ANALYSIS: As part of a special series examining the form of this summers major signings, Goal takes a look at the Brazil international following his move to Paris THE DEAL Fewer than 24 hours after Brazil kicked off their ill-fated World Cup campaign with a 3-1 victory over Croatia, Paris Saint-Germain unveiled their latest big-money addition in the form of David Luiz. And the deal was a monster: the reported fee of €60 million agreed with Chelsea for the 27-year-old was the biggest ever deal for any defender. Timing was everything. PSG, at this point, had not appreciated the severity of the FFP punishments they had been handed and Luiz was yet to turn in the kind of calamitous displays against Germany and Netherlands that would have serious questions raised over the money the Parisians had spent on him. THE STORY SO FAR David Luiz has been forced to settle quickly into the heart of a defence without regular international team-mate Thiago Silva, who has been injured since early August. Instead, he has formed a partnership with Marquinhos that has looked very promising. While the centre-back has shown fewer of the dramatic lapses of concentration that plagued the latter stages of his World Cup, he has not been aided by a sense of complacency that has undermined the performances of his side. Particularly late on in games, PSG have been guilty of dropping deep and looking rather panicked. Luiz has done little to alleviate such problems with his unique laid-back approach. On the whole, though, his first two months in Paris have shown promise. In the famous 3-2 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League – achieved without Thiago Silva or Zlatan Ibrahimovic – the former Benfica man was studied in the heart of the defence and even scored his first goal for the club. This was unquestionably his best performance for Laurent Blancs men, though it was swiftly followed by arguably his worst in a 1-1 draw with Monaco, emphasising the unpredictable nature of the enigmatic defender. THE FUTURE Moments of brilliance are always likely to be interspersed with bouts of uncertainty in the Brazil defenders game, which means that simply hanging on to a starting berth in PSGs back four has to be the aim. Thiago Silva is due to return from injury shortly and is likely to be installed as the clubs first choice in the role, leaving Luiz and the rapidly-improving Marquinhos to duel for the other berth. He is not a defender. The fact that Jose Mourinho put him in midfield at Chelsea is an indication that he wasnt convinced by his defensive ability, Franck Leboeuf toldRMCin July. The problem became quite obvious at the World Cup. He was playing up front rather than in defence after just three minutes of play in the semi-final against Germany. Thats the thing that scares me.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 19:51:19 +0000
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