Who should replace Lucas Leiva?

Last Thursday Liverpool confirmed the bad news. Lucas Leiva, who had to be stretchered off the pitch two days previously, marring the Reds’ 2-0 Carling Cup victory at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, is almost certainly going to miss the remainder of the season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The news was met with widespread despair from fans disappointed to lose a star performer for the rest of the campaign. Despite obvious frustration and annoyance at the disruption to his considerable progress, Lucas may have gained a perverse sense of pleasure from the situation. No, the Brazilian midfielder isn’t a masochist. However, the fact that Kopites lamented the injury he has suffered reveals the massive swing in supporters’ opinion of the 24-year old.

Up until last season the majority of fans would have been unconcerned by an injury to Lucas. Many, in fact, would have seen it as a cause for celebration; such was the level of vitriol reserved for the supposedly underperforming former Gremio player. Under Benitez, Lucas was clearly made into a scapegoat, unfairly accused of stalling play and lacking bite and tenacity in the tackle.

This was mainly because he was compared to pass-master Xabi Alonso and tough tackler Javier Mascherano. Once the pair returned to Spain in acrimonious circumstances to join Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, Lucas stepped out of their shadow and shone. His successful campaign last time around helped him to win Red and Proud’s ‘Player of the Season’ award, while this season he has formed a promising partnership alongside new signing Charlie Adam.

Breaking up play efficiently while keeping play ticking along nicely in the midfield motor room with accurate and incisive passes, Lucas had been superb up until his injury, teammate Jamie Carragher even comparing the impact he has had on the side to that of £22 million Uruguyuay sensation Luis Suarez.

His injury will undoubtedly hinder our midfield this season and us fans can bemoan that fact until we’re blue in the face, but Kenny Dalglish and his coaching staff must now unearth solutions to the problem created through Lucas’ absence. Several central midfielders will vie to take his place in the team and they all have various strengths and weaknesses that will be assessed in this article.

The seemingly obvious solution is to promote local lad Jay Spearing up from the subs’ bench and into the starting eleven. When given regular first team football at the end of last season Spearing impressed. His maturity and composure on the ball were notable and he appeared to have real potential that could be realised in the future. Dalglish evidently advocates this solution as well, starting the number 20 against Fulham in the Reds’ first fixture since the Chelsea match in which Lucas was injured.

However, that was Spearing’s first Premier League start of the season and he picked up an, admittedly unfair, red card, which just demonstrates the misfortune and frustration he has experienced so far this campaign. Nevertheless, Spearing is clearly capable of competing in the Premier League and deserves a chance to stake a claim for Lucas’ place. Not only will this develop his game further, it will show those currently in the Academy that working their way up into the manager’s first team plans is actually a possibility, and not a pipedream. Also, crucially Spearing’s style of play closely resembles Lucas’, ensuring that the team’s style of play could be maintained during any transitional spell in which Spearing became acquainted with first team football week in, week out.

Another option is to give London lad Jonjo Shelvey a run of games in which to prove himself. Following his acquisition from Charlton Athletic in 2010 Shelvey has appeared 15 times in the red of his new club. Without pulling up any trees, Shelvey quietly made an impression on the side. His attacking potential was particularly noted and many earmarked him as a potential star performer in the ‘trequartista’ role behind a front man.

It came as no surprise then when he shone when employed in that role by Blackpool boss Ian Holloway during his recent loan spell with the Seasiders. Bagging his first professional hattrick and scoring five in his first six games on the coast, Shelvey’s displays did not go unnoticed back on Merseyside. Only eight days ago Dalglish recalled Shelvey from his loan spell, revealing his intention to utilise his talents at his parent club in the absence of Lucas. Shelvey will provide necessary cover for Lucas in the middle, however it is unlikely that he will see much action, mainly due to the fact that his forward-thinking approach contrasts with Lucas’ holding role, meaning that he is not a natural replacement for Lucas.

The possibility of recalling another influential yet marginalized midfielder has also been mooted. Alberto Aquilani, presently on loan at Italian giants AC Milan, arguably should not even have been loaned out in the first place. After hampering injuries and a lack of opportunities dogged his early days at the club, Aquilani began to impress at the end of Benitez’s last year at the club.

Unfortunately, Roy Hodgson subsequently loaned him out to Juventus upon his arrival and, with Dalglish doing similar when he arrived at the club, Aquilani appeared to have no place at Anfield. Aquilani has never really been given a proper chance to stake a claim for a place in the side and, although once again he isn’t the ideal replacement for Lucas, he should return to Merseyside to bolster slowly growing squad depth. Dalglish claims that contractual issues mean that the club are unable to recall Aquilani, however I suspect the Scot is unwilling rather than unable to orchestrate the former AS Roma player’s return.

Finally, summer signing and ex-Sunderland star Jordan Henderson could be switched to his preferred central role. Signed for approximately £16 million, it is somewhat surprising that manager Kenny Dalglish has not employed Henderson in his favoured position of central midfield, instead shafting him out onto the right wing. Although Henderson has done his best and gradually improved, particularly in the last few weeks, he should be given a chance to prove himself in the centre of midfield. He has certainly earned such an opportunity with some impressive substitute performances of late. Also, this solution would allow the industrious Dirk Kuyt or goal-machine Maxi Rodriguez to fill in on the right wing and add to the Reds’ attacking threat.

So, who should replace Lucas Leiva? Well, firstly Alberto Aquilani should be recalled, as Shelvey has been, in order to swell the numbers and give Dalglish more options in midfield. Then, it should be a straight competition between those two and Spearing and Henderson. However, I believe the latter pair are more likely to fill in for him because they both have been in relatively good form and Spearing in particular replicates Lucas' style most evidently.

Whoever does eventually attempt to fill his considerable boots this season, the fact that Lucas' absence is such an important matter reveals how complete his transformation from scapegoat to samba star has been and how misguided many fans' original opinions were of him.

YNWA