Liverpool have done quite a fair business this season with Brendan Rodgers adding as many as eight new players to the team. Out of that eight, he has made five new defenders part of his team and three new attacking players. But the one area where he should have concentrated more is the defensive midfield, where Lucas remains the sole guard of the team.
The Brazilian has performed with authority for the club and his showing has made a definite mark in the fortunes of the team, with the team’s winning percentage reducing by a lot in his absence. The Irish manager should, therefore, have gone for a back up and who better than Esteban Cambiasso from Inter Milan?
For a start, the Argentine has played under Jose Mourinho during his time in Italy and has had the experience of winning the Champions League, thereby making him a vital asset to any club. Although he is 33 years old now, there has been no deterioration in his performance, which is evident from his last season’s statistics.
Cambiasso is sound defensively which is evident from the fact that he has contested 88 tackles last season, being successful with 67% of those.
Cambiasso has also won 66% of headers, but the most important factor will remain that he has made not a single defensive error throughout the season, highlighting his capability as a defensive midfielder.
One of the most vital aspect of a person playing in the central midfield remains his passing ability and Cambiasso has had an astonishing 86% of his passes correct. Apart from this he has made 52 interceptions and 72 clearances for his team.
On the attacking front, the veteran player has created an impressive 34 chances from 33 appearances and have 5 assists behind his name which is more than that of Real Madrid’s very own Gareth Bale who ended up with just 4 assists.
Here is the breakdown of his defensive side of the game:
And the overall report:
Cambiasso’s Squawka Performance Score of 1280 was better than every other Liverpool midfielder other than Steven Gerrard who played at the same position last year and managed an impressive 2155 while Lucas who played a total of 26 games last season has a performance score of 951.
All these statistics validate the utility of the player and Rodgers could certainly have done with a player like him as a back up for Lucas, a position which currently has no depth at the Merseyside club.