David Luiz back at Chelsea

[mojo]

49 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

A day after he makes yet another glaring error we give him a two year extension. 

I think that says we are worried we will be losing our appeal at CAS. Willian and Pedro will be next.

and then makes a crucial clearence, some headers and smashes a pen

[General]

What next Willian gets 2 years ?

daft decision his best years are behind him now, always a mistake in him - compare that to VanDijk a proper CB. should have been moved on & open up a spot for a younger CB

[icecoolguy22]

Considering United offered Jones/Smalling a new contract without an upcoming transfer ban, I'm ok with Luiz staying on. He's the only one left from that CL win , we don't have much experience and leadership in this team, he's filling that void in a way. He's never going to rid of the mistakes in his game, but we don't have much better options either within the squad.

[ozboy]

I’d be happy for luiz as a bench player, but he’s not up to a high enough standard  to win the premier. Too many mistakes , and not enough pace. 

[ducavis]

1 hour ago, ozboy said:

I’d be happy for luiz as a bench player, but he’s not up to a high enough standard  to win the premier. Too many mistakes , and not enough pace. 

And there lies the problem. Fans seem to forget he is 32yrs already.

[evissy]

Lot you guys don't give enough credit to Luiz. If he wasn't such a good player with the ball we wouldn't be able to play the football we play. Cahill played 3 minutes the whole season just because he can't hold the ball and play football with it. Defending man to man Cahill is constantly better but the idea is to break from the back, win it early if we lose it and basically be with the ball. Cahill doesn't want the ball because he is unable to do anything with it. Luiz can do basically everything with the ball. This is why he is commanding the backline. 

He should lose the brainfarts but I think he will carry on with them. It is his nature. Glad we have Rudiger to help him. 

Our backline of Azpi, Rudiger, Luiz and Emerson isn't all that bad. Not our problem and no need to fix it. Our midfield and striker is the problem. 

 

[evissy]

3 hours ago, ozboy said:

I’d be happy for luiz as a bench player, but he’s not up to a high enough standard  to win the premier. Too many mistakes , and not enough pace. 

He won the Premier League under Conte and was in the team of the year 2016/2017 alongside Cahill. Our setup was much more defensive and Luiz was excellent in that role as well. This is 2 seasons ago. 

[Spiller86]

13 hours ago, mojo said:

and then makes a crucial clearence, some headers and smashes a pen

Wouldn't have needed to do any of that if he had not been ball watching and let Jovic score.

[Ernie_blue]

5 hours ago, evissy said:

Lot you guys don't give enough credit to Luiz. If he wasn't such a good player with the ball we wouldn't be able to play the football we play. Cahill played 3 minutes the whole season just because he can't hold the ball and play football with it. Defending man to man Cahill is constantly better but the idea is to break from the back, win it early if we lose it and basically be with the ball. Cahill doesn't want the ball because he is unable to do anything with it. Luiz can do basically everything with the ball. This is why he is commanding the backline. 

He should lose the brainfarts but I think he will carry on with them. It is his nature. Glad we have Rudiger to help him. 

Our backline of Azpi, Rudiger, Luiz and Emerson isn't all that bad. Not our problem and no need to fix it. Our midfield and striker is the problem. 

 

Is the football we play really that great though? We don't play good football. I would rather have a defender who can defend than a ball playing defender.

[ozboy]

5 hours ago, evissy said:

He won the Premier League under Conte and was in the team of the year 2016/2017 alongside Cahill. Our setup was much more defensive and Luiz was excellent in that role as well. This is 2 seasons ago. 

That’s true. In a back five he was effective, but he gets exposed more in a back 4 and next season it’s 3 years later. Anyway. 

[CFCCAN]

12 hours ago, General said:

What next Willian gets 2 years ?

daft decision his best years are behind him now, always a mistake in him - compare that to VanDijk a proper CB. should have been moved on & open up a spot for a younger CB

Agree, should have let him go unless he's only going to be playing in the CL games and cup games, youngsters need to come through the system regardless of the transfer ban; we have approx 40 players on loan all of which will be coming back for pre-season, surely among them are players that are good enough to be brought into the team Kurt being one option surely; he's had a decent season at Everton. 

