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Player Watch Player Watch - Lucas Moura

Sophos151

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2016
792
2,559
Yknow I’m not sure Lucas has been mentioned for several pages now. Let’s get this back on topic.

Anyone got any good nuclear-bomb related innuendos?
 

Armstrong_11

Spurs makes me happy, you... not so much :)
Aug 3, 2011
8,572
19,113
Ok... I think I might get a few dislikes and disagrees..... But I am gonna just put this out there.

I think Poch might use him as the new Dembele.

Here are my reasons...

So far, he has played in the centre of the midfield. I know he drifts to he wings, but he seems to be carrying alot of the ball in midfield. And he has been trying to link up play from defence to attack.

Moura has show he is strong on the ball and hard to knock off. A real strength of Dembele's game

When we signed Mousa, he was an AMC, According to FM, Lucas is an AM R/C/L. And we converted one to a holding midfielder.


Poch likes having players who can fill multiple positions. Really allows for easy change in tactics .

plus... Mousa and moura is just one letter off!

Basically if we don't purchase a new holding midfielder and Dembele leaves... don't be surprised to see Lucas a long side Dier.

And personally.... I think it makes alot of sense. Allow us to switch from a 4231 to a 4141.
 
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LexingtonSpurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2013
13,456
39,042
Ok... I think I might get a few dislikes and disagrees..... But I am gonna just put this out there.

I think Poch might use him as the new Dembele.

Here are my reasons...

So far, he has played in the centre of the midfield. I know he drifts to he wings, but he seems to be carrying alot of the ball in midfield. And he has been trying to link up play from defence to attack.

Moura has show he is strong on the ball and hard to knock off. A real strength of Dembele's game

When we signed Mousa, he was an AMC, According to FM, Lucas is an AM R/C/L. And we covered one to a holding midfielder.

Poch likes having players who can fill multiple positions. Really allows for easy change in tactics .

plus... Mousa and moura is just one letter off!

Basically if we don't purchase a new holding midfielder and Dembele leaves... don't be surprised to see Lucas a long side Dier.
Eriksen or Dele more likely candidates.
 

NinjaTuna

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2017
1,878
7,155
Ok... I think I might get a few dislikes and disagrees..... But I am gonna just put this out there.

I think Poch might use him as the new Dembele.

Here are my reasons...

So far, he has played in the centre of the midfield. I know he drifts to he wings, but he seems to be carrying alot of the ball in midfield. And he has been trying to link up play from defence to attack.

Moura has show he is strong on the ball and hard to knock off. A real strength of Dembele's game

When we signed Mousa, he was an AMC, According to FM, Lucas is an AM R/C/L. And we converted one to a holding midfielder.


Poch likes having players who can fill multiple positions. Really allows for easy change in tactics .

plus... Mousa and moura is just one letter off!

Basically if we don't purchase a new holding midfielder and Dembele leaves... don't be surprised to see Lucas a long side Dier.

And personally.... I think it makes alot of sense. Allow us to switch from a 4231 to a 4141.
He'll need to work on his defensive abilities if this is to happen
 

Armstrong_11

Spurs makes me happy, you... not so much :)
Aug 3, 2011
8,572
19,113
Eriksen or Dele more likely candidates.

I kinda agree with u. Especially on Dele. But I kinda think both players have pretty decent goal/assist bonus and might not be too inclined to play in a deeper role. Plus both are key goal scorers for their country so their international managers might not be please. Lucas is an open canvas so to speak. Less risk spoiling an already good working relationship

He'll need to work on his defensive abilities if this is to happen


That's what's pre-season is for. And also if we don't get a replacement.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
46,574
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.
How was he part of the problem? He played a huge part in three of the goals?
 

Sevens

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2014
4,583
6,947
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.

1) Lennon was a good player for us an effective when played in his natural positon (wide right in a 4-4-2).
2) Bit early to write Moura off. Especially as from what I've seen he is so much better on the right than the left. But right now Poch seems to want to play him on the left.
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.

You're invited to my next party...

...at 4am when I want everyone to leave!!

PS Only kidding BC ;)
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,355
87,831
Ok... I think I might get a few dislikes and disagrees..... But I am gonna just put this out there.

I think Poch might use him as the new Dembele.

Here are my reasons...

So far, he has played in the centre of the midfield. I know he drifts to he wings, but he seems to be carrying alot of the ball in midfield. And he has been trying to link up play from defence to attack.

Moura has show he is strong on the ball and hard to knock off. A real strength of Dembele's game

When we signed Mousa, he was an AMC, According to FM, Lucas is an AM R/C/L. And we converted one to a holding midfielder.


Poch likes having players who can fill multiple positions. Really allows for easy change in tactics .

plus... Mousa and moura is just one letter off!

Basically if we don't purchase a new holding midfielder and Dembele leaves... don't be surprised to see Lucas a long side Dier.

And personally.... I think it makes alot of sense. Allow us to switch from a 4231 to a 4141.
No.
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,355
87,831
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.
Double no.
 

THFCLuke94

Active Member
Aug 3, 2017
45
134
He'll be lucky to get games as an AM, let alone a CM. He's just the upgraded, luxury version of Aaron Lennon.

