Chelsea news: Antonio Conte reveals David Luiz will be deployed in his 'right position' at centre-back
The Brazilian re-signed for the Blues in a shock transfer worth £34m on the final day of the transfer window
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Your support makes all the difference.Antonio Conte could deploy a 3-5-2 formation at Chelsea after revealing David Luiz will play in his “right position” at centre-back.
The Brazilian re-signed for the Blues in a shock transfer worth £34m as Conte finally secured defensive reinforcement on the final day of the transfer window.
Chelsea were thwarted in their attempts to sign Alessio Romagnoli and Kalidou Koulibaly from AC Milan and Napoli respectively, but eventually turned to their former centre-back having sold him to Paris Saint-Germain for a record £50m in June 2014.
Conte has tended to favour a three-man defence in the past, employing the formation with both Juventus and the Italy national side.
The Italian now has five first-team players – with Luiz joining Kurt Zouma, John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic – capable of playing at centre-back.
"I think David Luiz is a centre back, he's played a lot of games in that position," the Conte told Chelsea TV.
"I know sometimes he's played as a central midfielder but in my mind the idea is to utilise him in the right position which, for me, is centre back."
His erratic style of defending and surging runs forward have prompted some observers to claim he would be best deployed in central midfield, but Conte’s latest remarks seem to have brought an end to such suggestions.
The former Italy manager also added Marcos Alonso to the Chelsea ranks, signing the player on a five-year deal, and stated that the Spaniard would benefit from his past experience in England having enjoyed stints with both Sunderland and Bolton.
"He [Alonso] played in England and has good experience of this league. The same for David Luiz. He's played with Chelsea previously and he will bring a good personality," Conte said.
"We need to put them into our idea of football. Now we must work on our defensive situation and with the defensive line. We need to improve our physical and tactical condition.
"After the international break it's always very tough to restart because many players don't arrive back until the end of the week, but we must quickly find our concentration and be focused because we know we play a tough game against Swansea and we want to prepare in the best way."
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