The Douglas Luiz Thread | Page 35 | Vital Football

The Douglas Luiz Thread

During the rest of this season and during the summer I'd have Luiz training with the central defenders half of the week and the rest of the time I'd have him practising passing and shooting.
 
At this point in time, if he is good enough for the Brazilian national team, I think he is probably good enough for us.
Yes, pretty sure he didn't give away a penalty on his 23 birthday for the fun of it , just a bit too enthusiastic to win the ball.
Against united we have some sort of hoodoo self destruct button operated by someone up there.

The thing is with Dougie is he's a very good player, probably our next most skilful to Jack, he does Brazilian things . Some of his touches are sublime and some are the other side of the brazil game, niggly fouls. I don't think one comes without the other. It's how they play.

I think we are grooming him nicely so that just as he hits 25, he'll be off to a glamour club and we'll all be moaning
 
Luiz is one of those players better analysed in the flesh. The TV camera only shows 20-30% of the pitch, to appreciate Luiz you need to see the bigger picture.

He’s not on form, I also don’t think he’s had a great season given where I thought he be.

But talk of wanting to see a Brazilian international cashed in to bring a 32 player in who moves slower than an oil tanker on the horizon, just seems extreme to me.

What we need is more quality in the midfield with at least one additional top winger to start and also one, if not two, improvements in central midfield with him.
 
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I think some people's ideas of deep-lying midfielders are a bit outdated. They don't need to be big, or mean, or be able to put in a "reducer" at the start of a game. They need good anticipation, positional sense and (crucially for Luiz) know when the limited times they need put in a tackle are. He's got the first two and the third gets better with experience.
 
Still cheating for me, Luiz didn't even really have a foot in - the contact between both thighs was minimal at best and it's not even a weight thing as Pogba isn't a dwarf.
I think 1958Villan is right, he collapses his knee from behind.
I cant defend Dougie, because we all knew it was coming, its always him giving away the free kicks in stupid positions, and he must be a bit on the thick side , because he doesnt seem to learn, then stands there with his hands outstretched and a gaumless look on his face.
Just dont do it and you dont keep giving away fouls in dangerous areas of the pitch.
Foul em on the halfway line.
 
I agree with Platypus that deep lying midfielders don’t necessarily need to be big, think of Kante, Ndidi and Mak.....,(the one who played for Chelsea.). They don’t need to be thugs but they do need a sense of anticipation, a nose for danger and an ability to nick the ball away without committing needless fouls. In our our case a bit of height wouldn’t come amiss when it comes to defending corners etc. How many times have we seen McGinn, Luiz etc marking 6 foot players in our area?
 
We're definitely lacking height throughout the team. Hoping Sanson hitting the right levels next season will help, plus if we could get a skillful no.10 who's also 6ft plus would be a boon at both ends of the pitch.
 
I agree with Platypus that deep lying midfielders don’t necessarily need to be big, think of Kante, Ndidi and Mak.....,(the one who played for Chelsea.). They don’t need to be thugs but they do need a sense of anticipation, a nose for danger and an ability to nick the ball away without committing needless fouls. In our our case a bit of height wouldn’t come amiss when it comes to defending corners etc. How many times have we seen McGinn, Luiz etc marking 6 foot players in our area?
Makelele and Mascherano are good role models for Doug - squat and compact
 
I thought he was fine against Everton and you could see he was determined to make it that way as well.

Covered the pitch and did it for 90 minutes. A big reason why Everton didn't get going. I've seen games where he's totally frustrating, but in that Everton game he was fine, even though the game as a whole was crap.
 
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I think some people's ideas of deep-lying midfielders are a bit outdated. They don't need to be big, or mean, or be able to put in a "reducer" at the start of a game. They need good anticipation, positional sense and (crucially for Luiz) know when the limited times they need put in a tackle are. He's got the first two and the third gets better with experience.
Spot on platypus. Somewhat dated for sure (although the best number six we've had in living memory wasn't known as hard man - step forward Sir Dennis of Mortimer).
There are many different types of midfield player, some that get stuck in, some that read the game well, some that have limitless energy, some that have a great range of passing, some can get into the box at the right time to score. Not many have it all.
The number six role is a very under-rated/misunderstood position, particularly by those whose main viewing point is through a televised angle. Petrov was never really seen as a legend until after he was out of the team and we went to :poop: in his absence. Loads of unseen and off-the-ball work to close space, track runners, provide a passing option from defenders etc etc. All of which comes with experience, and at 23 (just) Dougie has time on his side....
 
Spot on platypus. Somewhat dated for sure (although the best number six we've had in living memory wasn't known as hard man - step forward Sir Dennis of Mortimer).
There are many different types of midfield player, some that get stuck in, some that read the game well, some that have limitless energy, some that have a great range of passing, some can get into the box at the right time to score. Not many have it all.
The number six role is a very under-rated/misunderstood position, particularly by those whose main viewing point is through a televised angle. Petrov was never really seen as a legend until after he was out of the team and we went to :poop: in his absence. Loads of unseen and off-the-ball work to close space, track runners, provide a passing option from defenders etc etc. All of which comes with experience, and at 23 (just) Dougie has time on his side....

The way he struts his stuff reminds me of Morty, Dougy has one fault he forgets those around him are not Brazilian when he does his Brazilian things.
Against Everton, Martinez played the ball to him on the edge of the area he drew 3 Everton players, I was screaming man on at the tv and he just casual flicked it out to Targett like it was a kick about in the park. He'll have the ball anywhere on the pitch and play it out just like Jack.
Come on lads FFS we've gone from Jedi, Lansbury Whelan and Hourihane to a fully-fledged Brazilian international and some think he's not good enough for Aston Villa