Cech hails Luiz's effortless transition from defence to midfield

28/12/2012 11:10:00 AM

The Brazilian has spent the majority of his career at centre-back, but with a suspect positional sense, Rafa Benitez has pushed him forward in recent weeks to good effect

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has hailed David Luiz’s seamless transition from defence to midfield after putting in another impressive display during their 1-0 win over Norwich City.

Luiz arrived from Benfica in 2011 for €36.5 million with the expectation of becoming a first-choice centre-back, but with positional lapses commonplace Rafa Benitez has since moved the Brazilian to a slightly more advanced position.

Against both Aston Villa and the Canaries Luiz started in midfield, giving him plenty of license to roam forward as well as offer his tackling abilities as support at the back, and Cech has been impressed.

Speaking to reporters at Carrow Road on Wednesday, Cech said: “He is very good on the ball, and as well he is a central defender originally, so you can see how well he defends the space and can be a really good shield to the back four.

“When he gets the ball he is very creative, as well as being very good on the ball. I have to say, so far he is been playing really well there.”

With Chelsea picking up consecutive Premier League wins since their disappointing performance at the Club World Cup, Cech highlighted the squad’s on-pitch improvements.

“We look better organised,” he noted. “We were conceding too many goals and playing too open, but suddenly we are defending as a team much better.

“That’s the key because we weren’t defending very well as a team. Now we are difficult to score against which is a big help and have the players who can score a lot of goals.”

The win against Norwich saw Chelsea restrict the hosts to very few shots, none of which hit the target, and Cech feels that a solid 1-0 win was the perfect way to manage expectations after putting eight past Aston Villa at the weekend.

He continued: “We were patient enough to score and then just control the game. It is never easy after you win 8-0. Suddenly everyone thinks, ‘another game for them, easy.’

“But it doesn’t always go as well. I think they [Norwich] played really well. They made it really difficult for us which is why I think three points and a clean sheet and the way we controlled the game was very positive.

“We have closed the gap to City. That’s another positive thing. We need to keep getting points to get as close as possible to Manchester United and City and hopefully we can get some more points against Everton which would be a really big win.”