The deadline-day signing of David Luiz still seems like a strange bit of business from Chelsea, and he is still one of football’s most overrated players. However, manager Antonio Conte has implemented the perfect formation to make the most of his attributes and protect Chelsea from his weaknesses.
It was almost a given that Conte would revert to 3-4-3 at some point with this Chelsea team, having had such success with the formation with Juventus. In fact, it was surprising when Chelsea started the season with a 4-5-1 line-up.
Conte won three straight Serie A titles with Juve and he used a 3-4-3 system with the Italy national team, who impressed at Euro 2016 and only went out to Germany at the quarter-final stage on penalties.
With Juve and Italy he was able to field Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli for the majority of his games in charge as that back three.
All three are no-nonsense centre-backs. You would note their defensive ability ahead of any skill on the ball, although Bonucci’s sensational long pass to set up Italy’s opener against Belgium at Euro 2016 is an example of the all-round quality of the trio.
Conte has similar defenders at his disposal at Chelsea. He could, for example, play Kurt Zouma, John Terry and Gary Cahill, when they are all fit. Plenty of height, power and stability there.
However, the way Conte set his side out against Leicester City on Saturday was interesting, with Luiz playing centrally and Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta either side of him.
Even though he played there previously for Benfica, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil, Luiz is not great in a two-man centre-back pairing. He is often a liability. He loses position or concentration too frequently.
However, in a three-man defence, Luiz was protected. He played as the deepest of the three and was able to get plenty of time on the ball to start attacks. He almost played as an old fashioned sweeper, in the mould of the great Franz Beckenbauer.
Leicester played two strikers, which could have been problematic, but Luiz has the pace to mop up any danger. His reading of the game from such a deep position was spot on, too.
As a result, Luiz’s highlights from the 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge were two testing free kicks and his distribution.
There is no pretending that Conte had always planned to use Luiz in this formation – he would not have signed him at the last minute otherwise – but the Brazilian is a good fit nonetheless.
Some of his worst performances over the past few seasons have cost his sides dearly. The woeful display in the famous 7-1 World Cup semi-final drubbing by Germany is one example.
In April 2015, he was nutmegged on the halfway line by Luis Suarez as Barcelona won 3-1 in Paris in a Uefa Champions League quarter-final.
Hopefully for Chelsea, any similar mistakes will be covered by the extra bodies around him.
Of course, there are other factors that will make this 3-4-3 work, such as the quality of the two wide players and the freedom afforded to Eden Hazard. But Luiz looks ready made for this three-man Chelsea defence.
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