David Luiz

[Jase 43,479]

Luiz has done well in the midfield role this season when we are looking to be proactive in pressing, tackling and intercepting the ball (or player) higher up the pitch. Think question marks still remain on him when say we take a more reactive approach in sitting deep, defend and only pressing when the opposition to within certain distance of our goal. Not too sure if he can genuinely keep his discipline, mind etc on the task if that is the case. We have seen him done alright in such cases but also failing in it.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Luiz has done well in the midfield role this season when we are looking to be proactive in pressing, tackling and intercepting the ball (or player) higher up the pitch. Think question marks still remain on him when say we take a more reactive approach in sitting deep, defend and only pressing when the opposition to within certain distance of our goal. Not too sure if he can genuinely keep his discipline, mind etc on the task if that is the case. We have seen him done alright in such cases but also failing in it.

His aggressiveness is still for me an issue. His pressing can be very good at times, but he always seems to make at least one or two mistakes each game which is a lot. For example, the mistake he did early in the game against Arsenal that led to that brilliant Cech save. He lost his concentration and got his positioning completely wrong and left the back four stranded with 5 Arsenal players running at them. He did a similar mistake later on in the first half and had to take down Rosicky from behind and if the game wasn't already finished he would have been booked for it.

The only game in midfield he's gone without making a serious mistake was against City. But then again, he was playing against a midfield duo of a CB and a nonchalant Toure.

[Jase 43,479]

His aggressiveness is still for me an issue. His pressing can be very good at times, but he always seems to make at least one or two mistakes each game which is a lot. For example, the mistake he did early in the game against Arsenal that led to that brilliant Cech save. He lost his concentration and got his positioning completely wrong and left the back four stranded with 5 Arsenal players running at them. He did a similar mistake later on in the first half and had to take down Rosicky from behind and if the game wasn't already finished he would have been booked for it.

The only game in midfield he's gone without making a serious mistake was against City. But then again, he was playing against a midfield duo of a CB and a nonchalant Toure.

True but then again, it is always a risk when we take a proactive approach in pressing high up the pitch. If the opposition manages to bypass that pressure or someone switches off, then they'll have a clear run at our back 4. Hasn't happened a lot but it does happen here and there a little bit.

[dee25 1,044]

He hasn't played many games with Matic so it might be too early to draw any conclusions but the reason why Luiz plays well with him is probably the same reason why he works well with T. Silva.

Luiz tends to perform better when there's a more competent player beside him.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Personally for me, if he does stay and if we do sign another top CM then I'd like him to play at CB against teams that'll sit deep against us because we then have 3 great distributors at the start of every transition (Luiz, Matic, new top CM) and would definitely break down opponents a lot easier than we have this season.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Personally for me, if he does stay and if we do sign another top CM then I'd like him to play at CB against teams that'll sit deep against us because we then have 3 great distributors at the start of every transition (Luiz, Matic, new top CM) and would definitely break down opponents a lot easier than we have this season.

I'd rather have the better defenders in the team and let Matic and a midfielder look to distribute the ball. I also think it's a misnomer to suggest that at any point have we been at a disadvantage against any team because we've had Terry and Cahill at the back passing the ball forwards. In fact JT's passing is incredibly underrated. David Luiz's passing reminds me of David Beckham's quarterbacking against Northern Ireland - pretty but ineffectual. If you want to move the ball through the lines then do it on the ground and let Matic do it.

One more thing - if we're struggling to break teams down then Cahill and Terry's presence at set-pieces is a fantastic weapon.

But ultimately it comes down to this - there's not an attack in the Premier League who are so inept that I would trust David Luiz in defence against them.

[Fernando 6,376]

Well David Luiz should have started the season as a DM.

But it seems mourinho has a big dislike for benetiz that he didn't want to follow any of his tactics.

Yet after half a season he has to swallow his mistake and admit that David Luiz at DM is much better then mikel at DM.

[LAM09 6,552]

For me the only out and out DMF of any quality at the club is Matic. Mikel is beyond poor, and Luiz is doing well in that position ATM, but it clearly isn't his preferred position.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I'd rather have the better defenders in the team and let Matic and a midfielder look to distribute the ball. I also think it's a misnomer to suggest that at any point have we been at a disadvantage against any team because we've had Terry and Cahill at the back passing the ball forwards. In fact JT's passing is incredibly underrated. David Luiz's passing reminds me of David Beckham's quarterbacking against Northern Ireland - pretty but ineffectual. If you want to move the ball through the lines then do it on the ground and let Matic do it.

One more thing - if we're struggling to break teams down then Cahill and Terry's presence at set-pieces is a fantastic weapon.

