Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes no defender in world football is better than David Luiz at long-range passing.
The Brazilian centre-back received much praise for his no-look 50-yard pass to set up Pedro’s goal against Newcastle last Saturday in the Premier League.
Is Rio Ferdinand right about David Luiz? Four things to know…
- Luiz is renowned for his long-ball abilities; his sweeping, diagonal balls are a hallmark of his game.
- The Brazilian has completed the fourth-most passes in the Premier League this season (1,708).
- Luiz has also made the most long-range passes among his teammates (125).
- He has also created more ‘big chances’ than any other Premier League centre-back this season (8).
The 31-year-old swaggered out of defence against the Magpies and spotted Pedro making a run higher up the pitch. The Brazilian composed himself, while looking in a completely different direction than Pedro’s location, and put his right foot through the ball, fully expecting it to reach its intended target.
Which it did moments later, the Spaniard latching onto Luiz arrogant pass and slotting the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring.
Luiz’s audacious pass caused a tornado of approval on social media with fans hailing the Brazil international as the world’s best passing defender. This a compliment echoed by Rio Ferdinand during BT’s coverage of the Blues’ visit to Arsenal on Saturday evening.
“He is the best passing defender in the world from long range. He puts people in on goal,” Ferdinand told BT before kick-off.
Luiz indeed poses a formidable attacking threat for Chelsea and has created more ‘Big Chances’ than any other centre-back in the Premier League this season (8); two recent assists have come from way, way downtown. He has also managed 31 through balls this season, more than double what anyone else in the Premier League has managed.
Does Luiz get too much stick?
Rio Ferdinand on David Luiz: "He is the best passing defender in the world from long range. He puts people in on goal." pic.twitter.com/d7PycXyVEk
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) January 19, 2019
Ferdinand has rubbed more than a few fans the wrong way in recent weeks after controversially coming to the defence of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley’s investment. That might explain why some fans were especially vitriolic when dismissing Ferdinand’s praise of Luiz, but does the Brazilian deserve it?
The defender often puts Blues fans on edge with his propensity for risk-taking at the back, but Luiz is a much underrated defender. He’s made more clearances than any other player at the club and has been mostly solid in defence this season.
So why the frequent disdain in the media? Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin believes it’s because the Brazilian is not your atypical centre-half.
“First of all is the fact that he is a ‘Brazilian’ centre-back! He is not an old-school British stopper who is only concerned with defending, tackling, marking and violently going through the back of a few soft strikers and claiming it is just a ‘reducer’,” Nevin told Chelsea’s club website.
“He in fact is a real footballer, a talented one at that, and this sticks in the throats of a few whose world view of the position is a narrow-minded Anglo-Saxon one.
“My thoughts are that when David Luiz finally leaves Chelsea, not only will we but also the rest of the league will miss him and you can’t say that about too many players.”
The post David Luiz is the world’s best long-range passer from defence – Rio Ferdinand appeared first on Squawka News.
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