David Luiz

[Ze Mario 638]

err why some ppl focus on his ability to deliver a pass or two. do we talk about david as known as chelsea's central back? or brazil's central back? and the quality that defender must have of course it is defending ability rather than atk. defender who can pass well ofcourse better than plain defender. but still the main quality of defender is not that atk ability.

yeah almost everyone is ruined today. after all that's why football is a team games. when attacking side did poorly, at least defending side do a good job, and so the opposite. if attacking and defending did poorly, that's chelsea tonight

just admit it

[The only place to be 11,313]

Fuck me....he played 18 long balls today. That's twice as many as any other player bar Cech.

[Leif 6,006]

"Scapegoat" and "Vendetta". It'd be so lovely if members could be critical about players without these words being thrown back every time.

[JDY 1,290]

"Scapegoat" and "Vendetta". It'd be so lovely if members could be critical about players without these words being thrown back every time.

Probably because it's the same members being critical every time but there's no sign of them on other threads or when that player in particular has played well.

[didierforever 7,349]

when has luiz done well this season??? oh wait... we should probably give him a lifetime acheivement award for defending well against sir nicklas bendtner.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Errm, I don't get it? How was he bad? Or at least worse than the rest. JT and Cech were ahead of everyone else, but after that, Luiz was pretty much similar to all our players. Wasn't among our worst performers at all.

From the reaction here you'd think he'd made a huge mistake that lead to a goal in a game against our biggest rivals for the title this season..

[Alan Partridge 1,124]

He is so frustrating! One of those players that can win or lose you games, we all knew that when he signed.

To be fair no one played great.

The sloppiness and passiveness was contagious throughout the team.

[robsblubot 3,262]

I don't fucking care what they say about Luiz and what they say for Cahill. All I care about is how they perform for Chelsea. And it is crystal clear that Cahill is in better form this season so he should play. End of.

Well I was referring to what Mourinho himself said, and I thought that was kinda important.

You definitely have a point concerning current form. So, I reckon you also think Lampard and Cole should be dropped right now? Just wondering if there is some consistency from you, as it seems there isn't from other posters.

( I don't think Lampard, Cole, or Luiz should be dropped BTW)

[Sidzeret 2,257]

He probably wasn't as bad as everyone suggested, but doesn't this put an end to the discussion about him being captain material for us?

He had a okay first half with all the long balls and all but the second half was as bad as the rest of 'em.

Still seems a bit absent minded at times. Cahill, today would have made a better performance.

[didierforever 7,349]

( I don't think Lampard, Cole, or Luiz should be dropped BTW)

what is the point of having a big squad with more than able replacements if we dont drop those out of form and replace them with the players who definitely look to be better? as well play with players like marin and benayoun so as not to have any hope of the team ever changing.

[The_Flash 1,144]

I don't know why Luiz has been off, he was brilliant last year

[LeChuck 22]

Absolutely terrible! Once He's got the ball, I'm always scared...

[Mouri_Matic 560]

And some people claimed he is worth more than £50m in the summer LOL...

[chelseathebest 150]

So, I reckon you also think Lampard and Cole should be dropped right now? Just wondering if there is some consistency from you, as it seems there isn't from other posters.

Yes, I think they should be dropped.

Cole is not constant enough and I believe that Bertie could do a good job.

And for Lamps, I think that Mou plays him way too much and he is not that young anymore.

It is certain that their today's performance is not good enough.

[Jase 43,479]

He had a okay first half with all the long balls and all but the second half was as bad as the rest of 'em.

Still seems a bit absent minded at times. Cahill, today would have made a better performance.

This is getting tedious. Every time Cahill plays and makes a mistake, people say Luiz should have played instead. And when Luiz plays and makes a mistake, then oh Cahill should have played rather than Luiz! Really, regardless of who plays, they should be doing better with the defending especially when most of the mistakes seem to come from either one having brainfart moments with basic defending stuff!

[robsblubot 3,262]

what is the point of having a big squad with more than able replacements if we dont drop those out of form and replace them with the players who definitely look to be better? as well play with players like marin and benayoun so as not to have any hope of the team ever changing.

Yes, I think they should be dropped.

Cole is not constant enough and I believe that Bertie could do a good job.

And for Lamps, I think that Mou plays him way too much and he is not that young anymore.

It is certain that their today's performance is not good enough.

Fair enough.

There is no point really (of having that big squad) when only XI play. The problem of dropping important/key players because of form is that it becomes more difficult for those players to regain their form later on. Had we not insisted with Lampard last season, he wouldn't have won us the CL spot with sterling performances in the final 7 or so games.

Yes, sometimes you gotta drop an underperforming player, so long as the replacement is really the better option, which is something many of us here disagree with (manager does too I guess). The point is that when the big games come in the CL and BPL, you will need the key players to be on form, so it makes very little sense losing them now (by not playing them). That's the juggling (with confidence and fitness) managers have to do.

Concerning this match, we attempted to play a very high line today - Cahill is notoriously poor playing high up because he lacks pace. Playing both Cahill and JT in a high defense line would be suicidal.

Aside from some laziness in the second goal (pretty bad actually) when he was waiting to see if William and then Ramires would win the ball back (they didn't) he had no other mistake. Terry also made a mistake losing his man and David covered him beautifully which earned him a high five. So, he lost a 50/50 against a guy just as big when trying to anticipate and intercept the ball - big deal. Terry covered him just fine then. Terry is the positioned defender while David chases - not really that unusual really.

--

I refuse to discuss player's valuation because that's not really up to personal opinions - the transfer market is really all the evidence one needs.

[Barbara 15,149]

I think Luiz is playing well below his standards, which levels him down with Cahill - who has been playing really well to his standards.

So given current form, Cahill should start more.

Thing is José believes Luiz can do much better and I don't know if he'll improve from the bench.

He was rightfully dropped after Cardiff for a sloppy mistake, today he was poor - I don't care how the rest of the team was, I'm talking about Luiz.

If he's dropped now, it'll be because Cahill is playing better, if he isn't is because Mourinho wants to give him confidence.

I don't blame him for the loss, I don't think he was as abysmal as people are making him out to be. But the same way I think Bertrand should be playing instead of Cole, I have to admit right now I'd rather Cahill started, based on form solely.

Luiz is the best defender between the two of them, he hasn't been in the last few matches though.

[Tomo 21,685]

Luiz has been on bad form lately and would probably pay the price if Alex was still around, but there's a reason Cahill won't replace him for any significant amount of time and it's the same reason Bertrand hasn't took over from Cole.