David Luiz

[Sheva. 5,373]

So Luiz is the first-choice free-kick taker now? He was pathetic before; fairly accurate now but still think Mata should be first-choice taker

He takes everything from the left side, Mata can't from there and is more comfortable when it's on the right.

[Strike 6,958]

He takes everything from the left side, Mata can't from there and is more comfortable when it's on the right.

Yes but also consider that Mata is the better dead-ball shooter. Good technique and fairly consistent in hitting the target. on a rough estimate, he hits 6-7/10 on target and Luiz maybe 4-5/10.

luiz is still learning and improving though. gotta admire him for that

[CHOULO19 24,332]

dude, you dont have a clue about football, first the nonsense talk about being against Falcao, now this even more nonsense talk.

Jesus Christ.

Right....okay. Thank you for that great contribution, how could this forum ever survive without you!

Anyways, onto the Luiz in midfield issue. Like I said in the match thread, Luiz had his moments, including the goal obviously, but I thought he was bad overall. Too many touches on the ball and too many needless attempted dribbles. Luckily Basel did not have the quality to punish us, but a better side definitely will. I was saying during the match that he was dribbling too much, and when the game ended, the pundits in the studio said the exact same thing and showed at least 5 incidents when he needlessly tried to dribble and ended up losing the ball, including the one he should have had a red card for. He is just not a midfielder, he's not used to having the ball at his feet while under pressure from several players.

Luiz is an excellent defender who's been doing extremely well for us lately; Why try to change that to something that is clearly not working?!

[The only place to be 11,313]

Right....okay. Thank you for that great contribution, how could this forum ever survive without you!

Anyways, onto the Luiz in midfield issue. Like I said in the match thread, Luiz had his moments, including the goal obviously, but I thought he was bad overall. Too many touches on the ball and too many needless attempted dribbles. Luckily Basel did not have the quality to punish us, but a better side definitely will. I was saying during the match that he was dribbling too much, and when the game ended, the pundits in the studio said the exact same thing and showed at least 5 incidents when he needlessly tried to dribble and ended up losing the ball, including the one he should have had a red card for. He is just not a midfielder, he's not used to having the ball at his feet while under pressure from several players.

Luiz is an excellent defender who's been doing extremely well for us lately; Why try to change that to something that is clearly not working?!

Criticising a midfielder who isn't Mikel. Shocker!

Luiz isn't a midfielder. He's a defender. But yesterday he put in a proper shift, moved the ball well (and quckly too, something we don't have when a certain player plays) and got stuck in. He actually looked like he wanted to be on the pitch (on a Thursday of all days) and didn't hide away.

Most importantly, he stepped up at the end of the game and showed the guts to take the final kick to win us the match. Americans might call that being 'clutch' and we'd just call it having balls, but whatever you want to call it it's clear that this guy is becoming a real leader for this team wherever he plays.

Was his performance perfect? No. But he's played less than a dozen games in midfield at this club so anyone with a modicum of sense and objectivity would say that the odd mistake is understandable. But even if his technique lets him down, he's got more than enough heart and character to carry him through and make sure he contributes to the team. Unfortunately there's no stat for that, but the supporters notice.

[ulsterchelsea 3,213]

I really think luiz is much more benefit to us in the middle of the park. He just offers us much more than mikel,who I like but obviously doesnt provide as much in attack, whilst still providing that defensive cover needed.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Criticising a midfielder who isn't Mikel. Shocker!

Luiz isn't a midfielder. He's a defender. But yesterday he put in a proper shift, moved the ball well (and quckly too, something we don't have when a certain player plays) and got stuck in. He actually looked like he wanted to be on the pitch (on a Thursday of all days) and didn't hide away.

Most importantly, he stepped up at the end of the game and showed the guts to take the final kick to win us the match. Americans might call that being 'clutch' and we'd just call it having balls, but whatever you want to call it it's clear that this guy is becoming a real leader for this team wherever he plays.

Was his performance perfect? No. But he's played less than a dozen games in midfield at this club so anyone with a modicum of sense and objectivity would say that the odd mistake is understandable. But even if his technique lets him down, he's got more than enough heart and character to carry him through and make sure he contributes to the team. Unfortunately there's no stat for that, but the supporters notice.

What does Mikel has to do with anything here? I swear you're obsessed with the guy. You're loosing it, mate!

Luiz has guts, we all know that, and the ability to make that FK in the final second is amazing, but what does that have to do with him playing in midfield? Heart and character are great to have in the team, and Luiz has them, but I wouldn't play him in goal because he has heart and character because he's not a keeper, and I wouldn't play him in midfield because he's not a midfielder.

He was terrible on the ball last night, just terrible. Took too many touches and tried to dribble needlessly. Even the pundits felt the need to bring it up and show clips of him doing that. You don't need to defend him just for the sake of defending him.

Yes, if we keep playing him in midfield for a whole season he MIGHT get better. But why in the world would we do that? He's a great defender who's doing well in midfield, why change his position? Besides, we can't really afford to wait for him to become a good midfielder, we don't even give our own youngsters time to improve!

[The only place to be 11,313]

What does Mikel has to do with anything here? I swear you're obsessed with the guy. You're loosing it, mate!

