The Brazil international accepts he was too lightweight after making the move from Gremio two years ago. He puts his improved form in the latter stages of last season down to piling on the pounds. Lucas thinks he is now 100 per cent ready for the physical demands of the toughest league in the world. "I have gained some weight this season and that has helped me be more prepared to play with the demands you face in England," he told LFC Magazine. "I have gained four kilos since I arrived and that's a lot. "In my first season, being very honest, I had a problem with physical games. "Last season, with the extra weight, I felt I could challenge anyone physically and go from one box to the other like I did in Brazil. "Maybe it has taken me 18 months to get my body physically into the shape that it needed to be in to play my best in England, but I feel that it is coming now for me and I am excited about my future prospects at Liverpool." Another reason Lucas is confident of enjoying a superb 2009-10 is the fact he will partake in a full pre-season - something the Olympics denied him last term. "I missed a lot of the pre-season last time with Liverpool because I was away at the Olympics with Brazil," he explained. "That meant that I started the pre-season, then I went away, and when I came back to the club it was hard to catch up. I had missed a lot of the important work that the boys all did together. "Next season I will be here for the whole of the pre-season programme and I believe that will help me play to the very best of my ability when we start again in August. "I will enjoy a rest in the summer, but already I am looking at coming back and being a better player next season." Lucas suffered mixed reviews from the press during his first 18 months in England, though never lost the support of his manager. One of the turning points came when he received plaudits for a mature display in Liverpool's 4-1 win at Old Trafford. The 22-year-old believes the ups and downs of his Anfield career have made him stronger mentally. "As an individual player I feel that I have become a better player this season, definitely," he added. "Everyone has bad days at the office when they feel that maybe they haven't played to 100 per cent of what they are capable of. "I have had those days, too. Of course I have because we all have them. "But through that I have made progress mentally and physically. "I think this has been the season which has taught me the most about myself. I have had bad moments over the last year with the crowd. "That has made it important for me to focus on my football and not be distracted by anything else going on around me. "It was hard at times, but it will all be helpful for me in the long term. "You get better through the hard times and not through the easy or good times. It gave me a challenge and I think I was able to rise to that. "I knew I had the quality to be playing in this team, even through the difficult moments. I had the confidence of the manager and the players and even if some supporters were not sure I knew that others were behind me. "Mentally I'm a better player. I've had the tough times and I've coped well with it and come through the other side. "I wasn't worried about silencing people. In football you will always have your critics but you have to just keep going and hopefully when they see that you are playing well, trying hard and always doing your best, they will come onto your side. "From my point of view, next season will be my best for Liverpool. I feel better physically and mentally at this moment than I have felt before at Liverpool." http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164728090612-0847.htm Fair play to the lad, seems like he is working hard
Fair play to him, his attitude is right, much improved second half of the season, still 22. Well worth hanging on to imo.
With all the complaining thats done about the lad its easy to forget he's only 22, i really thought he was 24. Lets hope he has a blinder next season and proves everyone wrong! Very fond of his never say die attitude!
Like his attitude but dont think he'll be ever be good enough to cement a place in the side if we want to be challenging
Cement a place?? He's our 4th choice central midfielder and a decent one at that. I think people expect way too much from him.
fat *******! He did a fine job second half of the season, great option when needed to fill in for injuries etc and a bit of confidence will do him all the good in the world.
If he builds on the way he performed at the tail end of last season he will be a decent player to have next season available.
Suppose I forget he's 4th choice Midfielder, Suppose I like him really i have never really slated him except for the day he give away a stupid penalty in last few minutes in game last season
I like Lucas.Needs to improve his aggression and tackling though.Seems to have improved that a bit in fairness though-he was getting stuck in well against west brom away.
Some of the abuse he was getting last year was disgraceful and you could add Dirk to that as well. He was also at the Olympics last Autumn and in fairness look how long it took an experianced player like Mascherano to get over that tournament. Big season for the fella next season though. ________ Land Rover 1/2 ton Lightweight
He did preform excellent in that 4-1 win at ot (as did everyone) but I really think he can improve and who knows become a good player at Liverpool. Add a few more goals to his game would be nice but he's still young with a good attitude, if only a certain dutch player had the same attitude... That kuyts attitude really stinks
I think another key aspect to remember is that Lucas is trying to break into on of the best three midfield trios in the world, i would say that Xavi, Iniesta, and Toure are the only better trio than Alonso, Stevie and Masch in world football so every player is being measure against an unbelievable yard stick.
I think this lad will have a massive input in our fortunes next season. Shown some great potential in the year gone by and if he can reach the levels I think he can reach then get ready for the mother of all sessions next May folks.
I've had doubts over him in the past but towards the tail end of last season he really made an effort to knuckle down and get stuck in. That to me says a lot , considering he's only 22. He will find it hard to get a lot of game time being forth choice in the pecking order but if his attitude remains the same then he has my support