David Luiz

[robsblubot 3,529]

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.

Agreed. What if there is nothing to be fixed though? Remember we were a bit shaky defensively back then.

Exposed defenders never look very good.

To your point though, building a solid defense happens to be Jose's specialty.

BTW, did we not win every game Luiz played in the midfield this season? And some most of them against top sides.

[iseah100 5,612]

Luiz in midfield is awesome! Him an Matic go together like PB&J. It's great.

[Jase 43,479]

As The Skipper alluded to above, thought Luiz started off like a headless chicken when he was charging around mindlessly to put in tackles but got better and better as the game wore on.

And oh another thing, Luiz should not to take free kicks so much!

[Parky 739]

Sorry but objectively I still don't rate him. He hussles well but forgets to mark his zonal responsibility in crucial times i.e. Dzeko almost scored due to Luiz letting him run to the ball unchallenged and Luiz had so much time to read the situation at hand. His has poor reading off the game and rushes into challenges and needs to learn to be patient sometimes. A player with no real position that he 'owns'. He needs to go in summer to make funds available for one more solid box-to-box midfielder to play alongside Matic in the XI.

Lastly why the fark does he take free kicks, a total waste.

[Hamon 103]

Impressive game, absolutely a massive player when he manages to stay focused.

But please, no more short-distance free kicks..

[Special Juan 27,439]

That first FK was far too close for Luiz to get up and down, it had Willian written all over it. Willian was at the right angle to hit it.

But anyway, Luiz did really well last night, he got his hands dirty and did it well.

[jmarlow 458]

I heard Carragher said Luiz and Matic were like Petit and Vieira last night!

[zolayes 14,489]

still the critics damn him with faint praise ..even the presss are kinder than some on here

[diskoviolente 425]

Amazing performance by David Luiz 4!

Him and Matic are just incredibly strong and dynamic in midfield. Awesome to see how much more versatile we are now with Matic in the side. Ramires and David Luiz, Frank Lampard and Mikel...that should give is the strength required in the DM area for next years Champions League.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Started terribly, but credit to him, he really grew into the match, especially after we got the lead and ended up having a good game. Imo, the dynamism and energy of Luiz and Matic compared to the static Toure and Dimichelles is what won us the match.

[Joshybizzle 109]

There'a a lot of debate about Luiz playing in a midfield role (i almost quoted a few of them from a couple of pages back) mostly saying he looks like a CB playing as DM, not natural and not especially well.

I'm calling bullshit on all that right here and now, last nights performance with Matic was immense, he was winning possession high up the pitch and making the most of his range of passing which is has to be said, is bloody impressive.

"Manuel Pellegrini's men have been mighty on home soil, with 29 goals in the course of seven straight English Premier League wins – an average of 4.14 goals per home fixture"

Look at that, i mean just bloody look at it, an average of 4.14 goals per home fixture how impressive is it that for the first time in a long time we truly bossed that midfield for the vast majority of the game and there's no doubt at all in my mind that was down to the Matic/Luiz pivot, they compliment each other perfectly. You'd think that a holding midfielder and a natural center back would be a very compact, defensive unit, a solid platform.

But that's not what we got, we got a fast paced, high pressing, ball winning midfield duo who were always looking to move the ball into the attacking third as fast as possible. On a couple of occasions i can remember Luiz actually winning the ball back in the opposition half and charging forward, Luiz is a bit of a wildcard we all know that and its one of the reasons we love him but also one of the reasons we end up with our head in our hands occasionally but with Matic to anchor the whole thing (and he did very very well) Luiz is free to join in the attacking when called upon.

I think that game showed us that Luiz can undoubtedly play in midfield, i mean he put in an incredible performance against one of the highest scoring teams on the planet right now, AWAY FROM HOME, all the defense deserve credit, no question asked, but that team we put together looked like a unit capable of beating anyone and Luiz stepped up and peformed

TLDR; David Luiz can (and should) play as a defensive midfielder and you're damn right i'm looking forward to seeing him and Matic annihilate midfields for the rest of the season and beyond

[laeth 527]

Matic and Luiz were in proper BEAST mode for this game; that's looking like a mighty fine partnership.

[robsblubot 3,529]

Just to emphasize this...

David Luiz played 4 games in midfield for us and we've won them all.

Liverpool (H), Hull (A), United (H), and City (A)

Not easy matches either.

[Stingray 9,441]

Just to emphasize this...

David Luiz played 4 games in the midfield for us and we've won them all.

Liverpool (H), Hull (A), United (H), and City (A)

Not easy matches either.

While I agree and think he did great .... The same problems arise from time to time: self-discipline and deliberation.

Good thing is that you need a lil less of it in a Cm role. Which is great, because his dynamics come much more into the picture. Flanked by Matic his 'wilder' style seems to activate the Cm beast mode we lacked for so long. Still: the discipline and 90' focus needs to be more than just 80/20. I have confidence Luiz will do it under Mou.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Almost looked like a world-class CDM last night, all thanks to Demichelis.

Best display by the pivot I've seen in a long time and I'm pretty surprised that Ramires was not in there.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

You gotta now really start thinking of turning him into a defensive midfielder. We have people complaining about Ramires' technical ability, well Luiz is pretty much a bigger Ramires with the technical ability required of a CM. Plays just like him on defence, chasing the ball, countless fouls but offensively he can also pick a pass. People keep saying he lacks discipline but I don't buy it, yeah he flirts with danger often but he's played in the PL for a while now and he's never got a red card. Dude is aggressive but he's smart enough to either get away with it or calm himself down to avoid getting red cards.

If he's ok with it, we have to give serious thought into making him a full-time midfielder and backup CB.

[LAB 1,030]

I agree. He is a wild spirit Luiz, but that just means he needs to be managed differently. And what a coincidence, we have the best manager in the planet.

[GodZola 630]

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.

Each to their own regarding where he should play, I prefer he plays in midfield because he possesses all the attributes that I feel we have lacked as a team since Ballack left, additionally I love his attitude - some on here slated him after his performance against Man U, a little over exuberant yes but he simply bullied the life out of their midfield, he might come across as the 'happy go lucky cheeky chappie' but underneath all that there is an unbelievable steely determination to win and that is something you simply cannot teach.

I'm not going in to his abilities in midfield - done that before but I will just say that Jose is selecting him in there for the big games and that says it all, contrary to what has been said he doesn't need Matic to make him look good, he has produced some fantastic performances without him, however it would be very ignorant of me to say that Matic didn't assist his performance against City, I thought they complimented each other brilliantly and a key ingredient to us winning that game.

Now there has been a lot posted on here about him being sold etc, however what these peeps don't understand is that if David is sold we will have to replace a CB and a DM too, how much would that cost us? I've always said he is a footballer not just a defender, his versatility is a massive bonus too and another string to his bow which many do not give him enough credit for, José had Essien to do this job first time around so I think he likes this in David and something he will use to his advantage as the season goes on, unfortunately despite his successful and encouraging performances as a DM I don't think José will play him enough in there.

I don't agree with you Barb's that we need someone else for that position but I'm happy to be proved wrong.........I just hope he is not sold in the summer.