Not to be the grammar police, but I've always blamed Becks for popularising the surname 'Loos' and thus confusing people.

Damn you Beckham!!

Luiz has guts, we all know that, and the ability to make that FK in the final second is amazing, but what does that have to do with him playing in midfield? Heart and character are great to have in the team, and Luiz has them, but I wouldn't play him in goal because he has heart and character because he's not a keeper, and I wouldn't play him in midfield because he's not a midfielder.

Actually I reckon if Cech got sent-off then Luiz would be the first to volunteer to go in goal. He's just that kind of guy who steps up when it counts.

He's not a midfielder, but he does a better impression of one than Mikel.

He was terrible on the ball last night, just terrible. Took too many touches and tried to dribble needlessly. Even the pundits felt the need to bring it up and show clips of him doing that. You don't need to defend him just for the sake of defending him.

I'm not defending him, just pointing out a few facts. Yes he overran it a few times, but he also brought it out of defence well at times and some of his one and two touch passing was not just accurate but quick too.

Yes, if we keep playing him in midfield for a whole season he MIGHT get better. But why in the world would we do that? He's a great defender who's doing well in midfield, why change his position? Besides, we can't really afford to wait for him to become a good midfielder, we don't even give our own youngsters time to improve!

I'm not saying we should keep him in midfield. He's our best defender right now, but when you look at the other options we have right now there's a good argument to be made for keeping him there.

He's not a natural midfielder and right now he's not a great midfielder, but he might be better than the people at this club who put 'Midfielder' down on their CV at least for the foreseeable future.

[Buffalo talks Blue 85]

When I see the games, I think Luiz is great in DM, but when I see some of the posts here I go like.. 'okay, maybe I was wrong'

Wish I could ask Mourinho to fix it.

[Clevemayer 764]

has gotten stronger and hats off, I liked him when he first arrived, especially after that first ManU game, great stuff.

He was ok yesterday showed some good stuff bud some bad things too, nontheless for Basel it was enough and he performed extremly well again for us, he has come forward leaps and bounds after january/February

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Criticising a midfielder who isn't Mikel. Shocker!

Luiz isn't a midfielder. He's a defender. But yesterday he put in a proper shift, moved the ball well (and quckly too, something we don't have when a certain player plays) and got stuck in. He actually looked like he wanted to be on the pitch (on a Thursday of all days) and didn't hide away.

Most importantly, he stepped up at the end of the game and showed the guts to take the final kick to win us the match. Americans might call that being 'clutch' and we'd just call it having balls, but whatever you want to call it it's clear that this guy is becoming a real leader for this team wherever he plays.

Was his performance perfect? No. But he's played less than a dozen games in midfield at this club so anyone with a modicum of sense and objectivity would say that the odd mistake is understandable. But even if his technique lets him down, he's got more than enough heart and character to carry him through and make sure he contributes to the team. Unfortunately there's no stat for that, but the supporters notice.

Good post. I agree for the most part.

What you get with Luiz is drive and determination to come forward and force the issue. He has since learned to be a little less temperamental, but he still has the ability to surge forward 50 yards and begin an attack from his forward-thinking. When he is in midfield he has licence to do that more, and it helps create opportunities, especially when you have a pretty lethargic midfield pairing (for example Mikel and Lampard, who are hardly the most mobile).

My suggestion would be only to play Luiz in the midfield position when we are chasing the game (bringing on Cahill for Mikel in a match would allow Gary to go in at centre-back and Luiz to play in the midfield; there would be a simple change in personnel but an instant significant shift in ideology in the midfield area) or against low-quality opposition (such as against Leeds, when he did a very good job there with several other midfield players out with injury).

I personally think he has come on leaps and bounds this season as a defender. For me, he has been our most consistent defensive player, better even than Azpilicueta. He is a centre-back and should stay there, in my opinion. He is a great footballer, yes, but he reads the play excellently and has got us out of many a sticky situation this season, in my opinion.

[dumps 284]

The spirit of Drogba's embrace was with David for that freekick...

[ZanSnake 1,211]

Is is so clear that he has been working hard on his technique, i remember when he first started taking freekicks, and e kept doing a Lampard, which was blasting it into the wall. Nice to see that he has worked so hard that he has made himself a threat when taking them!

Awesome progress showing his dedication to improve on areas of his game. Great performance last night as well, helped out where Lampard was ineffective.

[DONI. 1,291]

The spirit of Drogba's embrace was with David for that freekick...

:mindfuck:

[YouNameIt 1,511]

has gotten stronger and hats off, I liked him when he first arrived, especially after that first ManU game, great stuff.

He was ok yesterday showed some good stuff bud some bad things too, nontheless for Basel it was enough and he performed extremly well again for us, he has come forward leaps and bounds after january/February

Bad things? Name two please.

[Clevemayer 764]

Bad things? Name two please.

tackle

two needless runs against 3 opposite players nearly cost us posession but got LUCKILY away with an foul

more?

[Hutcho 8,443]

My opinion of this guy just grows every day. Such a great guy, who clearly loves the club.

EDIT: Lol spelling.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Such a great gay

Something you not telling us Hutch?

[Hutcho 8,443]

Something you not telling us Hutch?

LOL!

I'm learning that spell check is an important thing...