[evissy]

32 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Is the football we play really that great though? We don't play good football. I would rather have a defender who can defend than a ball playing defender.

I'm not saying it is great or bad but it is the way we play as long as Sarri is at helm.

For me it is astonishing that people don't see Luiz' strenghts with the ball and how crucial it is for our football. His mentality towards the club and football is excellent. His problem which is a big problem is his lack of concentration for full 90 mins. 

Watch today how much space and time he always has with the ball. It is because opponent knows that he can play it. Watch it when Andreas has it. It is all jitters and hesitation... Leicester probably wont press high so not sure today is the day to assess this...

Rudiger is a good combination of ball playing skill and defending-ability. Great player for us. 

[mojo]

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Wouldn't have needed to do any of that if he had not been ball watching and let Jovic score.

yeah you've said it already

[Spiller86]

6 hours ago, mojo said:

yeah you've said it already

Was worthwhile repeating 

[Scott Harris]

11 hours ago, evissy said:

I'm not saying it is great or bad but it is the way we play as long as Sarri is at helm.

For me it is astonishing that people don't see Luiz' strenghts with the ball and how crucial it is for our football. His mentality towards the club and football is excellent. His problem which is a big problem is his lack of concentration for full 90 mins. 

Watch today how much space and time he always has with the ball. It is because opponent knows that he can play it. Watch it when Andreas has it. It is all jitters and hesitation... Leicester probably wont press high so not sure today is the day to assess this...

Rudiger is a good combination of ball playing skill and defending-ability. Great player for us. 

This is why I say that Zouma will never make it at Chelsea as long as we are this team that will require defenders to pass the ball comfortably. He's the complete opposite type of defender to Luiz. 

I don't think Luiz spot should be guaranteed though. We need a balance, and for me, Luiz isn't giving us the balance we need right now. Rudiger is bit more balanced, he is both a good defender and passer of the ball.

I think you are spot on with Christensen too, like you say, it's all jitters and hesitation. I personally think this a confidence issue though, because I don't remember it being much of an issue before he was making mistakes.

[TheChelseaBlues]

Good stuff from David. 

 

On his desire to play in the Champions League final in 2012:

"I said to [Jason Palmer, Chelsea physio, who was trying to get the hamstring working]," Luiz recalls in hushed tones. "?‘You know how I worked hard in my life to be here? You know when I left my family I was 14-years-old? You know tomorrow there are 200?million Brazilians in the world and just one can be on the pitch? You know what it is for my life to be here? Then it's not for you to say something, to say I cannot play tomorrow. I will do the test but even if I fail you go to [the then manager Roberto] Di Matteo and say to him that I play tomorrow.'

"He said ‘no'. I said: ‘You go there and you say to him, if not, I kill you. And tomorrow we will be champions of Europe, no problem. Trust me.' And he did. Di Matteo came to my room and I said: ‘No problem boss, I play tomorrow and let's be champions of Europe.'?"

On telling Roman to calm his farm:

"I went to the hotel lounge and Abramovich was there and he said: ‘How are you, how is the leg?'?" Luiz recalls. "And I said: ‘No problem. Tomorrow I play with the head and the heart, so no problem.' And he said: ‘No, my God, I'm nervous,' and I'm like, ‘keep calm'."

On getting into Bastian Schweinsteiger's head:

"All the time I was saying it [that  we are going to win]. At the corner kick [Bastian] Schweinsteiger came to me to mark me and I said: ‘No problem, it's not me who will score.' And Didier scored. And Schweinsteiger looked at me as if to say ‘what the?' "

[chiefBlueCFC]

13 minutes ago, TheChelseaBlues said:

Good stuff from David. 

