Forget It Conte: Why This Brazilian Should Not Be The First Choice Player For Chelsea?

David Luiz was brought in as Chelsea’s last-ditch attempt to strengthen the squad in the central defensive position this summer. Antonio Conte was very keen on bringing in a central defender especially with John Terry ageing and no real options to Gary Cahill. Luiz was a surprise arrival given that he was sold only two years ago for a world-record fee – for a defender – of £50 million. Bringing him back for £30 million seemed like good business, but he certainly will not fit under a Conte team and it was clearly visible in the defeat against Liverpool.

Luiz was making his second debut for Chelsea and he suffered the same home defeat against Liverpool as in the first instance. Liverpool’s two goals came in the first half and it was a case of zero leadership or concentration at the back. Luiz and Cahill forgot to do their roles in a set piece situation and it allowed Dejan Lovren to have a free hit at the goal. Sitting too deep meant that the defence was to blame a little for the wonder goal scored by Jordan Henderson.

Cahill did make the error that led to Henderson directly scoring with a long-range effort, but the question once again raised was: would John Terry have allowed his defence to sit that deep with his team trailing?

Luiz did bring his trademark passing accuracy to the game, although this was limited only to short passes. He had a passing accuracy of 91.5%, but he was at his best in terms of making clearances. The Brazilian made a whopping six clearances in the 90 minutes, but he could come away with only two successful tackles. After the match, Conte was least pleased with his player’s lapse in concentration. He would have especially been livid with his defenders for failing to keep track of Lovren.

Even under Terry’s captainship, Chelsea’s defence committed a fare fewer mistakes but not to the extent of the goals conceded against Liverpool. Both goals were extremely poor ones to concede in any walk of the game and it is especially disappointing considering that Luiz cost £30 million.

Even in his first spell, Luiz was not exactly the byword when it comes to rock solid defending. However, he provided an attacking threat from central defence that was matched by few. Is he losing his attacking instinct in pursuit of defensive solidarity but coming away with neither? He should definitely not be a starting line-up contender under Conte once John Terry is back on.