Fans seem to love a player who can dribble, and seem to forgive the fact that they are usually erratic and unreliable nincompoops.

Moura was part of the problem Sunday, not a solution to anything.

He also gives the ball away far to much to be considered a CM.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
How was he part of the problem? He played a huge part in three of the goals?

He did play parts in the build up to a couple of the goals, but he also added to the chaos, was erratic without the ball, and wasted a few situations too, taking too many many touches.

Look, I don't think he's without some ability, but nearly all that ability is in his feet and not much of it is in his brain, and this team has an abundance of that.

We bought him in January and he's had two league starts in the last 4 games of the season, despite our heavy schedule and despite players like Kane, Son, Alli and Lamela having indifferent bouts of form.

I really don't think his skill set was what this team needed most, or is very viable the way Poch sets up and most of our games play out.

He'll please the crowd for 5 minutes a game because he drop a shoulder and jink past someone, but ultimately he's as good as he's going to be, and that isn't going to elevate us much further than where we are now and the money for him (fee and wages) could have been better invested in a player more conducive and with a higher potential ceiling.
 
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Nebby

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2013
3,363
6,377
Poch's love affair with inverted wingers was more of a problem. While it did create space for Rose and KWP to run into, too many times in the first half Lucas and Lamela were running inside into traffic and then giving away possession. It worked much better in the second half as both of our fullbacks were given the ball quickly with lots of space to run into. Fair play to Lamela for continuing his runs into the box for the taps ins. Need to see more players getting in there sniffing out chances.
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
I really think trying to judge him is moot at the moment. He's never played in a system anything like Poch's. He's come from the Brazilian league where pressing is non-existent, to PSG, who stroll past teams most weeks, and never have a coherent structure to their team. He's got a lot to take on board in the summer, in terms of positioning, movement, pressing. He seems eager to learn, so finger's crossed it'll go well.
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
46,574
He did play parts in the build up to a couple of the goals, but he also added to the chaos, was erratic without the ball, and wasted a few situations too, taking too many many touches.

Look, I don't think he's without some ability, but nearly all that ability is in his feet and not much of it is in his brain, and this team has an abundance of that.

We bought him in January and he's had two league starts in the last 4 games of the season, despite our heavy schedule and despite players like Kane, Son, Alli and Lamela having indifferent bouts of form.

I really don't think his skill set was what this team needed most, or is very viable the way Poch sets up and most of our games play out.

He please the crowd for 5 minutes a game because he drop a shoulder and jink past someone, but ultimately he's as good as he's going to be, and that isn't going to elevate us much further than where we are now and the money for him (fee and wages) could have been better invested in a player more conducive and with a higher potential ceiling.
Maybe we're better off just agreeing to disagree I just don't see this at all. I went back and rewatched the goals and he actually helped setup 4 of the goals. Poch also took a long time to add Son fully into the rotation after he was signed. Remember Son wanting to leave after the first year? I'm also curious as to what winger we could have bought for 24mil that would have a higher ceiling and be able to help more currently than him?
 

Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
2,864
3,680
His running at pace to start breaks is more than welcome. He will get more time next year and I truly believe he will add many goals.

Plus does anyone notice that he may be our best header of the ball? Dude can sky!
 
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dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
46,574
His running at pace to start breaks is more than welcome. He will get more time next year and I truly believe he will add many a goals.

Plus does anyone notice that he may be our best header of the ball? Dude can sky!
That Kane guy ain't too shabby...
 

Dharmabum

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2003
8,274
12,242
https://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/spurs-dancing-samba-beat-next-season

Spurs could be dancing to Samba beat next season
today
• by Sam McGuire
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The 2011 South American Under-20 Championship in Peru was a tournament which produced considerable excitement in Brazil as their promising squad romped to a third-consecutive title just a year after the senior team suffered a meek World Cup quarter-final exit to the Netherlands in South Africa.
Just three years from hosting the World Cup, a new generation of potential Selecao stars was emerging with Neymar the lynchpin and obvious icon-in-waiting having finished the competition as top scorer with nine goals, including two in the final against Uruguay.
Also on target in a comprehensive 6-0 win over their neighbours in Arequipa was Danilo, now of Manchester City, who will be joining Neymar in Russia next month. The other goalscorer that day, who claimed a hat-trick was Lucas Moura but he will be spending this summer, like he did 2014 watching from afar.
Forecasting the career trajectory of wonderkids is far from an exact science with so many determining factors beyond just what happens on the field, but declaring in 2011 that Lucas may never play in a World Cup would have been met with some shock.
He still has probably two more shots at Qatar 2022 and the 2026 tournament but with Brazil’s production line so proficient and prolific in producing attacking midfielders his window appears narrow.
How Lucas got to this moment where his absence from Tite’s squad was barely a footnote in the overall discussion, is a mixture of misconceptions over him as a player, the ill-conceived move to Paris Saint-Germain too soon in his life and career and, as he’s admitted, homesickness.
Spurs’ deadline day £25 million acquisition of the 25-year-old was met with little fanfare outside of north London and his six flittering Premier League appearances showed promise but not a great deal of production, at least not in an obvious sense.
Because, with a full pre-season behind him and a chance to settle into everyday life in England, Lucas can be let loose for Spurs next season and be the asset Mauricio Pochettino believes he can be.
By nature his best position on the field, as a right-winger, guarantees inconsistency. Wingers operate on the perioheries on the field, the areas where the ball travels to the fewest amounts of minutes. The simple laws of time state that they will see less of the ball than a central midfielder, so therefore have less of an opportunity to make a significant impact.
In an age where football demands its players to increasingly be all-rounders, Lucas is a throwback to a time when goalkeepers only used their hands, defenders defended and wingers stayed wide and waited to strike.

