Lucas Paqueta SIGNED

[Alan]

"Lucas Paqueta: Lost in Milan, reborn at Lyon – and now West Ham’s statement signing By James Horncastle From the mountains overlooking Rio de Janeiro you can, on a clear day, see a small island across the Guanabara Bay. It was here, in 1997, that the man set to become West Ham’s club-record signing, Lucas Tolentino Coelho da Lima, was born, a player better known by the name of his birthplace, the once-glamorous Ilha de Paqueta. The journey he embarked on to become a professional footballer began with his grandfather Mirao ushering him and his older brother onto a ferry to cross the water between their home and Rio de Janeiro, where Lucas Paqueta attended Flamengo’s Gavea academy and Matheus trained at Ninho, another of the club’s facilities. Paqueta has a tattoo on his forearm of a star and the letter “M” in recognition of the contribution his late grandfather made in making him who he is today; an established Brazil international upon whom clubs in Italy, France and England have lavished more than €100million (£84.8m; $100m) in transfer fees before his 25th birthday. The “Brazil premium” is still very much a thing, although just imagine what Paqueta would go for had he been born and raised on Canvey Island in Essex and called Luke Canvey. Presumably, he’d make Jack Grealish look cheap. But we digress. At Gavea, the boy off the boat impressed. Growing up on an island with no cars, Paqueta played uninterrupted for hours in the streets and on the beach. He had a rare touch and feel for the game. One of his youth coaches Ze Ricardo marvelled at Paqueta’s universal skill set. He was like every midfielder rolled into one. “He could develop into a No 5, 6, 7, 8, a No 10,” Ze Ricardo told France Football. “He was very intelligent. He knew how to position himself and was fearless.” But at 15, Paqueta was under-sized for his age. The growth spurt his peers experienced didn’t arrive and all of a sudden the star of Flamengo’s youth sector couldn’t get into the team anymore. Paqueta didn’t take it very well. He cried and was irritable. Maybe this was it? All those nights catching the last ferry, the 21-mile roundtrip with Mirao. All for what? To go back to being a tour guide on the island, a job Paqueta did for some extra pocket money in his spare time? His mother wouldn’t stand for it. She went down to the academy and kicked up a fuss. Flamengo came round to her point of view and drew up a bespoke plan for Paqueta. Targeted nutrition, a bit of power training and fitness work had the desired effect and he shot up, gaining about a foot in height. It was all worth it. Paqueta ran the show as Flamengo’s under-17s won the Copinha and when the club’s first-team coach Muricy Ramalho asked the academy chiefs if they had anyone for him, one teenager stood out. Not long after making his debut in the Rio state championship, Paqueta scored his first goal in the professional game. It was no ordinary goal either. Tricks in tight spaces and his knack for making a mark on big occasions — Paqueta scored in the 2017 Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana finals — then quickly made him the darling of Flamengo fans. Among them was one of their former players, Leonardo, who was back at AC Milan as the club’s sporting director. After hanging up his boots, he had cut his teeth in recruitment working under former chief executive Adriano Galliani. As the only Brazilian in Milan’s old offices on Via Turati, the signings of Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato were widely credited to him. One of Leonardo’s first moves upon returning to the club after leaving Paris Saint-Germain and trying his hand at coaching again with Antalyaspor was to attempt to sign the next big thing out of Brazil. A deal worth €35million was struck with Flamengo in the autumn of 2018 and Paqueta joined the following January. There were echoes of Pato’s arrival a little over a decade earlier and the nostalgia hit hard. Leonardo had accompanied Kaka to Paris to collect his Ballon d’Or in 2007 and, as he left, famously remarked he’d be back with Pato. Injuries ultimately stopped him from fulfilling his potential but the talent was obvious. Memories of the early Pato, along with the illustrious association between Brazil and the last great Milan sides, loaded tremendous expectation on Paqueta’s shoulders. The rainbow flick he performed on his Serie A debut against Genoa only added to it. Had Leonardo only gone and found the new Kaka? Fans at San Siro certainly hoped so. After all, this wasn’t 2003, when Kaka joined a Champions League-winning team and people wondered whether this preppy-looking kid from Sao Paulo would get a game amid competition from Manuel Rui Costa and Rivaldo. In 2019, Milan needed a saviour. The club hadn’t been in the Champions League for five years and would have gone to the wall had Elliott Management not repossessed it from Li Yonghong. The hope projected on Paqueta was that he might almost single-handedly make Milan elite again. Paqueta’s adaptation wasn’t easy. Whereas in the past there would have been a group of players like Dida, Serginho, Cafu, Thiago Silva, Pato and Kaka to help him settle in, by the time Paqueta arrived at Milanello there were no Brazilians left at the club. The second language at Milan these days is French, not Portuguese, and when Leonardo left six months after signing Paqueta, his protege felt isolated. Paqueta was only there a year, but the club went through three coaches. When he joined midway through the season, Rino Gattuso had already settled on his best team and couldn’t find a spot for him. Marco Giampaolo told Paqueta to be “less Brazilian and more concrete, less showy”. By the time Stefano Pioli got