 

On his desire to play in the Champions League final in 2012:

"I said to [Jason Palmer, Chelsea physio, who was trying to get the hamstring working]," Luiz recalls in hushed tones. "?‘You know how I worked hard in my life to be here? You know when I left my family I was 14-years-old? You know tomorrow there are 200?million Brazilians in the world and just one can be on the pitch? You know what it is for my life to be here? Then it's not for you to say something, to say I cannot play tomorrow. I will do the test but even if I fail you go to [the then manager Roberto] Di Matteo and say to him that I play tomorrow.'

"He said ‘no'. I said: ‘You go there and you say to him, if not, I kill you. And tomorrow we will be champions of Europe, no problem. Trust me.' And he did. Di Matteo came to my room and I said: ‘No problem boss, I play tomorrow and let's be champions of Europe.'?"

On telling Roman to calm his farm:

"I went to the hotel lounge and Abramovich was there and he said: ‘How are you, how is the leg?'?" Luiz recalls. "And I said: ‘No problem. Tomorrow I play with the head and the heart, so no problem.' And he said: ‘No, my God, I'm nervous,' and I'm like, ‘keep calm'."

On getting into Bastian Schweinsteiger's head:

"All the time I was saying it [that  we are going to win]. At the corner kick [Bastian] Schweinsteiger came to me to mark me and I said: ‘No problem, it's not me who will score.' And Didier scored. And Schweinsteiger looked at me as if to say ‘what the?' "

I mean seriously, how can you not absolutely love this geezer?!

[TheChelseaBlues]

Threatening to kill the physio if he doesn't clear him is top notch. 

[just]

Fascanating insight into his close relationship with Roman. Anything on his relationship with Conte or Mourinho?

No problem.

[Spiller86]

15 hours ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

I mean seriously, how can you not absolutely love this geezer?!

Because he's a poor defender and undermined Conte.

 

[Ukraine Bolt]

4 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Because he's a poor defender and undermined Conte.

 

Please elaborate?

[kiwi1691]

13 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Because he's a poor defender and undermined Conte.

 

Rubbish, he is a very good defender. The media love to focus on him anytime he makes a mistake, to build a false perception he is a poor defender, but all defenders make mistakes. 

[Spiller86]

1 hour ago, kiwi1691 said:

Rubbish, he is a very good defender. The media love to focus on him anytime he makes a mistake, to build a false perception he is a poor defender, but all defenders make mistakes. 

Look I know we like to back our own, but that is patently not true. Media and their rubbish aside he has limited awareness and concentration. Watch the Jovic goal at Stamford Bridge. Perfect example. Good reason Jose picked Cahill over him and was happy to let him go to PSG.

Truth is he has the best passing range of any defender in the world, for some that excuses his flaws. Not for me though.

[just]

2 hours ago, kiwi1691 said:

Rubbish, he is a very good defender. The media love to focus on him anytime he makes a mistake, to build a false perception he is a poor defender, but all defenders make mistakes. 

 After years of watching Luiz very carefully I have to agree.

People also used to ridicule Phil Neville but he was a very good defender too. Yes, he used to make mistakes, and often. Some of them were very funny. But the fact he could also have good games proves he was obviously a very good defender. He was an international. Like Luiz. Both very, very good defenders. Despite the mistakes.

 

[Ernie_blue]

20 minutes ago, just said:

 After years of watching Luiz very carefully I have to agree.

People also used to ridicule Phil Neville but he was a very good defender too. Yes, he used to make mistakes, and often. Some of them were very funny. But the fact he could also have good games proves he was obviously a very good defender. He was an international. Like Luiz. Both very, very good defenders. Despite the mistakes.

 

I don't really remember Phil Neville getting ridiculed, I remember he use to play in a few positions and always against Chelsea man marking Zola. 

My own opinion of Luiz is you take away the passing and you have a good defender, in a back 4 I cant see him being good enough over a season to win the league, his very similar to Leboeuf, brilliant in a back 3.