England's World Cup Rests On Harry Kane's Ankle
The good news for Lucas is he’s playing on a team who do stretch the field.Tottenham ranked fourth last season for average width of possession per game at 30.7m, that was an increase from being eighth in 2016/17 at 28.92. Pochettino increasingly wants to see the ball spread wide.
The Spurs coach implores his full-backs to commit to that task with Kieran Trippier, Ben Davies, Serge Aurier and Danny Rose as important in an attacking sense as they are at the defensive end.
With such a narrow midfield and Son Heung-Min and Erik Lamela attackers who may start from the flank but like to play inverted so they can cut inside, the role of Spurs’ full-backs in exploiting space is integral to Pochettino’s gameplan.
However, while Trippier, Davies and Aurier enjoyed, with varying degrees, good seasons and Rose persona non grata, what they didn’t offer is any penetration beyond receiving the ball, advancing and crossing.
Trippier finished the season as the most creative full-back in the Premier League with 1.41 open play key passes per 90 but his 0.62 successful take-ons ranked him 32nd, Davies’ 0.58 had him 34th, Aurier in 14thwith 1.0 and Rose was the best of the bunch with 1.43 but didn’t play the required minutes for a ranking.
Taking a dribbling statistic and comparing full-backs with a winger is perhaps a trifle harsh but Lucas’ 3.02 per 90 is more than double Rose’s number. Never mind just in wide areas, only Mousa Dembele’s3.29 exceeds Lucas in the Spurs squad.
In overall Premier League rankings, if Lucas was to have maintained that figure over the course of the season he would be 16th, just behind Alexis Sanchez.
Dribbling is all well and good and there are intangible benefits in terms of opening up space for team-mates but what does it matter if there is no production at the end? An accusation frequently levelled at Lucas, particularly during his time in Paris.
But in his six Premier League appearances he has shown a desire to share the ball and create chances for his team-mate with 2.16 open play key passes per 90, a number that exceeds Spurs’ great creator Christian Eriksen who hit 1.75.
And in an overall league context, Lucas would be fourth behind Sanchez (2.22),Mesut Ozil (2.74) and Eden Hazard (2.81). It’s all hypothetical but that he was achieving this number as a squad member with no consistency in selection is impressive.
The number that should really shine brightest for Pochettino is his 0.38 expected assists per 90 which places him level with Kevin De Bruyne at the top of the Premier League rankings.
Unsurprisingly, all this leads to a deeply encouraging expected goal contribution (xG + xA) per 90 of 0.51 which places him fourth in Tottenham’s squad, behind Dele Alli (0.57), Son (0.7) and Harry Kane (0.93).


Lucas-Moura-player-persona.jpg

The key for Pochettino is how to best utilise Lucas as his tactical rigidity, theoretically and based on his time in Paris, only lends him to a certain amount of formations.
PSG traditionally used him wide right in a 4-3-3 but Pochettino scarcely used that set-up last season, instead favouring a 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2/3-5-1-1 with Trippier and Davies and wing-backs.
Lucas could be squeezed inside as an auxiliary playmaker but his only two starts of the season gave a clear indication of what his manager plans to do with him as he was fielded on the right of the attacking midfield three in a 1-1 draw at Brightonand then shifted to the left for the 5-4 win over Leicester.
Common wisdom dictates that by starting such an obviously offensive and orthodox winger as Lucas would affect Spurs’ defensive solidity and put either Trippier or Davies under extra pressure. But 1.73 tackles per 90 shows a player committed to more than just the next dribble.
It’s a number continuing he was producing at PSG last term (1.7) and would also rank him seventh for Premier League attackers, behind Leicester’s Shinji Okazaki (1.82) who’s frequently praised for his work rate and unselfish running.
His 0.86 interceptions per 90, not achieved by standing still or slacking on your defensive duties, is second in the English top-flight with Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez topping the standings on 0.93.
Pochettino showed impressive restraint in the transfer market last summer, although the Argentine had indicated he wants significant investment to close the gap on the two Manchester clubs.
With so many exciting attacking midfielders throughout world football and a need to support Kane, the temptation will surely be there to bolster an area of the field already featuring Eriksen, Son, Lamela and Lucas but progress could be achieved by sticking to what he already has.
Lucas may never become the player Brazil wanted him to be in 2011, but providing Pochettino persists he can certainly turn into something special for Spurs.
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