the job, the direction of travel was hard to reverse and the midfield player who benefited most from his appointment turned out to be Hakan Calhanoglu. Paqueta, in Pioli’s mind, needed to be “more incisive”. Internally, Milan were of the opinion they had overpaid Flamengo for what Paqueta was at the time. The €21million Lyon were prepared to pay for him in the late summer of 2020 was therefore considered something of a miracle and the 15 per cent sell-on Milan cleverly negotiated means they will get their money back and have a nice windfall ahead of the final week of the transfer window. There are no regrets, even though Lyon will make close to three times what Paqueta cost them. He has flourished in Ligue 1. “I put myself under a lot of pressure in Milan,” Paqueta reflected in L’Equipe. “Too much even. When I moved to France I told myself I didn’t have to put myself through that again. I just had to do my best. “Sometimes there isn’t a reason for failure. My time at Milan wasn’t extraordinary by any means, I probably achieved less than expected, but it served me well and made me a better player; a different, stronger player who rediscovered the essence of what he was at Flamengo. The pressure is still there but it doesn’t come from myself anymore.” In Lyon, Paqueta found another big club, just not one on the same scale as Milan. The environment was less demanding than San Siro and the league less tactically strait-jacketed than Serie A. Behind the transfer was another legend of the Brazilian game, the free-kick maestro Juninho Pernambucano, who had been enticed back to Lyon as the club’s sporting director to build a team mixing the best products of Europe’s finest academy with the technical refinement of his home nation, namely Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes and Thiago Mendes. The team that reached the semi-finals of the 2020 Champions League under Rudi Garcia, upsetting Juventus and Manchester City along the way, evolved from an aggressive, transition-based 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 which sought control through a neat possession game made possible thanks to the quintet of Brazilians, Houssem Aouar and Maxence Caqueret. It promised a lot and a 1-0 win away to Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG before Christmas showcased the elegant press-resistant side to Paqueta’s game as he helped Lyon relieve the pressure around their penalty area and get up the pitch. Paqueta offered glimpses of a complete midfielder, whose ability to disrupt opponents as they progressed towards Lyon’s goal married the aesthetic with the aggressive. On the ball, as his smarterscout profile below shows, he often kept his passing short and sharp, with neat interchange (link-up play volume 86 out of 99) rather than longer, searching balls upfield (progressive passing 27 out of 99). Those actions seemingly kept possession at an above-average rate compared with other central attacking midfielders (ball retention ability 59 out of 99). Off the ball, Paqueta’s ability to disrupt opponents with his high volume of defensive actions such as tackles and blocks (disrupting opposition moves 98 out of 99) was also highly effective in preventing opponents from progressing towards Lyon’s goal (defending impact 73 out of 99). Halfway through his first campaign in Ligue 1, L’Equipe named him in their team of the season so far. Once the polemic subsided about Tite prematurely handing Lucas Paqueta the Brazil No 10 shirt for a friendly against Argentina in 2019 — a decision Rivaldo took as a lack of respect for Rivelino, Zico and Ronaldinho — he established himself as a regular. His versatility means he will probably start at the World Cup. “He has the talent to be one of the top players,” Emerson Palmieri told The Athletic earlier this summer. The Euro 2020 winner spent last season on loan at Lyon and will be reunited with Paqueta after joining West Ham from Chelsea. “He’s still young and I believe we have to have patience with him because sometimes youngsters have ups and downs.” The oscillating performances Palmieri touches upon refers to the Lyonnais perception of Paqueta as an absolute joy to watch on his day. But he lacks consistency. Garcia felt he needed to show more killer instinct in his passing rather than playing simple, short and sideways. The team also went backwards in Paqueta’s time, declining from Champions League semi-finalists to no Champions League football at all in back-to-back years. Last season under Peter Bosz was the worst the club has experienced in a quarter of a century. Either the team underperformed or wasn’t as good as people thought. Guimaraes was sold to Newcastle in January to offset some of the lost earnings from missing out on the Champions League and Lyon have gone back to players they can rely on like Alexandre Lacazette and Corentin Tolisso. More substance, less style. Paqueta was ready for a new challenge but the lacklustre showings he put in over the second half of the last campaign also made Lyon open to moving on. Romain Faivre can replace him between the lines and Jeff Reine Adelaide’s return from injury covers Lyon in midfield. A fee of up to €60million from West Ham is frankly too good to turn down and would make Paqueta the club’s most lucrative sale after Tanguy Ndombele. West Ham fans will be hoping they get more bang for their buck than Tottenham did for their record signing who returned to Lyon on loan last season and is now at Napoli. “His quality is there for all to see,” Palmieri said of Paqueta. “He’s a dedicated guy, someone who is obsessed with winning games and competing for titles. He has everything he needs to develop further. I think he has a brilliant future ahead of him.”"

