Chelsea ace David Luiz has discussed his manager’s decision to play him in midfield against Spurs on Sunday – a masterstroke that undoubtedly contributed to his side’s 2-1 victory over the north London side in their new Wembley home.
Luiz played superbly, giving the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli no time to influence the game due to his relentless display in midfield.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, Luiz candidly discussed the thought process behind the decision, shedding light on the behind-the-scenes management choices of Blues boss Antonio Conte.
Addressing his positional change, Luiz claimed: “I found out I was playing there at the beginning of the week. The boss was trying to make the best plan to play this game, and then I was trying to do my job.
“(My job was) to run! I was running a lot. I had to cover the space of fantastic players like Eriksen and Dele Alli. They always play very well between the lines so I was trying to close this gap and not leave space for them to create. I tried to do my best and it was good because we won in the end.
“‘The victory started in the second half of the first game against Burnley, because we did great then. It’s important to show character after a defeat. We had a great mentality, and great character especially as we didn’t start the league very well last week.”
“Playing against a fantastic team, fantastic players, we deserved to win.
“It was a clever game. You need to understand when you play against a very good team, sometimes you can keep more of the ball but sometimes you need to try to surprise them on the counter-attack with one touch. I think we did great in a clever way”.
Chelsea will go into their next match against Everton significantly more confident than they did against Spurs – given that they went into the game on the back of a humiliating 3-2 home defeat to Burnley.
The Blues will be looking to boost their midfield options ahead of the transfer window closing, but moving Luiz up the pitch on a permanent basis could be a shrewd move.
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