David Luiz

[kellzfresh 7,229]

The way the two bolded parts are articulated is pretty fun, since it actually puts them into opposition.

When those teams sit back against us and let the center backs hold the ball ; what does it imply ? If the opposite team's defensive block is deep, then it means, when we are in the ball possession, that we have little space to maneuver and little space to pass the ball in — in other words, in these situations, long passes inexorably mean hoofing the ball into the air.

Who exactly is going to win aerial duels up front, and get the ball on the ground ? Is this going to be 1,70m Hazard ? Is this going to be the rest of the dwarf band, i.e. Oscar-Willian-Mata ? Is that going to be our set of inept-in-the-air strikers ?

Resorting to long aerial passes in those situations is just a waste of time — or simply a waste of ball possession. It is precisely a big problems of ours ; too many times in the past seasons, we have been resorting to aimlessly kick the ball in the air towards the attacking players because we had no clue how into build the game in midfield. Such long passes are not the solution because our attacking players cannot make anything out of them ; stressing the importance of Luiz because of his long balls is by consequence a misapprehension since not only such long passes are not useful, but also because the brazilian is actually wasteful at it as TorontoChelsea has rightfully pointed out numerous of times.

I dont really understand what you mean by the short players. Barca pass a lot from deep and their attack are shorter than ours. Im not talking of just hoofing the ball in the sky, lampard did that a lot for drogba but luiz attempts curling passes like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPQpALvnAOE&feature=player_detailpage

Bernard in that video is shorter than everyone in our team.

And when i'm talking about long passes, im also implying on how it helps speed up our play. It took one pass to get to bernard in that video, in chelsea, cahill passes to terry, who passes to lamps, who passes to oscar, by the time the ball gets there, the defence have marked the attacker.

Long passes speed our play up, so we need as much help from luiz as we can get against defensive minded teams.

What you and torontochelsea complained of is how he wastes possession at times but i said that its still better than cahill just passing between him and terry which takes us no where in terms of creating a chance. David luiz presence is still better than cahill for us. We lack creativity from our CM and luiz helps in that.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

We knew what we were getting when we signed him. Cultured defenders are always going to take risks, it's their nature. Pique is the same, Lucio is the same, Dante does the same. Every now and again that nature will backfire. Lucio vs England, Pique in the confederations cup final, Dante in the super cup vs Chelsea. Hummels another example, see his mistake in the CL semi final against Real Madrid at home?

If i had to compare Cahill (in terms off defensive capabilities) to a Brazillian defender it would be Felipe Santana, and he's bench surfing in the German league and can't get anywhere near Brazil's squad. Luiz vs Cahill wouldn't be debatable in any other country, Luiz is class, Cahill is a good squad player.

It's like Gary Neville pointed out, these type of defenders are winning WC/Euro's and confederation's while the traditional old school defenders are going home at the last 8 stage, at best.

Agreed. Still, Cahill trumps Luis by a long way this season.

[lionsden 4,689]

David luiz the regista sans playmaker. He's not totally useless afterall.

It would have been a tad nicer and more beneficial to the team if the accolade he receives is more about his defending rather than his playmaking abilities and style of play.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

David luiz the regista sans playmaker. He's not totally useless afterall.

It would have been a tad nicer and more beneficial to the team if the accolade he receives is more about his defending rather than his playmaking abilities and style of play.

Thats what we get when we dont have a single Central midfielder that can do what he does. Until we fix that, then luiz is important unless we want to park the bus then you can call on cahill.

[robsblubot 3,595]

So his brainfarts are his 'style'? Who gives a fuck what he does for Brazil....this is Chelsea, not Brazil.

conveniently ignored the CL bit didn't you?!

This is amongst the silliest things I've read. You clearly don't understand the mental aspects of sport and how important they are. Ergo, I won't bother responding to you further on this topic.

You clearly don't have a clue about the technical aspects of the game and I won't bother either...

kinda childish isn't it?

[Leif 6,006]

Hope he enjoys his holiday in Portugal.

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Play him instead of Mikel. So much better.

[didierforever 7,349]

what a performance!!! absolutely brilliant. FLAWLESS in one word.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Like I've been saying, his passing creates chances. Long pass to azpi led to eto goal. He also put eto in a 1 on 1 situation which skrtel tackled brilliantly.

[zolayes 14,489]

say what you like ..BUT I hope he is with us for the rest of his career.. oh Im old ... I like footballers in all positions

[Sidzeret 2,257]

In midfield again, please.

Atleast he could affoerd to make mistakes there.

Top game today. No mistakes, except, maybe for that yellow card.

Have a great new year celebration at Portugal.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

In midfield again, please.

Atleast he could affoerd to make mistakes there.

Top game today. No mistakes, except, maybe for that yellow card.

Have a great new year celebration at Portugal.

[Barbara 15,149]

His voice was very hoarse in that post-match interview and I wonder if he isn't a bit under the weather (or maybe he had to scream too much during the match).

I think early in the match he's made a few mistakes positioning himself as a CM and also in a few tackles, looking sort of clueless. But he quickly got used to the position and his contributions in the attack are incredible.

I hope to find a gif of that ball right in the midfield he received from Oscar. It was a tough pass he's received and he got rid of his man with one touch (I guess he nutmegged him) and then he passed quickly to Hazard or Eto'o (can't remember) and left said player in a 1v1 play, in front of Mignolet. There's a lot of quality in his pass, but I really want him to play as a CB. I hope he also finds his best form for us as a CB and we can rotate the three guys we have because we do have a lot of matches and we should protect Terry's body as much as possible, given his age and pronity to injuries.

[Korea 734]

eh, Luiz to me is too slow to play DM... However, Liverpool cms were pretty much canceled out by the front 3 pressing like dogs. (also allen going out and bringing in a 19 year old).....

BUt as mentioned above, at least he wont be the last line of defense if he does make mistakes....

[robsblubot 3,595]

His voice was very hoarse in that post-match interview and I wonder if he isn't a bit under the weather (or maybe he had to scream too much during the match).

I think early in the match he's made a few mistakes positioning himself as a CM and also in a few tackles, looking sort of clueless. But he quickly got used to the position and his contributions in the attack are incredible.

I hope to find a gif of that ball right in the midfield he received from Oscar. It was a tough pass he's received and he got rid of his man with one touch (I guess he nutmegged him) and then he passed quickly to Hazard or Eto'o (can't remember) and left said player in a 1v1 play, in front of Mignolet. There's a lot of quality in his pass, but I really want him to play as a CB. I hope he also finds his best form for us as a CB and we can rotate the three guys we have because we do have a lot of matches and we should protect Terry's body as much as possible, given his age and pronity to injuries.

Yeah he was probably having difficult breathing after all that unusual running..

eh, Luiz to me is too slow to play DM... However, Liverpool cms were pretty much canceled out by the front 3 pressing like dogs. (also allen going out and bringing in a 19 year old).....

BUt as mentioned above, at least he wont be the last line of defense if he does make mistakes....

Is Mikel any quicker? But yes, Luiz's a pacey defender and a slow but tall midfielder. Just remember he's been on a defender training schedule like forever.

This has been exactly my point all along: in a different system David would play very similarly as he did today, but from the back. However, in Mourinho's system, I do have my doubts whether Luiz can play as a CB.

Accommodating Luiz (or cashing out on him) is Jose's problem, not mine.