[Takashi Miike]

"the problem is it's not three at the back but five. three at the back is what the germans played that won the europa, he hasn't got the courage to play that sort of system so goes with this flat back five, which leaves us shorthanded in midfield and continues to isolate whatever poor cսnt is the striker that day"

[Russ of the BML]

"Side of Ham 5:36 Tue Feb 14 ""What if the player doesn't want to grow a pair for this managers style of football and coaching?"" Er.... That makes him a cheat."

[Rossal]

"Widely reported Aguerd was first signing as he wanted to go 3 at the back Makes the Paqueta signing even more strange, he was signed in a 10 to play in a system where 10s are rarely used Just a mess as per usual when we give it a go and spend big bucks"

[kylay]

Come On You Irons 7:07 Tue Feb 14 All of your examples of people who played well under Moyes are nothing short of awful this season. Lingard aside that suggests something's amiss in the dressing room.

[Hammer and Pickle]

"Having actually watched the game, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Paqueta pulling the strings, linking up defence with midfield and generally making sure exactly what we have been missing this season. So I’m quite sure we would not have conceded straight after he came off injured and would have gone on to win the game had he stayed on. That it’s taken so long for Moyes to work out how to play Paqueta has really showed him up as an incompetent manager of talent. Oh and ignore COYI - he is a miserable fuckwit without a clue."

[Hello Mrs. Jones]

A player with tremendous potential playing for a twat

[paulon]

I reckon COYI congratulates himself every night on being the EDGIEST man on the internet

[Vexed]

"Come On You Irons 7:07 Tue Feb 14 Ha, what a fucking lunch"

[Jaan Kenbrovin]

"Second highest average player rating on WhoScored, behind Declan Rice."

[threesixty]

"COYI All the players you mentioned came into a successful side. A side that knew what it was doing. Bowen, Lingard etc had all been playing football in England as well. More importantly every player mentioned played in their favoured positions when they started at this club. It’s inconceivable that Paqueta is a shit player. He can be shit for us definitely. Just like Haller was. But I can’t really blame these players when our manager is kind of shit at the moment. He’s the one who picks them, and tells them what to do. He’s also the guy that buys them as well. It’s on his head."

[ATBOG]

Mardi gras kicks off in Rio this Friday. Just saying.....

[Come On You Irons]

"There we go. More excuses dished out for the fraud. It's not his fault because: - He needs time to settle - He plays under a dour manager - He plays in a rigid, defensive system - He needs more dynamic players around him. Jesse Lingard came in to the team under the same manager in January 2021 and hit the ground running. Soucek hit the ground running. Bowen had a great season last year. Both under the same manager. Funny how they all settled in fine and delivered yet this fraud hasn't delivered in over half a season and counting. Yet people excuse the samba dancing bottle job for all of the above and come out with bollocks like ""he must be good, he's Brazil's number 8"". This fella has pulled the wool over so many people's eyes its unreal."

