DAVID LUIZ: Soccer/Football Friend or Foe?

David Luiz has been the talk of the soccer/football world this past week for a number of reasons one may need a flow chart to figure out… I’ll run down a few.

LUIZ BEAT 2 REDS, UNITED & THE CARD

Many United fans, not including myself, have placed square blame, and/or excuse for Tuesday’s loss on the shoulders of David Luiz. Luiz received a yellow card early in the game, however after 2 harsh tackles on Chicharito and Rooney in the final quarter of the game, he failed to receive a second (to be sent off) much to the displeasure of anyone waving a United banner. The argument stems from the fact that shortly after, two events occurred. The first was a penalty being given after Chris Smalling gave a fairly lite foul on a Chelsea player in the box. This eventually led to Chelsea moving ahead 2-1 and eventually gaining the win. The second was the foul Nemanja Vidic committed on the fringe of the box against a separate Chelsea player. The argument is that, if these players received respective challenges, why didn’t Luiz receive the red card? The answer is a tough one, even for a Manchester United fan, because both United offensive occurred under specific circumstances. The penalty, regardless if you agreed with it or not, or considered to be a penalty worthy offense, occurred inside the box which Chris Smalling Never should have done. The Vidic challenge was perhaps the most unruly in punishment, however, his inspiration was clear. Prior to receiving the red card, he pulled down Didier Drogba immediately as he began to clear past him which could have been a second yellow. His next offense was just a glimmer later, and even though it wasn’t THAT bad of a challenge, it occurred out of shear frustration, something he was warned about just minutes, if not seconds earlier.

With this being the case, at best United could have pulled out the draw, but bottom line is the reds were frustrated and blanked, which ended in a bad second half performance.

LUIZ’S PHYSICAL PLAY. TOO MUCH?

Luiz has the sort of aggression and tenacity of a headhunter, or assassin. His play and athleticism was absolutely uncanny and his physical play sent a message, not only to United, but the league as well. Yes, many of his fouls were eager and possibly overtly harmful, but you know what… perhaps the sport needs some hard nosed individual in the game. The problem is that at United, defenders like Vidic, and Ferdinand defend with precision and technicality, similarly in the way that a player like Lionel Messi plays forward. However, the forward world also has room for simple power and presence to move balls into nets, similar to Rooney’s style of shot (see goal at Chelsea or Man City for example). This is the type of defender David Luiz is. Luiz doesn’t necessarily need to win every ball to be a successful defender, he just needs to get in your face and want to go nowhere near him. If he gets sent off, he gets sent off. But, for the rest of the game, every player on the opposite team has possibly been too battered and bruised to continue in good form. Here’s to David Luiz, a bastard in blue, but the future of premier league, elite level defenders.