Pride of London debate: How will the David Luiz experiment play out?
David Luiz’s fans and detractors have had plenty of time to settle into the reality that the Brazilian is back at Chelsea. The Pride of London staff debates what Chelsea, Luiz and Antonio Conte must do to make this gamble pay off.
COBHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 31: David Luiz is unveiled as Chelsea’s new signing at Chelsea Training Ground on August 31, 2016 in Cobham, England. (Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
The dust has settled, some pounds have been transferred and the goofy photos have nearly broken the Internet. Like it, love it or not, David Luiz is a Blue again, and the focus needs to be on the future.
We gathered three Pride of London staffers to debate how the Luiz sequel must play out if Chelsea are to get their money’s worth, and raise some trophies along the way.
To what extent will Luiz reinforce the center of Chelsea’s backline, and how much time does he buy Chelsea before they have to face this problem head-on again?
Siva Sankar: Defenders should not be judged in isolation. Their effectiveness depends on the amount of space they are asked to cover and the number of players they are up against.
Last season, Chelsea asked defenders to cover ridiculous amounts of space. The defenders were often overloaded in 2-on-1 or, in Ivanovic’s case, 3-on-1 situations. The system failed them.
This season already Chelsea is seeing massive improvements. Chelsea are a lot more compact, more cohesive and much better organized. Antonio Conte will always demand that from his teams. As long as Chelsea have that going, they will be defensively a much better side than last season.
As for Luiz, I welcome his signing because he is going to offer a lot more penetration in possession and a proactive approach to defending. This is always high risk, high reward. Luiz’s failings are blown out of proportion by his early reputation. He broke the mold of the English game. Pundits and fans alike tried to and continue to judge him, and fit him into the mould of a typical English centre-back. David Luiz is not a typical English centre-back.
Luiz is not perfect defensively, but who is? His errors are more high profile than a more traditional defender, but that doesn’t mean he is a bad defender. He gambles and, mostly, he wins. His interception numbers are among the best in the world.
The coach and his teammates have to cover for him when he loses. Because when Luiz wins, we win the ball while the opposition defense is disoriented. Luiz then has the ability to pick out the pass that will create an opening.
As for the future, the return of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen more than covers. Luiz is the perfect signing for the transition.
Barrett Rouen: David Luiz simply does not reinforce Chelsea’s center. His likeability as a person masks a very limited footballer.
All his strengths are physical: speed, strength, and jumping ability. This has been the case since he was in his early 20s. The issue is that for a player who is turning 30 this season, he simply has not sufficiently progressed on the mental side of the game.
He is simply an older player who plays with the mentality of a teenager. He still reads the game poorly, his tactical awareness is terrible and his positioning even worse.
Comparing him to defenders like Leonardo Bonucci, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and David Silva is downright foolish. In their early years, all were similar in style to Luiz but have since rounded out their games mentally.
David Luiz’s lack of progress on the mental side is a true shame because of his natural gifts. A defender that is lacking mentally isn’t just a poor player but a liability and a weak link. Great defenders like John Terry lengthen their careers with smarts and tactical nous. Unfortunately Luiz is seemingly intent on shortening his.
Chelsea’s current problems will not fade Luiz’s arrival. He is a temporary bandage and nothing more. Fortunately Chelsea only need to hold out until Christensen returns and Zouma is healthy.
Luiz was a near-sighted, fan-placating move by a management team who sensed the mood around them. He’s well liked and will buy them more time. However, nothing changes in the long-term with his signing. He is physically talented, but at his age he’s just not put it all together. That is the real shame here.
Daniel Mcclue: Who’d have thought come the end of the transfer window we’d be discussing David Luiz re-signing for Chelsea?
£32 million is an awful lot to pay for Luiz.
The market has changed, even in the past two years. But, is he better value for money than Eric Bailly for Manchester United or Samuel Umtiti for Barcelona?
Luiz brings versatility to Chelsea. Marcos Alonso also brings versatility. The difference between the two is that Alonso plays well and is disciplined when swapping positions. When discussing the topic of Luiz’s position – centre-back or defensive-midfielder – is it because he is great in both positions or because he’s so ill-disciplined when playing CB?
Probably the latter. He seemed to be given the run out at CDM for Chelsea because the coaching staff were tired of seeing him run miles out of position.
Luiz is better than Gary Cahill, John Terry and Kurt Zouma in distributing the ball. He is far more capable of turning defence into attack than all the current centre-backs. He is adept at stepping up and making a tackle. Although this leads to errors, Zouma, in particular, should be able to cover. He can also play in a back three, like Marcos Alonso, should Antonio Conte shift the formation.
