Chelsea what ifs: David Luiz stays to fight for his place

David Luiz left Chelsea because it was easier than fighting for a spot. What if he had stayed with Frank Lampard as the manager this season?

David Luiz had two stints at Chelsea and he won it all. At the same time, he has arguably only had one truly great season for Chelsea and the rest have ranged from “what is going on” to “yeah that is okay I guess” with some world class performances peppered in between.

But when Luiz saw that a spot would not be handed to him under Frank Lampard like it was under Maurizio Sarri, he immediately bolted to rivals Arsenal. There, he has only proven that Chelsea made the correct decision.

But what if Luiz had buckled down and opted to stay? What if instead of running, he decided to take Lampard up on his challenge?

The initial change is Fikayo Tomori goes out on loan, probably to Everton. Chelsea was planning on running with Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, and Luiz before the latter peaced out. Tomori likely would have had a good season at Merseyside and would only have caused the Blues to miss what they actually got in reality.

Initially, Luiz would have been given a shot to impress. And initially, things would have been much the same as they were this season. Chelsea’s defense would be porous against everyone with seemingly no answer at all.

From here, it would depend on what Lampard opted to do. With the back three, Luiz has a place at the center that covers most of his weaknesses. Otherwise, Luiz is a complete liability at the back and for a defense already struggling, Luiz offers no benefit. Whatever “leadership” some claim he has is disregarded thanks to his many, many hiccups at the back.

Eventually, Lampard would have two paths. The first is he simply drops Luiz. Luiz, never one to go down quietly, quietly begins to throw a fuss. The background becomes a simmering battle ground between manager and player as others begin to rally around Luiz. Without the very sudden decision to sell Luiz as soon as he decides he will not fight for a spot, the squad loses that fear factor of no one being above anyone else.

Alternatively, Lampard opts to do what many have claimed would work for years; Luiz is moved into the midfield. Due to all the injuries Chelsea has faced this season, it is shocking that someone like Christensen has not featured there despite being floated as an option early in the season. Luiz has always been an eccentric player and putting him in a less dangerous area for his adventures makes sense. In fact, some of his career performances have come in the midfield.

Overall, however, Chelsea struggles more with Luiz than they do without. He does not offer any more solidity at the back compared to what the Blues have in reality. He offers little to no leadership compared to what is currently present and ,if anything, he causes more issues than not.

There would be options to adapt around him such as a back three or putting him in midfield, but overall Lampard made the right decision standing up and letting Luiz depart.

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