Lucas: Why I will be a dad to Coutinho
Lucas Leiva has revealed how he is going to help Philippe Coutinho settle quickly into life at Liverpool by becoming a father figure to him.
As one of the senior players at Anfield, Liverpool's No.21 said he will take on the responsibility of making his fellow Brazil ace feel as comfortable as possible in his new surroundings.
Lucas told Liverpoolfc.com: "He's a great talent - a young player but with a lot of experience - and I'm really looking forward to playing with him and helping him to settle quickly in England. He doesn't speak much English, so I will try to be his dad for a few months and hopefully he will be okay.
"I will just try to make him feel comfortable, the same way I did for Luis [Suarez] and Sebastian Coates.
"I've been here for a long time and it's just what I feel I need to do and what I feel I have to do. Hopefully he will feel comfortable."
Lucas also said he will help our new No.10 understand the Scouse dialect of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
He joked: "First he needs to speak English and then he will learn the Scouse accent!"
While a whole host of stars are away from Melwood this week on international duty Lucas will not be involved when Brazil take on England at Wembley on Wednesday night.
Liverpool's No.21 admits it is something of a shame as he would have played against his midfield partner and Anfield skipper Steven Gerrard, but having only recently returning from injury he was not selected for the squad.
He said: "It would have been nice to play against Stevie and England at Wembley but unfortunately my injuries cost me, and I just need to get back playing well and hopefully be involved in the next squad."
After playing back-to-back 90 minutes against Arsenal and Manchester City in the space of a few days, Lucas believes he is gradually edging back to tip-top fitness.
"I think I am very close to where I want to be," added the Brazilian.
"It's been a long journey for me but I have to be patient, keep calm and try to just keep working the same way I'm doing. Hopefully I'll be feeling better and better with every single game."
Monday night's visit of West Bromwich Albion to Anfield is set to see Lucas play his 200th game in a red shirt - a milestone he is particularly proud of.
He added: "It has been a long journey for me to reach 200 games but I wouldn't change anything and I'm really looking forward to playing my 200th game for Liverpool at Anfield - hopefully with a good result.
"It will be a special night for me and I will try to enjoy it as much as I can."
Reflecting on Sunday's 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, Lucas insists there is every reason for optimism as Brendan Rodgers' side try and fight for a top-four finish come the end of the season.
"I thought we were the better team from the first minute at City and controlled the game," he said.
"We created more chances than them and at the end we conceded a silly goal which cost us two points. We just need to improve on that and make sure we win these type of games.
"I think both games [Arsenal and City] were mixed emotions for us. We were winning both games and we have to analyse that. We played well in both games and maybe in a few parts of both of them we lost a little bit of the momentum. We need to improve on that and build for the next game.
"We need to get a good run going again and see what's going to happen. We know the gap is big but we need to keep believing and try to finish as high as we can."