What must David Luiz do to make himself a part of Jose Mourinho's plans?

David Luiz

“A team and a defensive player need stability. With the talent Luiz has I hope he can reach that. Sometimes he makes a little mistake, and he has to work on that stability because it is important for him and it is important for the team.

The team needs him and, yes, he has what it takes to be a really top, top defender in the world. Now he has to reach that stability and maturity. It is important for every player to know the principles of their play, to know what we do facing certain situations and for defenders to understand each other and complement each other.”

The above words were spoken by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho on talented yet eccentric defender David Luiz. The Brazilian, who is clearly held in high regard by his manager, has found himself somewhat on the fringes of first-team action this season, with John Terry and Gary Cahill forming a strong partnership in the heart of the defence.

Luiz has played a couple of games in midfield recently (at home vs. Liverpool and away vs. Hull City) but one could pin that down to the fact that Mourinho has been missing a few key players at times. However, with the signing of Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic looking extremely likely, Luiz will find it even harder to find a spot in the starting XI. So what can the Brazilian defender do to get himself more playing time?

Luiz’s talent, as Mourinho rightly said, has never been in doubt. He has plenty of natural ability on the ball and can choose to either carry the ball out of defence or make a long pass that can open up opposition defences or even start attacks from the back.

His defending, when he is on form, is also excellent as he has a brilliant reading of the game that enables him to anticipate opposition attacks and end them before they become dangerous. That being said, he has his flaws.

Consistency has been a major problem with Luiz since he arrived at Chelsea. He can be very good one game and extremely bad the next. His error-prone and hare-brained style of defending led to Gary Neville saying that he plays as though “controlled by a 10-year-old on a Playstation”.

Although Neville later admitted that he shouldn’t have used such harsh words, one can’t necessarily deny the accuracy of what he said.

Despite what many pundits and fans think, he’s best used as a ball-playing centre-back and not a defensive midfielder. Given his defensive capabilities and passing range, one would think he’d be very well-used in midfield. However, he is the type of player who requires time to make the right pass.

Time is something he won’t get in midfield, therefore he won’t be able to fully use his passing ability. Coming out from the back, he has plenty of time on his hands and can easily choose the right pass. Hence his talents will be best put to use as a centre-back.

At the moment, all Luiz can do is work hard in training in order to convince Mourinho that he is indeed good enough to warrant a few starts. He must also look to improve a few aspects of his game and show some consistency in his performances.

He won’t be sold (Mourinho and the Chelsea board aren’t that stupid) so he has to make the best of his current situation and just work harder. He won’t be a bench player forever.