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Player Watch Player Watch - Lucas Moura

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
West Ham left huge gaps in their defence and we were hitting on the counter. This is Moura's greatest strength.

Interested to see how he does when teams play more defensively against us.
Yes, their defence was horrible. But IMO the one singular biggest change in favour of Lucas was the more direct play. Lucas is not your guy when building from the back, passing back to the goalie, and circulating the ball. He is your guy for a more direct, speedy, incisive approach.
Also a word on the defensive malorganisation. Again I know that West Ham was really rotten. But you can force the sense of a defensively lacking opponent by pressing correctly. Press successfully on the right parts of the pitch (not high), and you will be able to catch the opponent before they are organised. This of course makes it look like the opponent is inherently disorganised, but it might just have been your tactics that worked against them.
 

DEFchenkOE

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2006
10,527
8,052
Anyone know what's the longest run of consecutive starts he's had since he joined us? Always seems to be in and out the team which can't help.
 

donny1013

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2005
5,646
946
Anyone know what's the longest run of consecutive starts he's had since he joined us? Always seems to be in and out the team which can't help.

I think it's 4 games where he has started consecutively last season, Fulham, Utd, Watford and Liverpool.

Actually end of last season, 6 games.
 

EQP

EQP
Sep 1, 2013
7,958
29,657
Slowly regaining his confidence with each game. Smart play for the assist as well. I imagine he'll get another runout against B'mouth and he'll probably score a couple goals ;)
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
Good to see Lucas get an assist today, and it was a nice and sharp one too. He needs to up his assist numbers for me. If he can get on the same wavelength as the other attackers then he'll be a big asset. I feel like Lucas has been a very individual player over his time here, hopefully with more games he can gel his team mates more.
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
46,574
Good to see Lucas get an assist today, and it was a nice and sharp one too. He needs to up his assist numbers for me. If he can get on the same wavelength as the other attackers then he'll be a big asset. I feel like Lucas has been a very individual player over his time here, hopefully with more games he can gel his team mates more.
Didn’t have a single assist last season.
 

allatsea

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,865
16,052
Crazy how he got us to the champions league finial then went missing
I’m a big fan of Poch but I thought the decision to drop him for CL final was very poor on so many levels. Poor Man management, poor squad management, poor tactically, etc.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,770
99,328
Can see him doing well at OT next week. Wouldn't be surprised if he was on the bench on Saturday with the United game in mind - his pace is perfect for the counter on that big pitch.
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
Can see him doing well at OT next week. Wouldn't be surprised if he was on the bench on Saturday with the United game in mind - his pace is perfect for the counter on that big pitch.

A big gripe I had with Poch was that he used to use Lucas in the wrong games - at home vs a low block and then bench him away against teams that can be countered. I'm expecting Jose to change this. However Bournemouth like to play a bit themselves so there's a chance he could still play on Saturday. I'd love to see GLC have a chance in this role however, tucking in while Aurier overlaps.
 

Thenewcat

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
2,970
10,275
A big gripe I had with Poch was that he used to use Lucas in the wrong games - at home vs a low block and then bench him away against teams that can be countered. I'm expecting Jose to change this. However Bournemouth like to play a bit themselves so there's a chance he could still play on Saturday. I'd love to see GLC have a chance in this role however, tucking in while Aurier overlaps.
Totally agree. Apart from the Huddersfield hat trick I don’t remember Moura having an influence at home against poor opposition much. He’s scored away at United, Liverpool, City, Barcelona and of course Ajax in the last 15 months because he’s so dangerous when we get space.

There’s a really good piece on f365 about him this morning, don’t totally agree with it (all 3 goals against Ajax came from playing off the right wing for instance) but the comparison to young Lennon isn’t outlandish - Moura is a better scorer and crosser but less devastating one on one but the simplified role is an interesting take

 

KILLA_SIN

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2008
7,808
14,449

Forward was often squeezed out or not used in his preferred role by Pochettino but has the trust of the new head coach, who tried to buy him in 2012


If things had worked out differently Lucas Moura would have played for José Mourinho at the beginning of his career. The Tottenham winger was close to joining Mourinho’s Real Madrid from São Paulo in the summer of 2012 only to opt for Paris Saint-Germain; he would complete his transfer there in January 2013.
Turning down Mourinho might not seem like such a good move, particularly when he later pitches up at your club; Mourinho was announced as the new Spurs manager last Wednesday, taking over from the sacked Mauricio Pochettino. But the reality is that the admiration has endured from Mourinho’s side and although these remain early days, Lucas has come to look like one of the winners from the managerial change


