"Hopefully, one day I will be as good as he is but that is a long way away."

[Stephen_King]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...943424,00.html

Liverpool youngster Lucas Leiva is hopeful he will one day be as good as his club captain Steven Gerrard.



The Brazilian midfielder has impressed in a central partnership with Gerrard over recent weeks as Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez rotates his options.


Lucas insists he still has a lot to learn, but the 20-year-old believes he is perfectly placed to develop alongside Gerrard.


"Stevie and I are different players. I am younger and I am still learning and he is helping me a lot," Lucas told Liverpool's official website.

"I am happy to be playing because I can learn from players like Stevie. It is fantastic to play alongside him because he is one of the best players in the world.


"Hopefully, one day I will be as good as he is but that is a long way away.


"When I play in midfield with him I have to play more of a holding role because he can go forward, create chances and score goals himself.


"Hopefully, when I have played more games and got more confidence I can go forward more myself."

Lucas is delighted to have played his part in Liverpool's recent winning run and says confidence at Anfield is high.


"We are scoring a lot of goals in games at the moment and we have to keep that going," he added.


"It is hard to say why it is happening at this time but the team is playing really well and we are creating plenty of chances.


"We have played really well in the last five or six games and the confidence is much better because we are scoring goals and winning but now we have to look forward to the next game."

[Julian Dicks hetja]

It was only a matter of time...

[Nerik]

He is settling in nicely and that has been one of our main positives this season i.e. most of our new signings have made a positive contribution.

[gazza447]

i think al of them have contributed a fair deal at times this season, some has been in spells (babel, voronin) and others prolonged (torres, and to an extent benayoun)

[ian.cross]

Hopefully not too bloody long though.

[Robser]

He looks a really good player for his age - doesnt seem to be the type of holding playeer Xabi or Masch is though! Yet he is being played therer when used! Hopefully he will be given a chance to play his favoured role against Chelsea in Carling cup!

[kopdude]

He is definitely more of an AM than a DM, but it looks like he can play both.  In Brazil, it seems he played more of the AM role.  As I have said before, I see him as the long-term replacement for Gerrard as an AM.

[Nosferatu]

In Brazil, they all attack. But as I said before, the inside word from Anfield seems to be that he is highly rated and has the ability to be the complete midfielder.

[kopdude]

I hope he does.

[gazza447]

reports from brazil say he can and weve seen glimpes of attacking capability and know he pretty good defensively, with a run in the team he will gain confidence to push like he has said and will hopefully show a few similar qualities to gerrrad in the next year or so like driving through the midfield. he certainly has the potential