Player Watch Player Watch - Lucas Moura

[dontcallme]

Created multiple goalscoring opportunities for the team today, but not a single post in his player thread (until this one). I'm confident there will be lots of posts the next time he doesn't excel.

Created the chances from which Kane and Son hit the woodwork, then assisted our first goals, then won the free-kick that led to the second goal. A very productive day for someone who lacks end product, only runs into dead ends and can't pick out a pass.

I admit that I don't rate him very highly. I love his attitude, work rate and goals but his all-round game doesn't quite make the grade for me.

But. he played well today and was constantly present. Credit where it's due.

 

[soflapaul]

Borrowing the baseball analogy once again, He either hits home runs or strikes out. And there are some games where you want players to just hit singles whereas their other games where you need him. Not a guaranteed starter by any stretch of the imagination but still one of the most important players on the team. As crazy as it sounds, he ultimately is one of the most creative players on the team Despite the fact that he loses it as much as he does.

 

[ajspurs]

Created multiple goalscoring opportunities for the team today, but not a single post in his player thread (until this one). I'm confident there will be lots of posts the next time he doesn't excel.

Created the chances from which Kane and Son hit the woodwork, then assisted our first goals, then won the free-kick that led to the second goal. A very productive day for someone who lacks end product, only runs into dead ends and can't pick out a pass.

To be fair I think there could have easily been a batch of negative posts in this thread after the match.... I think he can improved on for sure but I generally like Lucas, and more times than not this season Son has deserved to go off (if anyone) before him and it's often been the case that he's the only forward player who really tries anything.

Like you say he ended up with key contributions but at times I thought he was awful today. It's not the display I'd choose to poke at those who don't quite favour him. Would be interesting to see if stats back it up but he seemed to lose the ball an awful lot.

 

[lincspurs]

To be fair I think there could have easily been a batch of negative posts in this thread after the match.... I think he can improved on for sure but I generally like Lucas, and more times than not this season Son has deserved to go off (if anyone) before him and it's often been the case that he's the only forward player who really tries anything.

Like you say he ended up with key contributions but at times I thought he was awful today. It's not the display I'd choose to poke at those who don't quite favour him. Would be interesting to see if stats back it up but he seemed to lose the ball an awful lot.

Guess I’m on the minority but what I don’t like is his movement when they have the ball, on occasions he just casually strolls about leaving others to chase back. There were times 2day when Harry was trying to press but neither Son nor Lucas were anywhere near him.

 

[isaac94]

good game, dont get the hate

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I like Lucas and think he has a unique skillset within this squad, but I think you are being very selective with the outtakes of that match. He lost possession 25 times today. He improved and was a catalyst for some of the better attacking moves in the 2nd half. I think it was a mixed bag performance, like most of the team his 1H was dreadful and the 2H was much improved.

Considering our team has really struggled to create chances (how many times have we heard "not a single shot on target" this season?), I'd prefer to see someone take risks and create than play it safe and not create.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Guess I’m on the minority but what I don’t like is his movement when they have the ball, on occasions he just casually strolls about leaving others to chase back. There were times 2day when Harry was trying to press but neither Son nor Lucas were anywhere near him.

Under Mourinho, Lucas was consistently one of our best players out of possession. This was key to Son being able to gamble on runs beyond Kane (that resulted in lots of goals), without worrying about leaving the team too exposed (which may not have been the case had Bale been playing RW instead of Lucas). Back then the criticism seemed to be that his defensive contributions were meaningless if he didn't also get lots of goals and assists.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Lucas has to be one of the most confusing/frustrating players out there. Every week someone says he played well and most of the time I just don't see it at all.

Everything you said about his positive actions is completely true...and yet I still think he had another poor game. The amount of times the ball just bounced off him was unacceptable, especially given the importance of holding up those pinged vertical passes which are crucial in Conte's system. I also thought his pressing was less effective than it usually is, and he made the wrong decisions on a couple of key counters in the first half especially.

Still think he's the ultimate Match of the Day player. Occassionally pops up with a good assist or cracking dribble but in general mainly serves to massively limit the team's overall effectiveness by regularly losing the ball, not holding the shape (going forward or defensively) and making the wrong decisions at crucial moments.

Aware this is potentially harsh but it's frustrating as he clearly has talent with the ball at his feet but I think his footballing intelligence (or lack thereof) really limits his game.

I agree that he's far from perfect. He was the one player who managed to create chances though, which makes him our best (only) performing attacking player right now. Hopefully others will improve and overshadow him going forwards, but in the meantime I don't see how we could afford to drop the one player who isn't currently incapable of creativity.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

To be fair I think there could have easily been a batch of negative posts in this thread after the match.... I think he can improved on for sure but I generally like Lucas, and more times than not this season Son has deserved to go off (if anyone) before him and it's often been the case that he's the only forward player who really tries anything.