Under Pochettino it was easy to see Lucas as the 12th man, the one to be squeezed out when everybody was fit – never more so than in the Champions League final against Liverpool in June. Lucas had scored the Roy of the Rovers-style hat-trick to sink Ajax in the semi-final second leg but it did not insulate him from being dropped for the showpiece.
Lucas has talked about that low point, with the headline detail being that Pochettino did not give him forewarning before he announced the lineup at the team hotel. Lucas has said that he needed to respect the decision, to be professional about it, although it must have been heartbreaking.
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This season Pochettino started him in six of his 17 matches in all competitions – raising more questions about how he saw the 27-year-old or, indeed, where. Pochettino thought Lucas performed to his best as a central attacker rather than a pure winger.
Mourinho plainly disagrees. He has started Lucas on the right flank in both of his matches so far and enjoyed a dividend. Lucas scored in Saturday’s 3-2 Premier League win at West Ham and set up Harry Kane to make it 2-2 in Tuesday’s 4-2 Champions League victory over Olympiakos.
“Every player wants to play – it doesn’t matter the position,” Lucas said. “But everyone knows I am not a No 9; it is not my best position. When Pochettino put me there I always gave my best because for me the most important thing is the team but each coach has one opinion, a different mind. Now I feel very good in this position [on the wing]. I always played in this position. I feel good and I am happy.”

When things are going well for Mourinho it is often said that his genius lies in the simplicity. He is not a manager to shoehorn players into the lineup; to jam square pegs into round holes. At Spurs he is seeking to build from a 4-2-3-1 system, with two positional midfielders and pace on the wings.

It was the formation with which Pochettino produced arguably his best football at the club and Mourinho can see that it provides Dele Alli with a platform to roam from the No 10 role and get close to Kane – which is surely where he does the most damage.
Eric Dier in midfield rather than defence has been another feature of Mourinho’s opening games, even if he substituted him on 29 minutes against Olympiakos. Mourinho admitted that he got it wrong at the outset and he needed only one holding midfielder, not two. On came the more attack-minded Christian Eriksen to make a 4‑1‑4‑1 system.

It also feels as though Mourinho sees Moussa Sissoko as a right-sided midfielder, not a central one, albeit of a different style to Lucas. He has introduced Sissoko for Lucas against West Ham and Olympiakos.

“It is too early to speak about change but you can see a few changes he has made about positions, some players,” Lucas said. “Step by step we put his philosophy [on to the pitch]. He said we have everything to do our best, a very good structure and very good fans, and we just need to believe in it and be happy on the pitch. After, about tactics, you can see … It’s simple? Yeah, quite simple.
“I don’t need to speak about him because he is a winner, a champion. He has a lot of trophies and I am sure he has so much to bring for us. Everyone is optimistic with him and we believe in his job. Can he harden our mentality? Yes, I think so.”
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Lucas went back to 2012 when his working life encountered a sliding doors moment. “Yeah, it’s true that when I was at São Paulo, my agent and parents had a conversation with him,” Lucas said. “In the last moment, PSG came in and I decided to go to Paris. I am happy he likes me. It is very important to me to have this confidence from the coach. I am happy for the opportunity he has given me.”
 

ClintEastwould

Well-Known Member
Jul 3, 2012
4,748
9,845
Sheesh every article now seems so scathing regarding Poch. I hope he, like Mourinho has done since he got sacked by United, takes some time to do some soul searching and reevaluate his methods. He’s obviously a very good coach and a world clsss man manager, his success with us was no fluke, but I hope he learns from his mistakes.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
33,985
81,902
Sheesh every article now seems so scathing regarding Poch. I hope he, like Mourinho has done since he got sacked by United, takes some time to do some soul searching and reevaluate his methods. He’s obviously a very good coach and a world clsss man manager, his success with us was no fluke, but I hope he learns from his mistakes.
Agree. I guess a new manager is a fresh start for a few players. Moura appeared to be going nowhere under Poch. Jose seems to be prefer players with Moura's skilset.

Sadly people will often praise the new manager by comparing to the previous manager.
 

double0

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
14,423
12,258
Its crazy Pochettinho is deemed a poor manager by expert journalists yet key players went to see him when he got sacked.
 
D

Deleted member 29446

The Brazilian Theo Walcott was a pretty fair assumption I think.. We need a big upgrade in the RW department.
 
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