DAVID LUIZ
Defendiest defender David Luiz returned to Chelsea on the
last day of the summer transfer window, quickly turning into an integral cog of
our defensive plans, especially after switching to a 3-4-3 formation.
As the
anchor of the three-man backline, David Luiz is not only able to use his
aggression and anticipation to protect our goal, but can take full advantage of
his excellent long-passing abilities to initiate attacks from deep and
transition the ball from defence to midfield.
In the 4-0 win over Manchester United, Luiz's long-range
passing wasn't as sharp as usual — he was barely involved in our passing, in
fact, with fewer touches than any player who played the whole game, other than
David de Gea — but it was still a solid outing from him. (Well, other than that
somewhat reckless studs-first challenge into Fellaini’s knee, but shhhh...)
"I'm
happy for the team's effort. Whether or not we get a clean sheet, our objective
is always to win. When the back line does their job well, we give more chances
for the men upfront to score goals."
"But I like to say that defenders are also attackers, since they
begin the pressing; they work really hard. So the win is from all the team. And
the merit in not suffering a goal is from the whole team as well, not only the
defenders."
Since the shift in tactics from the usual four-man defensive
line to a tactic with three central defenders, Chelsea have collected three
consecutive wins in mostly dominant fashion. Of course, the real hard work will
be to keep this streak going.
"I
think the set-up is dependent on the game plan. For the opponents we've met
thus far, the game has been executed quite well. But independently of the
system, we have to be always aware of what we will do on the pitch."
"What we try to do is to always come up with the best game plan,
so we can win the game. The games go on with opportunities to score goals, so I
think we knew how to use these opportunities at the right time and the score
doesn't matter as long as we take three points home."
"Now we have to keep our
feet on the ground, with humility since the road is long."
When asked to address the latest controversy regarding José Mourinho,
David Luiz decided to speak about Antonio Conte instead and the happy vibe
throughout the Chelsea camp.
"I
have nothing to say about [José] Mourinho. I'd rather speak about [Antonio]
Conte."
"And Conte is quite happy. He did a great job this week. He knew
how to pass us the information in regards to this game, so we could enter the
pitch well aware of what we needed to do."
"So I'm happy for his work this week, and also happy since we
could play our roles with excellence during the match."
David Luiz might be in for a day off after six consecutive
starts as Chelsea head across London to play West Ham in the League Cup on
Wednesday. But he will no doubt be back for the weekend,
anchoring the backline
once again as we take on Southampton.
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