Chelsea defender David Luiz is Mr Reliable and is proving he was a bargain at £32million
SunSport columnist explains how Blues star has firmly lost 'PlayStation' tag given to him by Gary Neville
EVERYONE said it when David Luiz returned to the Premier League: What were Chelsea doing?
Well, he has proven to be a fantastic signing. A snip, actually. A bargain... even at £32million.
In his first spell, the quality of Luiz’s defending was overlooked because of high-profile mistakes.
In one-on-ones he could be too gung-ho, too erratic. He took more risks than he should have, which led to Gary Neville’s PlayStation comment.
My first thought when Luiz rejoined Chelsea was: Antonio Conte is going to play a back three.
That is what he did with Juventus and Italy and the defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal were a blessing in disguise because they allowed him to make the change sooner.
The system suits Luiz — and Chelsea — very well. Conte has obviously done a lot of work on the team’s set up.
At West Ham, no player was ever isolated. They attack and defend together as a unit.
In a back three, playing like a sweeper, Luiz has less responsibility AND more insurance because he has two other defenders around him.
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Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta can also go man-for-man on the opposition centre-forward, and the No 10 if they want, knowing Luiz will be in that space behind if they get done.
Teams sit back against Chelsea, often playing only one up front, leaving Luiz able to step out of the defence. His distribution has always been very good.
Remember, players mature as well and Luiz seems to see himself as a defender first these days.
The other bits are a bonus.