"He
is special for you, not for me,” said David Luiz, when asked about Chelsea
boss Jose Mourinho ahead of the second leg of the Champions League tie
between the Blues and the defender’s new employers, PSG.
The 27-year-old could be forgiven for feeling he has a point to prove.
Luiz became somewhat of a cult figure in West London but, often criticised
for erratic defending, Mourinho was clearly not wholly convinced by Luiz's
ability and sold him to French giants PSG for £50m in June 2014.
Ahead of Luiz’s return to Stamford Bridge, WhoScored.com take a look at the
statistics to analyse the Brazilian's start to life in Paris - and the role
that he is likely to play on Wednesday night.
It's fair to say that Luiz should receive a warm welcome on his return to
Stamford Bridge, having captured the hearts of the majority of Chelsea fans.
However, the home support will certainly be cautious of the threat that he
carries - which seems a strange thing to say of a centre-back. Then again,
David Luiz isn't your typical centre-back.
Mourinho toyed with the idea of fielding the Brazil international in a deep
midfield role - a position he has shown he has no qualms in asking defenders
to fill before or since - though it seemed the Portuguese remained
unconvinced.
However, when Luiz adopted that position for PSG in the first leg of the
Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea, ‘convincing’ would be the one
word to describe his display in the 1-1 draw.
The former Chelsea man dictated the play against his old club, managing more
touches than any other player on the night (99) and showing an impressive
range of passing, completing 94.4% of his overall attempts, including 10 out
of 11 long balls.
That was only the second time PSG boss Laurent Blanc has opted to push Luiz
further forward in either Ligue 1 or Champions League fixtures this season.
However, his rating from WhoScored.com from those two games stands at an
impressive 7.53 and, while it's a small sample size, his characteristics
suggest he is well suited to a role in midfield.
Few have ever questioned Luiz's technical ability, evident again at the
weekend as he dispatched a 30-yard free-kick against Lens, netting for the
second game running.
According to WhoScored.com's statistically calculated player
characteristics, Luiz is indeed strong when it comes to both 'long shots'
and 'direct free-kicks', along with ‘passing’. His styles of play, compared
against those that have featured in similar roles, highlight that he 'likes
to dribble' and 'likes to shoot from distance'.
However they also flag up those concerns over his defensive capabilities,
indicating that he 'commits fouls often' despite not diving into tackles.
Comparing his average of 1.1 fouls per game with centre-back teammates and
compatriots Thiago Silva and Marquinhos, who have each averaged 0.4 in Ligue
1, clearly signals an issue with the timing of Luiz's tackles.
An average of 1.9 tackles per game is some way up on his final season at
Chelsea (1.2) but considerably less than the aforementioned Silva (2.7), who
is whistled far less often. With a sole weakness of 'tackling' in turn,
don't be surprised if Luiz sees more action in midfield before too long.
If he's fielded there again against his old employers, could the script be
written for another Luiz screamer from distance to break the hearts that he
stole during his time at the Bridge?
Watch Chelsea v PSG live on Sky Sports 5 HD from 7pm on Wednesday.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more
stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You
can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with the
new free-to-downloadWhoScored iOS app
top