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Many eyebrows where raised when Chelsea re-signed Brazilian defender David Luiz from PSG last summer. The 30-year-old centre-back had showed plenty of ability during his initial period at Stamford Bridge but far too often his propensity for the erratic cost his team in vital moments.
Luiz would of course go on to emphatically disprove all of his critics during Chelsea’s march to the Premier League title last season. The Brazil international played at the heart of Chelsea’s three-man defence, putting in a series of commanding displays to finally put to bed the notion that he was a “PlayStation” defender, as Gary Neville once famously remarked.
Luiz’s talent had never been in doubt but with the new found maturity that he started to show under Antonio Conte, he was beginning to blossom into a genuinely world-class defender.
It was therefore somewhat alarming for Chelsea fans that during the early stages of this season, Luiz seemed to be slipping back into his unreliable ways again; notably his red card against Arsenal and the petulant penalty he conceded against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
It seems that these couple of instances where nothing more than a blip however and the ex-Benfica and PSG man is returning to top form.
Against Bournemouth this weekend he was at his imperious best. There was one occasion in the second-half when he picked up the ball close to his own corner flag. Most defenders would have been happy to knock the ball out for a throw in but not Luiz; who promptly played a one two with Antonio Rudiger and then whipped a wonderful 40-yard pass into the feet of Cesc Fabregas in central midfield to set his side on a swift counter-attack. In all honesty few players would have seen the pass let alone had the confidence to try to play and execute it with such accuracy.
As The Blues enter a defining few weeks in their season Antonio Conte will be delighted that Luiz, like many of his team-mates, seems to be hitting top-gear again after a sluggish start to the campaign.
Unfortunately for Chelsea their slow start to the season has been severely punished by Pep Guardiola’s electric Man City side who have already opened up a nine point gap between themselves and the reigning champions.
With this in mind, this coming weekend’s fixture against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United has become a must-win game for the Stamford Bridge club.
If Chelsea are to emerge victorious from this crucial encounter, Conte will need David Luiz to be at his brilliant best.
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