David Luiz

Name:	David Luiz
Nationality:	Brazilian
Date of Birth:	22/04/1987
Height:	6' 2" (189cm)
Weight:	13st 3lbs (84.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Benfica
Position:	Defender

Chelsea career

David Luiz (full name David Luiz  Moreira Marinho) signed on transfer deadline day in January 2011 after a protracted transfer from Portuguese champions Benfica.

On putting pen to a five-and-a-half year contract he become the third Brazilian in the current squad, linking up with former Benfica team-mate Ramires and fellow defender Alex.

A 6ft 2in centre-back who can cover at either left- or right-back, he is renowned for his skill on the ball as much as his defensive ability.

After signing for Chelsea, he outlined his determination to nail down a regular place in the side, and took the previously unclaimed number 4 shirt, last worn by Claude Makelele.

He won plenty of plaudits for his early showings although conceded a late penalty on his first start, saved by Petr Cech, and went on to win the man of the match award.

Ineligible for the Champions League, he retained his place in the Premier League side until a goal conceded in the opening seconds at Old Trafford torpedoed Chelsea's title chances and Carlo Ancelotti left the Brazilian out of the remaining games.

He had earlier scored against United at Stamford Bridge, and headed home against Manchester City in the Premier League to keep our title hopes alive.

A knee injury following international duty meant he started the current campaign out of the side but he returned in mid-September and duly found the scoresheet again, this time curling home from the edge of the area against Bayer Leverkusen on his Chelsea Champions League debut.

Pre-ChelseaTwenty-three years old when he signed on deadline day in January 2011, David Luiz was born in Sao Paulo and began his career with Esporte Clube Vitoria in Bahia where he made 47 appearances.

He switched to Benfica, initially on loan in January 2007 before making the move permanent that summer.

In total he made 82 league appearances for the Lisbon club missing just one game in the 2009/10 season as they wrapped up a first league title in five years. Uefa.com voted him the Portuguese League's Player of the Year.

International careerDavid Luiz, who made his Brazil debut against America during the 2009/10 season, had earlier represented his country at the 2007 Under 20 World Cup,

He was in the Brazil squad that contested the Copa America in July 2011, and returned to the squad for the September internationals despite not having featured for Chelsea.

Season 2011 - 12

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	2  (0)	0	2	0
League Cup	2  (0)	0	0	0
Euro Cups	4  (0)	1	2	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2010 - 11	League	11  (1)	2
Benfica	2010 - 11	League	16  (0)	0
		FA Cup	1  (0)	0
		Euro Cups	6  (0)	0
Benfica	2009 - 10	League	29  (0)	2
		League Cup	1  (0)	0
		Euro Cups	10  (0)	0
Benfica	2008 - 09	League	18  (1)	2
		League Cup	1  (0)	0
		Euro Cups	2  (0)	1
Benfica	2007 - 08	League	8  (0)	0
		FA Cup	0  (1)	0
		Euro Cups	3  (1)	0
Benfica	2006 - 07	League	10  (0)	0
		Euro Cups	3  (1)	0

Read more »

MOTM - V Blackburn

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Case in point:

Road warrior

Battered, bloodied, and fairly rubbish. No matter. Chelsea still manage to hold on for a much-needed win at Ewood Park, 1-0, over a Blackburn Rovers side that probably deserved a point.

Who cares. We’ll take it, however the hell it comes.

One thing that is for certain after watching that weirdness: That’s probably not how many of us expected a win against a rather pedestrian Blackburn side would come. But, considering what we’ve seen over the past few weeks, we probably should have.

A first half ripe with decent enough play but highlighted by the dullest of blades in the attacking third gave way to a final 45 minutes that could be described as the very definition of holding on. Yakubu in the mix, Formica in the mix, Branislav Ivanovic off his own crossbar – it wasn’t fun at all.

Still, I refer to third sentence of their first paragraph. We won. And, somehow, we kept a clean sheet – our first since the opening day of the season at Stoke. Positives. It’s not clear we’re on the up, people.

Our must-read match recap is coming soon. For now, have a vote for John Obi Mikel, or maybe Bane, in our man of the match poll. Then get started on your expanded game thesis in the comments section below. Grading of said theses will take place on Wednesday, so be sure to have your sources in order. Until then, KTBFFH.

Read more »

Bieber visits Stamford Bridge, world ends

Justin Bieber is in Britain for something or other. Girls everywhere are crying. Meanwhile, the singer turned rapper took some time out from making said girls sob incessantly by hauling his 4-year-old girlfriend, Selena Gomez, to Stamford Bridge for a private tour.

And the world wept.

