David Luiz is better suited to midfield. Fans know that, pundits know that, and now, Rafa Benitez knows that.“When we have more bodies and options at centre-back, it will be easier to use him in midfield” stated Benitez last week.
Of course, with the indefinite injury to John Terry, who may well be out for the whole Christmas schedule, it is unrealistic to ask Luiz to play midfield week-in-week-out, as that would mean switching Ivanovic to the centre to partner Cahill, with no reserve.
Rafa Benitez has confirmed that he wants any January deals done promptly, but with the Russian billionaire in charge usually deciding which deals he wants first, Rafa may have to watch and wait whilst Roman shadows Falcao and Willian around the world for a few weeks.
The real issue is in the centre-back role, with John Terry on the treatment bench, and not going to last forever anyway, it is time to turn to a centre-back to shore us up at the back for the next few years.
The problem may be that we don’t score goals consistently, but it’s a simple fact that we already have the players to score them. Torres has started an upturn in form, Hazard is yet to reach the peak of the start of the season, and Juan Mata is as consistent as always. We could well go out and spend anywhere from £20-£50m on a striker, but I personally don’t think that is the long-term solution.
David Luiz showed in patches what he can do from that midfield role, and if he is created as that lynchpin from defence to attack, then we will start to see teams torn apart. We have already seen flashes of his brilliance there, so it’s time to dig deep for a centre-back, and allow David Luiz a full-time role there.
Luiz has now played in that role in the last two games, the 8-0 demolition of Aston Villa, and a very impressive 1-0 victory away at Norwich. I don’t think its any coincidence that both of these clean sheets have been with Luiz out of the back four. We have had a great start to the Christmas schedule, and now its time to build on that, and decrease the gap even further on the top two.
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By Brad Smith
Follow @BrummieBrad