David Luiz

[AswinR 96]

once CL resumes he will be back in the team and also betting he will play in fa cup against mancity...we have only 4 CB's ... after next week brace yourself for truck load of games and we need this quality depth in squad then!! but i think this is the end of luiz in a blue shirt...next season he will go to barca(they are kinda desperate for one!!)

and zouma is really good...he went against ibra and cavani and game on top most of the times...that says a lot!!

[robsblubot 3,529]

I think he's learnt to be a bit more decisive when clearing the ball and that's about it. I still think he's immature at times and does the stupidest things now and then.

Again, big games and small games.

Every game is a massive game and this season he's thrown in some of his worst displays in my opinion.

I don't see much difference in his individual performances, just the improvement that comes with being in a much more defensively sound system. He doesn't let you down.

2 more in the league than us.

I wouldn't have started Mikel. Defence would've stayed exactly the same though.

What if we had a defensively better player than Mike, like Makelele, and started with him and David Luiz in defense? Isn't it the same? I mean movement wise? When David moves forward the DM moves in defense. Now if your point is that we don't have that player... well maybe not. Mikel is certainly not him.

Possibly. But then you've got Cahill's presence at set-pieces that you'd lose out on. Swings and roundabouts.

He's made 2 league appearances in defence since November. Barca want different things from their defenders than Jose does.

The argument that the number of bids should determine who is better is remarkably facile. No official bids were lodged for Phil Jones but that doesn't mean he doesn't have massive potential.

It absolutely is.

Fair enough - City then.

Well, player valuation happens to be the most tangible fact we can use around here. Esp considering football is a team sport and 11 play (10 really but you get the point). The influence of a single player in football is less than say in Basketball or hockey.

"Barca want different things from their defenders than Jose does."

Completely agree, but it's not just Barcelona, it's Bayern too. Teams going for possession dominance seem to think DL would suit them perfectly. It's all down to strategy and tactics, but if you don't look there you can't possibly explain DL valuation.

BTW, Lucio at Inter (and under Jose) was very similar to Luiz.

Anyway, we might as well be discussing the wrong player here when comparing DL to Cahill, because my impression was that Chelsea got Cahill to eventually replace Terry. The surprising fact has been Terry's superb form of late (no injuries either).

BTW, I'm originally from the south of Brazil with a lot of German (my ancestors migrated in 1890 if someone wonders... ) and Italian colonization and my fav team there was serie A Gremio. Gremio are known to be a pragmatic side employing no nonsense defenders, etc. They've won a lot in the 90s with Scolari as manager. They just could not beat Ajax who played total dutch football with lots of possession. The game ended 0x0 in Japan for the WCC, but Ajax had all the possession and opportunities. Just to say I'm not completely against the pragmatic style, esp in certain areas of the pitch.

However, the dominant sides of today are more like the Ajax of the 90s. Amusing fact: United's Van der Sar was Ajax's goal keeper back then!

[Svita 10 186]

Fu.king boss in midfield today!

[Gilvorak 3,734]

He had a nightmare 30 minutes or so but as soon as Ivanovic scored he was outstanding throughout. Fair play to Luiz.

[duo11bluecl 207]

Maybe he still has a future at Chelsea based on performances like tonight.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Midfielder.

[GodZola 630]

Some of us have maintained his future is in midfield, José trust's him in all the big games says it all......

Magnificent performance, him and Matic were simply superb, Toure barely got a kick.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

He had a nightmare 30 minutes or so but as soon as Ivanovic scored he was outstanding throughout. Fair play to Luiz.

Im not sure your definition of the word nightmare matches 99% of the people's on this planet.

[yuvala 2,167]

Absolutely fantastic today !

[Strike 7,250]

not a fan of midfield Luiz but he had a great game here

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Im not sure your definition of the word nightmare matches 99% of the people's on this planet.

Just remembered why I blocked you. Fuck off seriously.

You're beyond annoying.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

Just remembered why I blocked you. Fuck off seriously.

You're beyond annoying.

Im annoying and should fuck off because I dont agree with you that Luiz had a NIGHTMARE 30 minutes in this game?

Makes sense. Go bury yourself in the sand.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

[duo11bluecl 207]

One downside though, wtf happened to his free kick? At least hit the target or over the wall man.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Was rubbish in the initial stages but grew as the match opened up. One of his better performances in midfield, but it's easy playing next to a boss like Matic.

Good performance, and glad he's making himself available to the team as a midfielder.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Well another good performance in a big game from the midfield.

In fact he is my 2nd choice after matic in big games. People should get used to this, his energy is fantastic and he covers a lot of ground in there. Fantastic performance today

[Barbara 15,149]

Some of us have maintained his future is in midfield, José trust's him in all the big games says it all......

Magnificent performance, him and Matic were simply superb, Toure barely got a kick.

I still like him better as a CB but he hasn't performed a match as a CB this season as good as this one like a MD.

He was simply brilliant today and he opened my eyes that bringing Matic was just the first time into world domination (lol). With a guy with a little bit more class (and David has more class and touch in the ball and vision than Ramires) we simply put the best pivot in the league to shame. We need a partner for Matic as good as himself and while I don't think David is that guy, he's showing us that with an improvement from Ramires playing by Matic side, we'll be very hard to play against. Very good defensively and his ball for Hazard today in that Etoo woodwork (Luiz started the play) was simply amazing.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I wonder if Mourinho can fix the Luiz - Cahill partnership?

Theoretically, they compliment each other very, very well, but for some odd reason it just doesn't work. Maybe Mou can work his magic though.