Liverpool FC Forum

by **Reg** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:55 am

Kenny Dalglish: Jay Spearing is ready to replace Lucas in Liverpool's midfield
Following the news of the Brazilian international's long-term injury, the Reds boss has called upon the services of the 23-year-old and says Steven Gerrard is nearing fitness

3 Dec 2011 00:11:00 By Omar Shahid

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has urged Reds midfielder Jay Spearing to fill the void left by Lucas, following the Brazilian's long-term injury. Dalglish is confident that Spearing, 23, can continue on from his impressive performances at the end of last season to help guide Liverpool to a Champions League place.

“Wee Jay has done really well since I came in," he told reporters. "We trust in him and believe in him. As long as he keeps giving what he has got to give, then he will be fine.

“Young players will not always make the right decision but we are there to prepare them all week. As long as their heart is in the right place, that’s the main thing.

“Injuries are one of the tests you get at a football club. Someone’s always going to be missing,” said Dalglish. “We feel sorry for Lucas, not for ourselves. Someone has to step up from the squad – it’s why we have a strong squad."

Dalglish also spoke about the progress of Steven Gerrard's ankle trouble but once again refused to offer date when he's likely to return. “We are delighted with Steven’s progress and though we won’t give a date for him to come back, it will be sooner rather than later,” Dalglish added.

by **Octsky** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 7:11 am

parchpea wrote:They will patch up the hole left by Lucas until January then recruit a replacement in the window. Lads like Spearing and Shelvey are only there as stop gaps and soon as that window opens they will be in for proper cover for Lucas make no mistake about it.

the irony is that we said the same for Lucas 3 seasons ago,
tha lad cant make it, he was a stop gap etc etc.

i am not saying the Spearo will be a world beater or the best DM currently.
if he couldnt make the grade i be first to criticize him but lets give our local lad a chance.

by **Thommo's perm** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:22 pm

Kenny Kan wrote:I reckon Reina would do a good job there in DM

Bring Sammy Lee back?
:shifty

by **damjan193** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:33 pm

I think that playing with a 3 man midfield of Adam, Spearing and Henderson would be the best.

by **Kenny Kan** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:47 am

Instead of recalling Shelvey we should have recalled Aquilani IMO. (not sure we can recall him though).

by **The Good Yank** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:39 am

Kenny Kan wrote:Instead of recalling Shelvey we should have recalled Aquilani IMO. (not sure we can recall him though).

In theory yes. We'd still be short of options as far as someone who could put in a tackle. We'd also be taking a player from first place in his hmoe country's league, and has already advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League. Might be a bit tough to find a player willing to give that up to possibly get in the team and try to fight for fourth place in our league.

by **ethanr** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:47 am

SouthCoastShankly wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:Shelvey has spent the whole of his loan period playin off a striker hence the number of goals he has scored - no way should he be paired with Adam - zero defensive protection

Not really.

Blackppol have been playing and have always played 4-4-2. Shelvey has been playing in CM.

Besides I disagree that Adam cannot do the defensive role, in the last few games he has been defensively brilliant, his tracking back and tackling has been a world apart from where he was at the start of the season. Not a problem for me, I would give Adam the holding role and let Shelvey to continue in the role he has played for Blackpool for the last 3 months.

Holy

is somebody agreeing with me that Adam is capable of playing defense?

Regardless.. I have to say that I expect Hendo to get a lot of playing time in the center now. I think it's clear he'd play over Spearing and Shelvey as he already has been (since we sent shelvey out on loan, not him).

I see us playing a 4-4-2 now, with either Carroll or Bellamy partnering Suarez. Adam and Hendo to play in the center.

by **Kenny Kan** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:26 am

ethanr wrote:
SouthCoastShankly wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:Shelvey has spent the whole of his loan period playin off a striker hence the number of goals he has scored - no way should he be paired with Adam - zero defensive protection

Not really.

Blackppol have been playing and have always played 4-4-2. Shelvey has been playing in CM.

Besides I disagree that Adam cannot do the defensive role, in the last few games he has been defensively brilliant, his tracking back and tackling has been a world apart from where he was at the start of the season. Not a problem for me, I would give Adam the holding role and let Shelvey to continue in the role he has played for Blackpool for the last 3 months.

Holy is somebody agreeing with me that Adam is capable of playing defense?

Regardless.. I have to say that I expect Hendo to get a lot of playing time in the center now. I think it's clear he'd play over Spearing and Shelvey as he already has been (since we sent shelvey out on loan, not him).

I see us playing a 4-4-2 now, with either Carroll or Bellamy partnering Suarez. Adam and Hendo to play in the center.

I'm not, Adam isn't a DM. Spearing's the most natural player in our squad to play Lucas' role, I think he will.

by **ethanr** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:18 am

Kenny Kan wrote:
ethanr wrote:
SouthCoastShankly wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:Shelvey has spent the whole of his loan period playin off a striker hence the number of goals he has scored - no way should he be paired with Adam - zero defensive protection

Not really.

Blackppol have been playing and have always played 4-4-2. Shelvey has been playing in CM.

Besides I disagree that Adam cannot do the defensive role, in the last few games he has been defensively brilliant, his tracking back and tackling has been a world apart from where he was at the start of the season. Not a problem for me, I would give Adam the holding role and let Shelvey to continue in the role he has played for Blackpool for the last 3 months.

