of the opportunities nor did he try very hard to get to the end of crosses.

Brad Jones is beaten by Micheal Bradley as AS Roma goes 1 up on Liverpool FC

Alessandro Florenzi scores the second for AS Roma

 

Charlie Adam gets one back for Liverpool FC

Liverpool line-up second half:

Brad Jones (GK)

Jon Flanagan (RB)

Stephen Sama (CB)

Daniel Agger (CB)

Danny Wilson (LB)

Charlie Adam (CM)

Suso (RW)

Krisztian Adorjan (CM)

Lucas (CM)

Dani Pacheco (LW)

Adam Morgan (ST)

Analysis:

Brad Jones: Was kind of ok because there wasn’t much that Jones could have done to stop the shots, eventually conceding 2 goals.

Jon Flanagan: Made good runs on the right side and linked up with Suso.

Stephen Sama: Came in as a substitute in the 60’. Played with aggression. Good

Daniel Agger: 1^st appearance of the season, and was quite average.

Danny Wilson: Made good runs on the left side, but was left wanting in defence often. His mistake led to goal.

Charlie Adam: Was quite good and scored a goal. Fits into Brendan Rodgers style of play.

Suso: Was as good as he was when Liverpool played Toronto FC, but still, was quite good.

Krisztian Adorjan: Came on as a 60’ substitution and was kind of ok.

Lucas: Came onto the field, and one could feel the difference between Jay Spearing and Lucas.

Dani Pacheco: Was very good on the left flank, created quite a few opportunities, including the goal.

Adam Morgan: Made quite a few runs and was unlucky to have been given offside, even though he was on line with the defence.

Ratings: 

Player	Rating	Rating	Player
Peter Gulacsi	Impressive	Average	Brad Jones
Ryan McLaughlin	Impressive	Impressive	Jon Flanagan
Martin Skrtel	Average	Good	Stephen Sama
Jamie Carragher	Average	Average	Daniel Agger
Jose Enrique	Average	Average	Danny Wilson
Jay Spearing	Average	Good	Charlie Adam
Alberto Aquilani	Impressive	Good	Lucas
Jonjo Shelvey	Very Good	Impressive	Krisztian Adorjan
Joe Cole	Very Good	Good	Suso
Raheem Sterling	Good	Impressive	Dani Pacheco
Nathan Eccleston	Average	Impressive	Adam Morgan

Overall: Quite good considering that Roma played with more or less their main squad.

If Brendan Rodgers is trying to force the passing game, i.e., the Tiki-Taka, then one thing is for sure, we need to have a good central defensive player, if Joe Allen is Rodgers’ answer to that, then, I believe, he has not seen what a certain Lucas Leiva or even Alberto Aquilani can do. Why spend on 10M+ pounds on someone when we already have the resources. True, our academy players are not yet ready for everything, but its Rodgers’ duty to groom them and make them top class players.

Come on Rodgers, forget Allen and utilize the players we already have.

Another thing that Rodgers' would be having in mind would be the situation of our defense. Skrtel and Carragher didn't look like they can play together and Carragher was making a few very silly errors. There were quite a lot of missed passes in the first half, while in the second half, we tried to keep more of the ball and to an extend, we did succeed with that.


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Jordan Henderson

First Name	Jordan
Surname	Henderson
Squad Number	14
Position	Midfield
Height	1.82m
Weight	67 kg
D.O.B.	17 Jun 1990
Country of Birth	England
Nationality	England
Total Appearances	48
Total Goals	2

Henderson is an English midfielder that Liverpool signed in the summer of 2011 from Sunderland.

He joined Sunderland as a kid aged seven, and made his debut against Chelsea in November 2008. Although, he spent rest of the season on loan at championship side Coventry, it wasn’t until 2009-10 season that everyone came to know what he is made of. Hendo was crowned the Young Player of the Year that season at Sunderland.

He retained that title in 2010-11 season as well, a season which saw him being picked for Fabio Capello’s English International team, against France in November 2010.

Henderson left Sunderland with a tally of 80 odd matches and 5 goals under his name and was re-united with them on the opening day in premier league, when Kenny Dalglish handed him his Liverpool debut on August 13, 2011.

Although, he was more of a central mid-fielder before, he operated more on the right flank for Liverpool. Still he came up some displays, including an assist for Luis Suarez in a Carling Cup win against Stoke City.

He collected his 1^st medal being a red, when Liverpool won the Carling Cup against Cardiff City in February 2012.

The 2011-12 campaign also helped Henderson in being picked for the national squad when Frank Lampard pulled out injured. He made 2 substitute appearance in the European championship in Poland – Ukraine, until England made a Quarter-final exit against Italy on penalties.

Stewart Downing

First Name	Stewart
Surname	Downing
Squad Number	19
Position	Midfield
Height	1.8m
Weight	65 kg
D.O.B.	22 Jul 1984
Town of Birth	Middlesbrough
Country of Birth	England
Nationality	England
Total Appearances	46
Total Goals	2

The England winger arrived at Anfield in July 2011 from Aston Villa. He is that kind of a winger who can play on both, left and the right flanks.

Downing was picked by Middlesbrough in 2002 and made his debut against Ipswich Town in April 2002. He played in over 200 matches for Middlesbrough which included a UEFA Cup final against Sevilla in 2006, which the Steve McClaren’s men eventually lost by 4-0.

The south-paw made his English debut against Holland in 2005 when he was subbed in for Shaun Wright-Phillips.

He was linked with a potential move to Anfield in 2008, but, the then Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez opted for Spaniard Albert Riera.

Downing then left Middlesbrough for Aston Villa in 2009, and enjoyed a two-year spell, where he played about 75 matches and scored 8 goals.

After being linked with a move to Merseyside for long, he finally made the switch to Liverpool in 2011, when King Kenny signed him.

He made his Liverpool debut in the opening match of the season against Sunderland on August 13^th, and went on to appear in 45 more matches in his first season at Anfield. He scored 2 goals, against Oldham and Stoke, in FA Cup during our run to the finals.

Downing was also our Man of the Match in the Carling Cup final victory over Cardiff City.

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