Like you say he ended up with key contributions but at times I thought he was awful today. It's not the display I'd choose to poke at those who don't quite favour him. Would be interesting to see if stats back it up but he seemed to lose the ball an awful lot.

At times he definitely was awful, but literally everything good that the team did in the final third was created by him. The same can be said of many other matches over the last 2.5 years when the team is underperforming, which probably explains why he feels the need to risk being dispossessed.

 

[EQP]

Was it me or did he struggle to control 9/10 passes fizzed to him? For a player who honed his skills playing futsal, his control is really inconsistent. He seemed to lose the damn near every time it was played to his feet.



I love that he can be dynamic and he was the reason we won today with his assist and foul that lead to the freekick but his control is atrocious. If Conte can somehow correct that, Lucas will be more of a threat for us.

 

[stevenqoz]

Early days but it does seem on the evidence so far, that playing the 343 that accomodates Lucas Moura in the starting eleven, is limiting our effectiveness. Like any good new manager, Conte would undoubtedly taken a poll of the surviving Spurs staff on the make up of the squad. Moura is a 100% player loved by most and on his day can be almost unplayable., Conte rightly picking him to start. In doing this he has lined us up as 343 rather than in his preferred 352. Unfortunately, without a creative central passing ten we have looked woefully short in midfield. Against Leeds today Son Kane and Moura each had to drop to get any ball first half, usually into a contest under heavy pressure. (at times we played 361 today, under pressure and still had no central focus player)The 343 never worked for us v a pressing opponent and only the tiring young Leeds side allowed us back into it, still creating little but upping our tackle winning rate.
To me Lo Celso seems natural choice to play in front of Skipp/PH but it will probably involve Moura going to the bench as we run with just two up top....I cant see him dropping Son or Kane. With two good wing backs in Reg and Royal, and Sess as a possible addition wide, most of our midfield don't suit a creative central ten role. NDombele is not up t a full game being a Rolls Royce with an Hillman Imp engine and attitude. Steve B is not a central creative player while Dele looks incapable of committing to playing the ten role. Winks is unsuited and the game where we played him, PH and Skipp was a disaster.
I'd go
Lloris
Romero(if fit) Dier Davies (only left CB)
Royal PH Skipp Reg
..........L Celso
...Kan ......Son

Moura is as ever unlucky to miss out but playing without a central playmaker is distorting our play

 

[Gilzeanking]

To be fair I think there could have easily been a batch of negative posts in this thread after the match.... I think he can improved on for sure but I generally like Lucas, and more times than not this season Son has deserved to go off (if anyone) before him and it's often been the case that he's the only forward player who really tries anything.

Yep Son simply disappears when pressed, this happens most times. He gets a free pass here tho for basically doing nothing . Sure Lucas loses the ball when he tries to do something to get the ball forward . This is apparently a major crime .Son not contributing is fine tho. Weird !

So , Kane with shooting boots on for one on one would mean 2 assists....plus Lucas got Dier's free kick . List of Sonny's achievements...zero . But no , lets all have a kick at useless Lucas after the match !

 

[dbspurs]

For me he doesn't score enough goals to be effective in this formation. When you have a midfield that won't be scoring much then the front 3 need to be scoring regularly.

Tricky on the ball and can be a thorn in the opposition's side but ultimately doesn't produce enough to justify his place.

Impact sub for me.

 

[Hakkz]

Early days but it does seem on the evidence so far, that playing the 343 that accomodates Lucas Moura in the starting eleven, is limiting our effectiveness. Like any good new manager, Conte would undoubtedly taken a poll of the surviving Spurs staff on the make up of the squad. Moura is a 100% player loved by most and on his day can be almost unplayable., Conte rightly picking him to start. In doing this he has lined us up as 343 rather than in his preferred 352. Unfortunately, without a creative central passing ten we have looked woefully short in midfield. Against Leeds today Son Kane and Moura each had to drop to get any ball first half, usually into a contest under heavy pressure. (at times we played 361 today, under pressure and still had no central focus player)The 343 never worked for us v a pressing opponent and only the tiring young Leeds side allowed us back into it, still creating little but upping our tackle winning rate.
To me Lo Celso seems natural choice to play in front of Skipp/PH but it will probably involve Moura going to the bench as we run with just two up top....I cant see him dropping Son or Kane. With two good wing backs in Reg and Royal, and Sess as a possible addition wide, most of our midfield don't suit a creative central ten role. NDombele is not up t a full game being a Rolls Royce with an Hillman Imp engine and attitude. Steve B is not a central creative player while Dele looks incapable of committing to playing the ten role. Winks is unsuited and the game where we played him, PH and Skipp was a disaster.
I'd go
Lloris
Romero(if fit) Dier Davies (only left CB)
Royal PH Skipp Reg
..........L Celso
...Kan ......Son

Moura is as ever unlucky to miss out but playing without a central playmaker is distorting our play

Why not just put Lucas in behind Kane and Son. He can help the cm2 while carrying the ball forwards finding the front 2 with short passes.