Holy is somebody agreeing with me that Adam is capable of playing defense?

Regardless.. I have to say that I expect Hendo to get a lot of playing time in the center now. I think it's clear he'd play over Spearing and Shelvey as he already has been (since we sent shelvey out on loan, not him).

I see us playing a 4-4-2 now, with either Carroll or Bellamy partnering Suarez. Adam and Hendo to play in the center.

I'm not, Adam isn't a DM. Spearing's the most natural player in our squad to play Lucas' role, I think he will.

That was my initial thought, that Spearing would replace him. I can't possibly see it being Shelvey as he really is an attacking-type cm. However, I can't see Adam sitting as he hasn't been up to this point, and Hendo has been getting a decent amount of playing time as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's those 2.

I think it depends on who we're playing as well. Obviously the lower teams that we need more attacking talent, it will probably be Hendo and Adam. But when we play those harder fixtures I wouldn't be surprised to see Spearing start instead.

Either way, whoever it is this is a huge chance for them. They've got a month to prove we don't need to buy a replacement (Don't expect we will be), and then a bit more time then that to prove they belong here.

by **Benny The Noon** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:57 am

Kenny Kan wrote:Instead of recalling Shelvey we should have recalled Aquilani IMO. (not sure we can recall him though).

We only could recall Shelvey because we inserted the recall clause , i doubt that clause was inserted into the Aquilani loan deal - one's with fixed fee's at the end of the agreement dont normally

by **damjan193** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:45 pm

Benny The Noon wrote:
Kenny Kan wrote:Instead of recalling Shelvey we should have recalled Aquilani IMO. (not sure we can recall him though).

We only could recall Shelvey because we inserted the recall clause , i doubt that clause was inserted into the Aquilani loan deal - one's with fixed fee's at the end of the agreement dont normally

No, there isn't an option to recall Aquilani, Kenny said so himself.

by **mrt** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:46 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:
Kenny Kan wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:
Kenny Kan wrote:
The Good Yank wrote:If we have more than a one goal lead (Yeah,Yeah, I know, but stay with me here) late in a game, I wouldn't mind seeing Flanno getting asked to go out and try to play in front of the back four. He's a decent all arounder, can play the ball with both feet, decent pace, can tackle. As things are now with Johnson and Kelly ahead of him, Right Back is going to be really difficult for him to break through, why not give it shot?

That's not such a bad suggestion, I remember Stevie starting at RB in his early days. Flanno can play.

Give Coady a chance .

ok

Sorry that didnt come across well

what i meant was if we have any probs with Spearing then why dont we put a player in there who is a natural and has a very bright future and doing extremely well at youth and reserve Level - Conor Coady , as opposed to a solid right back who was ok for us and has played in the middle once for the reserves .

So many issues with what your suggesting (apart from the fact it will never happen)

Just because you rate a youngster amongst his peers (let's be honest neither Flanagan or Coady has dislodged a senior player to date) what makes you think he is ready for a permanent place in the senior side. The reason I worry about Spearing is lack of physical presence in the midfield. Coady and/or Flanagan would get eaten alive IMO, hence why young players tned to be blooded on the fringes of the pitch where they are far more likely to be using pace and skills as opposed to physical strength in the middle of the park.

Don't get me wrong I rate lots of our youth team but to suggest they are ready to deputise for Lucas is just naive. Thanks god Kenny has more sense.

The thought of even suggesting a youngster in such an important position on the pitch is ridiculous. Imagine the risks.

1) The lad makes mistakes through pressure, our season possibly ruined, his career potentially ruined (we seen bigger potential stars fail)

2) Someone like Henry (Wolves), Mikel (Chelsea) challenges as hard as they would normally and breaks the kid's leg?

Aside from the arguments above both Shelvey and Spearing are better placed to replace the role Lucas vacates. You may not rate either that much, I admit I rate Shelvey over Spearing, but regardless they are far better placed in terms of senior side experience than any youth player. They carry far less risk. Shelvey and Spearing may have a record of under performing but they have never been a liability.

If Spearing can take out Yaya Toure, SCS, how much more physical presence do you think he needs? He might not be the answer, but, at the moment, he looks to be the best option. We can only suck it and see.

by **red till i die!!** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:55 pm

id say we will see many different combo's in the centre over the next month.
jay has been given chances by kenny and he has done well so there is no reason to suggest he cant do the job.
i agree with scs though that he does lack the presence required for that role and it might be too much too early for him.
atm were playing well and so we might not need to focus so much on having a dm as between now and january we have a run of games where the toughest we have are newcastle and city,the rest are winnable.
we can defensively afford to sit higher up the pitch now so we can carry either jay,shelvey,adam or henderson as a holding player.what the other 3 offer over jay is that they can score.

by **Kenny Kan** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:10 am

Thommo's perm wrote:
Kenny Kan wrote:I reckon Reina would do a good job there in DM

Bring Sammy Lee back?

We should have kept Poosen.

by **supersub** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:15 pm

just in case anyone has forgotten what a valueable asset we have waiting to return to the squad...speedy recovery Lucas

picture he tweeted last night whilst watching the game.

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