Luiz is 29, placing him towards the latter end of his prime, especially if he does not adapt his game to stop stepping up (as John Terry has done).
Chelsea’s hope is to play Luiz for the next three years, when Zouma and Christensen will be more than ready to take charge.
(Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
How will Antonio Conte need to manage David Luiz to ensure that Chelsea enjoys the versatility without surrendering on ill-discipline?
Siva Sankar: Conte believes he can coach his players to make good decisions. He does this by repetition. However, Luiz is a bit of a wild card, and no manager – including Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho – has managed to tame that.
However, neither Ancelotti nor Mourinho believe as much as Conte does in the Sacchian way. Conte should try to reinforce good playing habits from Luiz but also learn how to live with Luiz and cover for him in the short term.
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Conte has shown that flexibility already. Luiz’s presence means Conte could choose to go for a 4-2-4 with Luiz alongside N’Golo Kante in midfield. This would be more disciplined and solid, yet also retaining the ability to play it out quickly and switch the ball without needing to play Cesc Fabregas.
The thought of Luiz and Kante rampaging in midfield almost makes me feel sorry for opposition players. It would be a throwback to the Matic-Luiz partnership that worked so well for Mourinho.
Luiz offers Conte options he didn’t have a few days ago and hopefully Conte will be the making of Luiz. Both have a point to prove and that is always a great motivator.
Barrett Rouen: If there is one coach to get the best out of David Luiz, it is probably Antonio Conte. During Luiz’s last spell at the club he had a different manager in each of his four seasons. That is no way to build the sort of player-manager relationship that is necessary for improvement.
Calling David Luiz versatile is wrong because he isn’t really. He’s more a “jack of all trades and master of none.” He’s not a great defender because he plays more like a midfielder. He’s not a great midfielder because he thinks he’s a defender.
Conte will need to build a relationship and then reconfigure him from the ground up. The tragedy with David Luiz is that he has unbelievable potential that his mentality as a player and lack of discipline end up wasting. He should be better than Thiago Silva based on physical gifts but he lacks the mentality, fortitude and consistency of his compatriot.
Conte’s man-management ability has proven that he can truly transform a player. There’s plenty of reason to believe he can pull off this job.
Daniel Mcclue: There’s a delicate balance necessary for Luiz and there will be a lot of nail-biting at least until Kurt Zouma returns.
Bringing in Luiz means a higher chance of changing to a formation with three centre-backs. Luiz may not be as risky on the ball as when he first joined Chelsea, but it’s not something you can completely eradicate from his game.
For comparison, Conte has been outspoken about his desire for Diego Costa to stay central as Chelsea’s striker. In the first three games of the season this has not happened. If anything, he’s been extra annoying to Eden Hazard on the left.
Luiz needs a little bit of cover and a little bit of help, but he also needs to be allowed to roam forwards. Three at the back offers this space more than the current formation. There are two other centre-backs, plus the wing-back and one or two centre-midfielders to cover Luiz’s ventures.
Conte is another level to Laurant Blanc, Luiz’s former manager at PSG. If the Brazilian is going to listen and change for anyone, it’ll be Conte.
Chelsea’s Brazilian defender David Luiz (L) celebrates after Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League final football match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Chelsea FC on May 19, 2012 at the Fussball Arena stadium in Munich. (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GettyImages)
Where on the pitch, the bench or the world will we see David Luiz in the 2018/19 season, the last year of Antonio Conte’s current contract?
Siva Sankar: One of two scenarios is possible. Either Luiz blossoms into the world class centre-back he always promised to be, or he loses his spot to a more deserving candidate like Andreas Christensen. Chelsea are not going to be able to move him at his age and his wages.
That said, I believe Conte will want to harness Luiz’s ability to pick the ball up at the back and start attacks. If all goes well, Luiz may well prove to be a key figure for Conte on the pitch.
Barrett Rouen: For starters, Conte will have been recognized as the genius he is before then and had his contract extended.
Second, I agree with Siva. Luiz will either become the player he should already be at 29, in which case he’ll be a starting center-half and guiding force in the side.
If not, he will be on the bench watching Zouma and Christensen blossom into the best center-half partnership since Cannavaro and Thuram. He will be too old and expensive to move someplace else. If he’s not starting, he will be providing generous support from the bench.
Daniel Mcclue: By the time the 2018/19 season rolls around Conte would have built his team. Chelsea will be playing in a fluid 3-5-2 system, with Eden Hazard playing as a second striker. Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry will have long retired, leaving Luiz to centre the growing talent of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen.
At this point Luiz will have lost a step or two. His own limitations will force him to lay the ball off rather than plough through the middle. Meanwhile, Gary Cahill watches from the bench (or Huddersfield Town).
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