David Luiz - The defensive midfielder

There’s no doubt that David Luiz wowed us in the defensive midfield position against Monterrey, he was spraying balls forward at will and provided us with a directness that we have thus far severely lacked from our deep midfield.

He looked very composed playing further forward, his runs were powerful and effective, his long passing was very good, his close control was impressive and overall, he honestly looked like he was made to play in that position.

Defensively he did well, it is much easier for him to steal the ball from in front of the player when he is playing in central midfield – and we all know he loves to do that. He switched off 1 or 2 times, but it didn’t lead to a goal, let’s not forget it is still the same David Luiz who is prone to losing concentration at least once in a game.

The only problem with judging his performance in central midfield after this one game is that he wasn’t pressured much (if at all) during the match. He had loads of time on the ball to make his decisions and plenty of space in front of him to move into. The question is can he put in another performance like this against better opposition who won’t give him time or space?

If you didn’t see his outstanding performance, here is a highlight reel (put together by RouteOneComps);

The Mikel-Luiz partnership looked good, with both being big and strong players with solid defensive capabilities, I really think this could be a successful midfield duo in the future. Mikel was obviously the player with the full defensive shackles, while Luiz had more of a licence to get forward and support the attack if he deemed it necessary, which he did well.

So Chelsea fans, what did you think about David Luiz’ performance in the centre of midfield?

& who do you think would be his best midfield partner?

Article by Martin Smith

Follow me on twitter @MartinSmithCFC

Carefree & KTBFFH!