But ultimately it comes down to this - there's not an attack in the Premier League who are so inept that I would trust David Luiz in defence against them.

It's not about just "passing" though, it's about penetrating, playing a high line, and allowing someone with a bit more finesse and technical ability than Terry or Cahill to start the moves from the back. We have that in Luiz, I'm not just talking about his passing ability obviously.

You're missing my point, I do want Matic to distribute the ball from the back, but if we have him, Luiz, and let's say someone like Kroos in the team against teams that just sit deep, we've definitely got more impetus in controlling the game and creating more. Instead of just having Matic distributing the ball, you have two other technically good players creating things from deep. That in turn allows players like Oscar and Hazard to remain further up the pitch because they don't need to drop back to regain the ball as often, thus making us again more potent offensively. That's what I'm trying to get across.

You're being way too harsh on Luiz, everyone knows he's not having the greatest of seasons but to pretend that he's never had good or great games for us at CB because of that is ridiculous IMO. You and a few others are being very selective with your thinking, acting like he's never been good at CB for us here, or like he's never shown any consistency there when that's far from the truth.

Same people that wanted JT gone last season because he wasn't having a good season.

[The only place to be 11,313]

It's not about just "passing" though, it's about penetrating, playing a high line, and allowing someone with a bit more finesse and technical ability than Terry or Cahill to start the moves from the back. We have that in Luiz, I'm not just talking about his passing ability obviously.

You're missing my point, I do want Matic to distribute the ball from the back, but if we have him, Luiz, and let's say someone like Kroos in the team against teams that just sit deep, we've definitely got more impetus in controlling the game and creating more. Instead of just having Matic distributing the ball, you have two other technically good players creating things from deep. That's what I'm trying to get across.

You're being way too harsh on Luiz, everyone knows he's not having the greatest of seasons but to pretend that he's never had good or great games for us at CB because of that is ridiculous IMO. You and a few others are being very selective with your thinking, acting like he's never been good at CB for us here, or like he's never shown any consistency there when that's far from the truth.

Same people that wanted JT gone last season because he wasn't having a good season.

We can play a high line with Terry and Cahill (an article in the news about it today in fact). I'm fine with Luiz in midfield but I think you're completely overestimating his impact from defence. He doesn't make us anymore incisive than Terry or Cahill. In fact I'd take John Terry's passing ability over Luiz's anyday.

Luiz has not played well in defence for much of the season, whilst Cahill and Terry have been the form partnership in the league. Messing about with that for the sake of a couple of Hollywood passes that add NOTHING whatsoever is just silly, especially when you have two players in front of him who can do that.

There's a very good reason why David Luiz doesn't get selected in defence by Jose and it's got nothing to do with me and a few other people being harsh on him. You might say it's his form, but I'll say it's his concentration. That's why I'm actually excited about seeing him develop as a midfielder and terrified about seeing him play in defence for us.

Plus the JT situation was different. There's a LOT of other stuff associated with him that was very fresh in the memory.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Luiz and Matic pairing perhaps lacks bit of creativity, but overall its a very fine pivot.

[The Skipper 20,593]

We can play a high line with Terry and Cahill (an article in the news about it today in fact). I'm fine with Luiz in midfield but I think you're completely overestimating his impact from defence. He doesn't make us anymore incisive than Terry or Cahill. In fact I'd take John Terry's passing ability over Luiz's anyday.

Luiz has not played well in defence for much of the season, whilst Cahill and Terry have been the form partnership in the league. Messing about with that for the sake of a couple of Hollywood passes that add NOTHING whatsoever is just silly, especially when you have two players in front of him who can do that.

There's a very good reason why David Luiz doesn't get selected in defence by Jose and it's got nothing to do with me and a few other people being harsh on him. You might say it's his form, but I'll say it's his concentration. That's why I'm actually excited about seeing him develop as a midfielder and terrified about seeing him play in defence for us.

Plus the JT situation was different. There's a LOT of other stuff associated with him that was very fresh in the memory.

I'm not just talking about his passing mate, I thought I made that clear. I'm also not talking about Jose not selecting him at the moment...

You're steering away from my initial point, I'm not suggesting that we should break up the Terry - Cahill partnership or anything, I'm not trying to defend Luiz's performances at CB this season either, nor am I talking about his strengths or weaknesses there, I know them already. I'm talking about next season when we hopefully sign a new CM and we face teams we're struggling to break down; IMO we can afford to rest or change the JT - Cahill partnership for such tactical reasons, such as breaking teams that park the bus down, especially in home games for example.

