Liverpool’s Lucas ‘I am a centre half now’

Lucas Leiva admits that centre half is probably his best position nowadays. The Brazilian has featured in defence during his rare outings in a Reds shirt since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp and he says that he considers this his position now. Lucas actually started out as an attacking midfielder at Grêmio, before joining Liverpool, […]
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sambafoot_admin
2016-12-11 20:37:00

Lucas Leiva admits that centre half is probably his best position nowadays. The Brazilian has featured in defence during his rare outings in a Reds shirt since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp and he says that he considers this his position now.

Lucas actually started out as an attacking midfielder at Grêmio, before joining Liverpool, where he retrained as a defensive midfielder. But the 29 year old feels at home at the centre of defence. “To be honest, playing there is something I had never thought about before the manager suggested it,” Lucas told the Liverpool Echo.

“The manager has put a lot of trust in me there. He thinks I have the qualities to play there. Every game I feel more comfortable and I feel more natural there. I’d say it’s probably my best position to play for Liverpool.

“Over my last 20 to 25 games for the club, I’ve played maybe 18 or 19 matches as a centre-back. I feel very comfortable in that role now. And when he needs someone to play in midfield he knows he can count on me there too.

“It hasn’t been so different. Of course with the way Jurgen likes to play, the holding midfield player has to do a lot more I’d say in terms of what I used to do before in that holding role. Playing as a centre-back is something similar.

“You don’t run as much as when you are in midfield but you need to be very focused. You need to be able to read the game. Every game I play there I try to improve and keep playing well.”