Gary Cahill and Chelsea are entering a crucial stretch of fixture congestion that will determine whether or not they can get back into position to defender their Premier League title. They will do so with Andreas Christensen having supplanted David Luiz in the back line. Luiz, who Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had often described as a very important player for the club, found himself frozen out during the team’s biggest clash, the November 5 win over Manchester United at home.
Christensen took Luiz’s place, drew rave reviews from Conte and has remained superior to Luiz in the pecking order until last night.
The Danish defender continues to impress, in the job that Luiz held down and excelled in last season during the title run.
However, Luiz also performed very well Wednesday night in the 4-0 rout of Qarabag FK, and now Conte faces a selection dilemma going forward. Chelsea began preparations for Liverpool on the flight home last night, and Eden Hazard says that the Blues will be rested and ready for the headliner match-up this weekend.
Cahill sees Luiz as a potentially great role model to help Christensen develop even further.
“David came back in and performed well,” Gary Cahill is quoted in Sky Sports.
“Andreas is a younger version of him if you like. I feel like David can offer Andreas a lot of help in his progression. He has been there and done it at the top, top level, he has won many trophies.
“David is a very experienced defender and Andreas’ attributes are very similar. I feel that he (Luiz) can advise him tremendously and he has done up until now.”
It’s certainly a very sticky situation on the depth chart here at this position. Managing every player’s minutes on the pitch, and satisfying their egos is a tremendous challenge. Also, it’s pretty rare for anybody in any vocation to take pride in helping to further facilitate the career of an individual who replaces them in their gig.
If Gary Cahill is right, and David Luiz and Andreas Christensen can make it work, then major props to them for handling a potentially explosive situation with complete aplomb.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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