Ashley & Cheryl? Nah son.

Yes, the above photograph does not exactly lend itself to evidence of Biebs actually stepping foot inside the Bridge. But rest assured (wrong saying here for sure), the kid did indeed make the trip and this photo captures the chipper little power couple leaving our Graceland.

I don’t think England’s Brave John Terry, the caped crusader or any of the players for that matter were on hand to welcome the pop icon. You know, too bad Bob wasn’t in the house. That would have made for one hell of a Caption This! post.

Then again, if I dig a little deeper into this, I might just have an idea as to why the kid was prancing about the ground. Perhaps he’s the unnamed party looking at sponsoring the stadium. Dude’s got Scrooge McDuck money bin paper after all. Gourlay would love that shit wouldn’t he?

Justin Bieber, My World at Stamford Bridge

There it is right there. Kill me now.

Read more »

(Worst) photo of the day: Super Frank and, um, Justin Bieber

No words. Hit the jump for a cinematic look at my immediate reaction to coming across this truly bizarre photo of Frank Lampard and some kid. Thanks a lot, Tumblr.

Kid N Play

First, let me say welcome to those visiting this here blog only because a certain cranial-heavy pop fad was tagged in the post. We’re happy to have you not really. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let ’s move on.

Ladies, gentlemen, teen girls with a hair fetish, fellow Chelsea supporters …

I give you my initial response to seeing the above pic, via Wayne Campbell:

Read more »

Andre Villas-Boas Prepared For The 'Inevitable' Chelsea Boo Boys

Portuguese manager feels the day will eventually come when Blues supporters turn on him, with the team currently in fourth place following the victory over Blackburn Rovers

Andre Villas-Boas believes it is "inevitable" that he will be booed by Chelsea fans, at one point or another during his time as the manager of the London club.

The Portuguese tactician was brought in during the summer following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti. He has been in charge of the club for 11 games in the Premier League, where the team currently occupy fourth place.

Villas-Boas admitted that he expects to get stick from the Blues fans at some point, and told reporters: "It’s inevitable. [Arsene] Wenger went through it. Sir Alex [Ferguson] went through it. I’ve never had it, but it will come. 

"In the Latin countries, you see these kind of things all the time from one negative result."

Chelsea's 1-0 win at Blackburn on Saturday ended a run of two defeats and a draw from their previous three games, and was also significant for being the first time in 14 Premier League matches that they had kept a clean sheet while winning. 

Read more »

Valencia's Jonas: I Will Score In Nine Seconds Against Chelsea

The forward has claimed that he will beat Roy Makaay's record when they travel to London on matchday six and offered his take on why the Dutchman edged him out

Getty

Valencia striker Jonas has stated that he will score within nine seconds at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League Group E clash with Chelsea on December 6.

The 27-year-old scored the second-quickest goal in the competition on Tuesday by netting inside 10.5 seconds during the 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen.

Jonas is now determined to beat Roy Makaay's record of 10.12 seconds that the Dutchman set against Real Madrid in the 2006-07 edition of the tournament.

"It's okay, I will score one against Chelsea in nine seconds," he told AS. "I will beat Makaay and ensure we progress into the second round.

"They are two similar goals, as we both took advantage of mistakes, but I hit the ball further than Makaay did and my shot took longer to reach the goal than his, so there's his small advantage."

Valencia return to Liga action against high-flying Levante on Saturday.

Read more »

Blackburn 0 - 1 Chelsea (Match Report)

Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea: Second-Half Frank Lampard Header Helps Nervy Blues End Poor Run Of Form Against Struggling Hosts

The hosts battled valiantly but the England midfielder's fine effort on the 51st minute was enough for Andre Villas-Boas' side to secure all three points at Ewood Park

Getty Images

Chelsea secured their first Premier League win in three weeks with a 1-0 victory overBlackburn Rovers at Ewood Park

A goalless first half with few opportunities was to prove a stark contrast to a frantic second 45 minutes, in which a goal from Frank Lampard proved enough for Andre Villas-Boas' men to secure all three points despite a superb late surge from the home side.

Steve Kean, who has seen shoots of progress from his side in recent weeks, named an unchanged side to the team that threw away a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 all with Norwich late on last week with Junior Hoilett, who had been a doubt due to suffering from a tight calf at Carrow Road, retaining his place.


Chelsea saw a raft of changes however, as Villas-Boas shuffled his pack with five changes to the side that managed only a point away to Genk on Tuesday evening. John Terry returned to the starting XI despite the ongoing race row surrounding the England captain whereas Fernando Torres, vilified for his performances in recent weeks, was dropped to the bench as Daniel Sturridge took centre stage up front.