[Eerie Descent]

"Come On You Pride of Irons 6:35 Tue Feb 14 I agree he hasn't been good enough, and I make no excuses for him. It's the whole situation I find the most baffling, and it's where I do have some sympathy with the player, just who the fuck at this football club thought that a player like Paqueta and a manager like Moyes was a good fit? He's not worth what we paid, however I would add it won't be £50mil due to us now being relegation fodder, as the clauses would have been for achievements by the club. I do think he could still be a good player in a team that plays to his strengths, which is fluid movement around him, players always finding space to receive the ball in an attacking team. It's not ideal, and we're right to expect more, but see my first paragraph, it's not his fault, it's the clubs."

[Side of Ham]

Nick QQQ 6:45 Tue Feb 14

[Nick QQQ]

"In any other team i'd agree you can judge, but the movement and lack of any kind of passing approach/tactics make it difficult to judge anyone decent. Most talented players would be stuck in this team"

[Nick QQQ]

"In any other team i'd agree you can judge, but the movement and lack of any kind of passing approach/tactics make it difficult to judge anyone decent. Most talented players would be stuck in this team"

[Come On You Irons]

"If you're good enough you stand out and perform in any set up. Paqueta has had plenty of chances in over half a season to get on the ball and agow everyone what he can do. Fact is, over half a season in and he still gets dispossessed too easily, still gives the ball away too cheaply and still offers little to no attacking threat. During the first half of the season the excuses made for him were that he has to get up to speed with the league. Now it seems the excuses made for him is that he is hamstrung by the tactics and system Moyes plays. How many excuses will be made before people wake up and smell the coffee and admit this fella is a fraud and not a very good footballer for £50 million. The World Cup, where he lost his place in the Brazil team after stinking out the place, is proof that it's more than just Moyes' dour tactics for why this geezer isn't performing."

[Vexed]

AKA BERKIE bringing the dumb logic!

[AKA ERNIE]

"Paq,Aguerd, cornet, zouma and scamacca should all be sold this summer. Couldn't give a fuck how good they are or not but they're no good to us if always injured."

[threesixty]

"Moyes simply does not know how to coach a possession based footballing side. He seems to have thought that getting a fancy Brazilian in is all you need to do. I really wish it was David, I really wish it was just that... bless him! What annoys me is how the press dont get at him when he says things like we spent 53m thinking we'd get a no.10 who'd score us 10 goals+ or whatever, yet we've found out he's more a DM / Makele type guy. I mean.. WTF is that sentence about? This is a manager in the PL ffs! How does he or his team not know these things? He should be ridiculed everywhere for that. And I still dont get how a manager who is only 1 or 2 points away from all his relegation rivals didnt get the sack like they did. Considering how much money he's spent and his terrible form in 2022. The worst thing about this season will not be relegation, (I think we'll end up mid table somehow). The worst thing will be that he gets to have a go again next season with the same tactics having learnt nothing during his failures. That will be tragic."

[stewie griffin]

"Russ of the BML 5:22 Tue Feb 14 Re: Lucas Paqueta SIGNED i think some, maybe even a lot, of the criticism of Paqueta is fair. But let's be honest, we have 30% possession on a good day. Most of that possession is long hoofs forward into the channels for Antonio to run after and do nothing with, because he's not very good. Beyond that, we're hoping for a set piece goal. There's no good stats for anyone in this playing style - unless maybe if you're last season's corner takers. Not so much this year. We're an awful team, and far worse to watch than we were under Allardyce. We've been outrageously lucky with decisions this year, or it could be even worse."

[Eerie Descent]

Probably would have been one of the first things I'd have found out if I was spending £50mil on him.

[Side of Ham]

What if the player doesn't want to grow a pair for this managers style of football and coaching?

[Eerie Descent]

"In fairness to Paqueta, the manager has openly admitted he didn't have a fucking clue what his best position was, until he watched him play for Brazil in the world cup. Have another 'you have to LOL' for that one."

[Russ of the BML]

"stewie griffin 5:13 Tue Feb 14 I'm talking offensive stats. But you are taking the debate in a chicken and egg scenario. You buy better and higher value players to add better stats to the team and ultimately increase your chances of winning games. I get what you are saying. And, to some extent, I agree. But where do you draw the line between a player not performing and blaming the manager for the team set up? It's a fine line. We've all got the hump with Moyes and have done for ages because he has been generally dogshit as a manager for over a year. But, in my opinion, that shouldn't detract from the issue that Paqueta needs to grow a pair of bollocks, roll his sleeves up and start winning some fucking football matches for us."