The David Luiz situation escalated quickly, but Frank Lampard cut no corners as he reminded the Chelsea squad who the boss is now.
By all accounts, the David Luiz situation began with the Salzburg match. The Brazilian started that match alongside Kurt Zouma. A corner was put in by Salzburg and to say Luiz attempted to stop the header would be a mischaracterization of the word “attempted”. Salzburg scored and Luiz was eventually subbed off.
Luiz then failed to start against Gladbach and he was not brought on as a sub. Whatever had been festering since Salzburg quite suddenly blew up on the eve of the transfer window closing. Luiz was ordered to train separately from the rest of the squad as Lampard grew sick of his distraction.
Things moved rapidly from there despite Luiz trying to move to Arsenal. The transfer itself is no burden on the Blues, merely the timing and manner of it. But more than anything, the situation has shown that Lampard is not there to be anyone’s friend. He is the boss now.
Luiz signed his new contract just months ago as Chelsea broke its own rule in the process. That alone would imply that Luiz was content to stay at least one more year, but the first sign of blood in the water spooked him. Lampard stated early on that players would need to earn their spot and that he only wanted players who were committed to the club. Luiz showed, at the first sign of trouble, that he would run.
But it is not enough to simply say Lampard is following his own rule. After all, he and Luiz were teammates. They won the Champions League together (along with many, many more trophies). Not even a month ago, Luiz was talking about the Chelsea DNA and the improved mood of the locker room.
Luiz, however, is not one to fight for his supper. When Jose Mourinho favored John Terry and Gary Cahill over Luiz, the Brazilian left for Paris Saint Germain. When he fell out of the starting XI there, he returned to Chelsea. Antonio Conte found a use for him for a year until Andreas Christensen came back and had Conte stayed, Luiz surely would have gone. Maurizio Sarri bought Luiz one more year (and a new contract, breaking Chelsea’s own rules) by favoring age and experience over ability. And now Lampard seems to have indicated that Luiz would not be an automatic selection, so Luiz chose his own vanity over his own legacy at Chelsea.
Lampard has shown that there will be no exceptions for his former teammates. It is a very Sir Alex Ferguson like notion of “no player is bigger than the club.” Not former teammates or friends.
Perhaps Luiz gambled that Lampard would bend to his colleague and make a spot for him. But Lampard has laid down the law and reminded the entire Chelsea squad that he is not in Blue to be their friend; he is there to be their manager. And no one will put their desires above the club’s.