Having seen Newcastle defeat Everton in the afternoon's early kick-off to move into second, six points ahead of Chelsea, Villas-Boas' men will have wanted to reassert their power in the the top four scrap. Their start, however, was limp and it was the home side who nearly broke the deadlock early on after Formica delivered a neat squared ball into the path of Yakubu on the ninth minute, only for the powerful Nigerian to knock his effort wide as he sild into the six-yard box.

The resulting collison between the striker and Petr Cech appeared to break the 'keeper's nose and the game was stopped for six minutes as the Blues' medical team attempted to stem the flow of blood coming from the Chelsea shot-stopper and the Czech Republic international stayed on the pitch.
The visitors then felt they deserved a penalty after Sturridge was felled in the box by Samba but it looked little more than a 50-50 collision. Referee Mike Dean wasn't convinced, but it was at least a statement of intent from the visitors.

That said, Blackburn were more than holding their own but discontent still reigned, as a plane carrying a banner reading 'Steve Kean out' flew above Ewood Park half way through the opening 45 minutes.

The vigour with which the hosts started the game lessened as the first half wore on and after losing Christopher Samba to a knock, Rovers looked perilously close to being overrun by Villas-Boas' men as Sturridge and Mata probed. The teams remained goalless as half time arrived but the home side will have been wary of complacency, having lost against both Tottenham and Manchester City after going in level at the break in their last two home games in the league.

Villas-Boas clearly felt the need to change his side's approach and replaced Malouda with Torres at half time. Six minutes later and his side were in front, but it was a piece of beauty from Serbia, not Spain, that helped break the deadlock as Ivanovic pitched a divine low ball into from the right into the area for Lampard to nod home with pinpoint accuracy.

With the pressure on Kean ramped up once again, his side delivered and should’ve equalised only five minutes later as Pedersen’s rasping free-kick was saved unconvincingly by Cech, only for Hanley to limply knock a shot back towards the grateful Czech Republic international.
The game inevitably opened up as the home side looked to level the score and should have on the 67th minute, as Yakubu pounced on a bouncing ball left alone by the Chelsea defence following a mix-up between Alex and Terry but saw his curling effort saved by Cech.

The home side were battling valiantly and chances were to come their way in abundance, as a header from Ivanovic hit his own bar before Pedersen smashed an effort over as added time approached.

But with the resilience of true title challengers and under immense pressure, the visitors, whose defence has been so staunchly, and rightly vilified in recent weeks, hung on to secure the precious three points.

The win will no doubt ease the pressure on Villas-Boas, who after a miserable fortnight and amid vocal protests against his opposite number, finally gave Chelsea fans something to shout about.

Read more »

THE LOWDOWN FROM LAMPARD

THE LOWDOWN FROM LAMPARD

Not for the first time in his Chelsea career, Frank Lampard was crucially on target in north-west England when the Blues travelled to Blackburn on Saturday.

Following a stagnant first-half, it was the vice-captain's 50^th-minute header which sealed three points in a closely contested fixture. It was his 10^th goal against Blackburn for Chelsea.

'I was committed to heading it but the ball kept dipping on me, so I ended up nearly heading it on the floor,' he explained as he talked through the match and its deciding moment.

'I was delighted to see it go in because it was a tough game for us. The first-half was a non event really but it was certainly a game we had to win by any means and we did it; not at our best but we won.

'We were fortunate at the end when they had a couple chances,' he admitted, 'but we had a couple of chances to kill the game. When you're 1-0 up you know they are going to launch it at you and when you only have a one-goal cushion it's difficult.

'But it was very important to get three points on the board, there will be other weeks when we can play better football and score more goals.'

Lampard admits the performance did lack an edge in the first half but noted an improvement once a change had been made.

'We didn't do enough in the final third for sure. There was a bit more urgency needed, we said at half-time that we needed to liven up. We brought Fernando [Torres] on and put Daniel [Sturridge] out on the wing because we wanted to have a bit more going forward.'

The main moment of concern for Chelsea fans in the first-half had come when Yakubu broke through but couldn't score and Ashley Cole clashed with Petr Cech after tracking back.

'I did feel sorry for Pete, he took a horrible whack,' said Lampard. 'We know the wars he's had in the past, so whenever he takes a head knock, we do have a bit of a panic for him. His nose was bleeding a lot and it took a bit of time to get the game started again but credit to him for having the character and poise to carry on.

'He had a big bandage on in the second half and I looked at him at one point and his eyes were watering so he did well to make the saves he did.

'As a team you do pride yourselves on clean sheets and if we can get a run of those again then we're certainly going in the right direction.'

Read more »