 

[Mark_147]

Yep Son simply disappears when pressed, this happens most times. He gets a free pass here tho for basically doing nothing . Sure Lucas loses the ball when he tries to do something to get the ball forward . This is apparently a major crime .Son not contributing is fine tho. Weird !

So , Kane with shooting boots on for one on one would mean 2 assists....plus Lucas got Dier's free kick . List of Sonny's achievements...zero . But no , lets all have a kick at useless Lucas after the match !

Lucas also played the pass into son when his shot was deflected on to the woodwork.

 

[spids]

Was it me or did he struggle to control 9/10 passes fizzed to him? For a player who honed his skills playing futsal, his control is really inconsistent. He seemed to lose the damn near every time it was played to his feet.



I love that he can be dynamic and he was the reason we won today with his assist and foul that lead to the freekick but his control is atrocious. If Conte can somehow correct that, Lucas will be more of a threat for us.

This. He came short for a lot of balls to feet (almost certainly as instructed to as part of Conte ball) and was beaten to it more often than not. Happened a lot across the game. However, when he did get the ball under control he was our best player. As well as the assist and the foul for the free kick, he also slipped Kane in for his 1:1 and also played in Son when he hit the bar.

 

[G Ron]

I get the frustration with Moura as at times he can lose possession easily, but for me he’s the reason for us finding space as he’s the one pulling defensive players out of position constantly and breaking the lines with his change of pace and direction.

For me our problems lie firmly in central midfield where our options are all limited in possession and lack quality on the ball. If we had a good ball playing CDM we’d improve massively.

 

[Nebby]

I get the frustration with Moura as at times he can lose possession easily, but for me he’s the reason for us finding space as he’s the one pulling defensive players out of position constantly and breaking the lines with his change of pace and direction.

For me our problems lie firmly in central midfield where our options are all limited in possession and lack quality on the ball. If we had a good ball playing CDM we’d improve massively.

Don’t necessarily need a passer in central midfield. Conte won the title at Chelsea with Kante and Matic in the middle. We need to work on distribution from the back, which needs to be designed around getting the ball into Lucas or Son more quickly and in them being in more space / dangerous positions.

 

[ajspurs]

Guess I’m on the minority but what I don’t like is his movement when they have the ball, on occasions he just casually strolls about leaving others to chase back. There were times 2day when Harry was trying to press but neither Son nor Lucas were anywhere near him.

It's not something I'd observed to be honest but will have a look out for it in the next game!

At times he definitely was awful, but literally everything good that the team did in the final third was created by him. The same can be said of many other matches over the last 2.5 years when the team is underperforming, which probably explains why he feels the need to risk being dispossessed.

Yeah I don't disagree there at all. Although I think he's able to stand out now in such a way because he has the best attributes to succeed on the pitch on his own and without the use of a teammate, with his acceleration and a bit less so speed on the ball being unmatched. So it almost aids his image or the perception around him when the team can't create a single chance.

This really sounds like I'm hating on him but I'm not, numerous times up to now I've said that I think he's been one of our best players or forwards so far this season just due to the very reasons that you've mentioned. And even if I think his attributes help him to stand out due to the shortcomings of the team as a whole, I still admire his attitude in trying to drive the team forward and really, for more matches than people would like to admit, being our only source of something good coming from our attack.

The only reason I questioned your post yesterday was because not that he hasn't had other bad games, but this was the first game in a while where he was really frustrating me in losing the ball as many times as he did

Yep Son simply disappears when pressed, this happens most times. He gets a free pass here tho for basically doing nothing . Sure Lucas loses the ball when he tries to do something to get the ball forward . This is apparently a major crime .Son not contributing is fine tho. Weird !

So , Kane with shooting boots on for one on one would mean 2 assists....plus Lucas got Dier's free kick . List of Sonny's achievements...zero . But no , lets all have a kick at useless Lucas after the match !

Yeah Son's effectiveness in games is worrying. Like someone said in the match thread yesterday, we seem to always have players receiving the ball with their back to goal and not side on or facing forward and when playing like this Son feels useless. Not that I rate him really highly but you'd see Bergwijn being more effective playing in this way than we do with Son IMO.

 

[spursville]

Wihin the first seven minutes he lost the ball twice dribbling in the wrong areas i.e. near OUR penalty area. He shouldn't be doing that. That's just basic. And he still can't hold, shield and protect a football properly. Not convinced he has a football brain or makes good decisions. Another squad player who wouldn't get into the top teams' starting eleven. Suppose he'll have to do for now.