Christensen deserves his first team place over Luiz

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Written by Luke Blakemore, owner of Breathe Chelsea

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Luiz has to wait for his turn now

Three Premier League games have passed and just one goal has been conceded by Chelsea since it emerged that David Luiz had been dropped by Antonio Conte for the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge. However, such is the level of quality and experience of the Brazilian, the debate as to whether or not Luiz should be back in Chelsea’s first eleven instead of his replacement Andreas Christensen remains intense.

Whilst this is understandable, Christensen’s performances have been so strong that regardless of the large presence his senior teammate has in the Blues’ dressing room, the Dane has earned his place in Conte’s first-choice team and Luiz must wait for an opportunity to come his way; just as Christensen would have if the supposed ‘bust up’ between Luiz and the boss had never happened.

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Has Conte found his ideal backline?

As it turns out, Luiz’s fall out with Conte has come at a very bad time for the thirty year-old. Chelsea went on to win that game against Manchester United with a clean sheet, then beat West Brom 4-0 at the Hawthorns, and put in a decent defensive display at Anfield for the 1-1 draw they earned on Saturday.

What’s more, Conte will have been as aware as the Stamford Bridge crowd that his chopping and changing between centre backs during the season’s opening stages was harmful to Chelsea’s chances of building momentum and getting consistent results. The Italian is now in a position where his team are performing well and have that all-important momentum with a consistent backline that doesn’t involve Luiz.

Andreas Christensen is a quality defender, an experienced international, and most importantly an academy graduate who is nine years younger than Luiz. The rarity of a Chelsea graduate actually making the first team is significant as we all know. Christensen is therefore extra attractive to the Blues’ faithful and even perhaps Antonio Conte, which makes Luiz’s mission to re-enter the starting eleven that little bit more difficult.

Luiz still has a place at Chelsea away from the starting XI

Of course, no one has a better understanding of Christensen’s current ability and potential than David Luiz himself and the reports this week that suggest he continues to mentor and help the 21 year-old in training are testament to the fantastic attitude and personality that we know Luiz to have. It also makes the whole situation with himself and Conte all the more puzzling though and we are unlikely to know exactly why he was completely left out against Manchester United for some time yet.

Whatever happened, the incident is clearly no longer a career-breaker for the Brazilian, as Conte called on Luiz in Chelsea’s away fixture in Baku last week as Christensen and Cahill were rested for he and Antonio Rudiger.

The packed Premier League schedule through the next few weeks and across the entire Christmas period means there will undoubtedly be more instances in which Conte must rotate. This means that Christensen and Luiz will both have their time out on the pitch and must perform to the best of their abilities in a straight performance-based battle to secure their first team status for the biggest games on the calendar.

In other words, Conte has created a situation that is exactly what a manager wants – presuming Luiz is indeed determined to re-gain his place and stay at Chelsea for the foreseeable future.

Many Chelsea fans will tell you that in an ideal world both Christensen and Luiz could play in the same team, and that shouldn’t be ruled out entirely if Azpilicueta or Cahill continually underperform despite it seeming that the pair are in a straight battle for the central centre-back position.

But with Christensen playing as he is and Chelsea picking up the results they are, the Dane has made himself un-droppable for the time being.