A major part of the reason why that partnership has looked a lot more solid this end of the season is because we finally have a solid pivot player in front of them with Matic (and Luiz when he plays there alongside him), and also the fact that we're just defending much better as a team in general... It's not simply down to their partnership (although it is obviously a factor). We can take one player out of the unit for a more offensive look.

That's just me though, I genuinely think that the more technical players you have in the team, the more likely you're going to break down an opponent that sits deep, which has been our biggest problem this season and you can't deny that. I was merely trying to hint to a solution in situations like this - again, having three technical players (a trident of Matic, new top CM and Luiz) at the back orchestrating things will definitely solve that IMO. I understand that there might be a slight price to pay for this (a very, very slight but manageable knock in defensive solidity) but the rewards outweigh the risks by far I think. It's all about squad versatility for me - in the bigger games perhaps keep that JT - Cahill partnership, but in the games at home where we're going to struggle against these teams that sit deep start Luiz at the back assuming we have another playmaking midfielder next to Matic. Simple.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I'm not just talking about his passing mate, I thought I made that clear. I'm also not talking about Jose not selecting him at the moment...

You're steering away from my initial point, I'm not suggesting that we should break up the Terry - Cahill partnership or anything, I'm not trying to defend Luiz's performances at CB this season either, nor am I talking about his strengths or weaknesses there, I know them already. I'm talking about next season when we hopefully sign a new CM and we face teams we're struggling to break down; IMO we can afford to rest or change the JT - Cahill partnership for such tactical reasons, such as breaking teams that park the bus down, especially in home games for example.

And I repeat, there's not a team I would trust Luiz to play against. Not Cardiff, not West Brom, not Newcastle.

A major part of the reason why that partnership has looked a lot more solid this end of the season is because we finally have a solid pivot player in front of them with Matic (and Luiz when he plays there alongside him), and also the fact that we're just defending much better as a team in general... It's not simply down to their partnership (although it is obviously a factor). We can take one player out of the unit for a more offensive look.

A major reason we've looked better in defence is because we dropped David Luiz.

In fact every stat backs that up.

That's just me though, I genuinely think that the more technical players you have in the team, the more likely you're going to break down an opponent that sits deep, which has been our biggest problem this season and you can't deny that. I was merely trying to hint to a solution in situations like this - again, having three technical players (a trident of Matic, new top CM and Luiz) at the back orchestrating things will definitely solve that IMO. I understand that there might be a slight price to pay for this (a very, very slight but manageable knock in defensive solidity) but the rewards outweigh the risks by far I think. It's all about squad versatility for me - in the bigger games perhaps keep that JT - Cahill partnership, but in the games at home where we're going to struggle against these teams that sit deep start Luiz at the back assuming we have another playmaking midfielder next to Matic. Simple.

Or we could just buy a striker who scores goals consistently.

[The Skipper 20,593]

And I repeat, there's not a team I would trust Luiz to play against. Not Cardiff, not West Brom, not Newcastle.

Exactly what I mean - just because Luiz has had bad games this season at CB people somehow completely forget the good games he has had for us at the back prior to this season - again, selective thinking IMO.

A major reason we've looked better in defence is because we dropped David Luiz.

In fact every stat backs that up.

So you're suggesting that the main reason we've improved defensively is largely due to him being dropped at CB, and not because the team as a unit defends much better now, or because we have a more solid pivot/protection in front of the CBs either? Right...

[LAM09 6,552]

Exactly what I mean - just because Luiz has had bad games this season at CB people somehow completely forget the good games he has had for us at the back prior to this season - again, selective thinking IMO.

People are forgetting he was one of our CB's in the Champions League final. Didn't do bad did he?!

[The only place to be 11,313]

So you're suggesting that the main reason we've improved defensively is largely due to him being dropped at CB, and not because the team as a unit defends much better now, or because we have a more solid pivot/protection in front of the CBs either? Right...

The whole team defends better, but there's a reason that despite this he was dropped twice and hasn't played a match there when Cahill and Terry have been fit for about four months. Matic was only signed in January as well and in the games the two played together Luiz was very much a liability (although you can put that down to lack of playing time if you want).

But yes, we've looked much better defensively when Luiz hasn't been in defence. If we were better in defence or even as solid with Luiz playing then Luiz would play. But he doesn't and I can't see Jose deciding to put him in there just because there's a misconception that he makes us in any way better as an attacking unit. He doesn't.

[The only place to be 11,313]

People are forgetting he was one of our CB's in the Champions League final. Didn't do bad did he?!

Bosingwa

Bertrand

Mikel

Kalou

Cole

34 chances

21 on target

Take your pick.

[LAM09 6,552]

Bosingwa

Bertrand

Mikel

Kalou

Cole

34 chances

21 on target

Take your pick.

We only conceded one goal and won the match.