David Luiz and his affinity to the armband

As the rain poured down in the Luzhniki Stadium, they washed away the tears of John Terry, way back in 2008, for a penalty miss he will never forget. Fast-forward a few years, and you have David Luiz crying his heart out at the Yokohama International Stadium. This time though, the forces of nature did not help to make it look worse.

The Brazilian’s dreams were torn into pieces as he was forced into watching his boyhood club, Corinthians, celebrate a trophy that is highly-regarded in South America. No one knows why they really want to win it, when almost every other European club just treats it as a nuisance because it hampers the ongoing progress the club is making domestically. Jet lag and fatigue are just a few of the factors to be tackled with, before going on to the pitch in-front of thousands and giving your best. For the South American’s it’s a matter of pride, as the status of World Champions is just overwhelming after being overshadowed by the Europeans for years.

Apart from an embarrassing and totally unexpected loss Chelsea suffered against Corinthians, something else was noticed. The team did not set their heads straight before coming for this game. Levaram-o levemente, which can be roughly translated from Portuguese to, “they took it lightly.”

John Terry has been the leader of the locker room for quite some time now. Apart from maybe Frank Lampard, no one else has had a bigger say for the last decade, more so than even the manager sometimes. The time has come though, for us too look ahead because fairy-tales don’t last for too long. Terry has always put the club before himself and in doing that, he has achieved enormous success, with a career glittered with silver-ware. At this point of time, I would give him about 3-4 more years, as defenders have the most physical of jobs in the English Premier League.

David Luiz on the other hand is young. He has been facing criticism ever since he was introduced to the world of English media. Never too serious or mature enough to be applauded. In-spite of that though, the fans have always loved him to bits. Even though he was to blame for the truckloads of goals Chelsea conceded, people sang his name and adored his hair.

Compare the players and you have a lot of similarities. Yes, Luiz hasn’t gone deep into the world of scandals and controversies but how they have both been massacred by the country’s media is rare.

John Terry has gone on to show his emotional side, whenever Chelsea have lost something or won. He is not the type of person to hold back his tears when it comes to the club he loves. He might have shed some saline drops in Moscow but he even shed them after Chelsea won their first title in over 50 years.

Luiz is the carbon copy, after crying when Chelsea achieved the holy grail and after seeing his side suffer in Japan.

The fact is though, that Chelsea will have to decide a future captain when John Terry is gone. Petr Cech for me will never be considered, cause a goalkeeper being a captain is pretty much pointless. Casillas wears the armband as Alonso orchestrates in the middle and acts as the leader, same goes for Buffon and Juventus, with Pirlo in the middle calling the shots. The two examples are just about one of the few reasons, why the role of captaincy in football, is terribly overrated.

Lets analyse for a minute. Saying we give Terry 4 years before he hangs up his boots. Chelsea then have to name another captain, someone who will do justice to JT and breath passion in the same level as the fans. Luiz for me is the perfect option. He loves the fans, has been mentored by Terry and Thiago Silva. He may act like a kid but knows when to mature up and owe up to his mistakes. His love for the game is unparalleled.

In my opinion, Luiz should be given the arm-band a year before Terry retires. In this way he can properly settle into a different view-point to the beautiful game and be guided along the narrow path by JT. Just as Terry was mentored by Marcel Desailly.

The point is making mistakes only makes us humane. Its a character which separates us from super-natural beings, but owning up to it for yourself and others make you a leader. Luiz even went on to post a tweet apologizing for a terrible performance. The truth though is that everyone played a part in Chelsea’s 4-1 loss to Atletico Madrid, but only one owned up to it.

Summarizing everything up, it looks like Luiz’s broad biceps are destined for captaincy, not just because he’s the perfect option but also because the armband has a strange affinity to him. The exact affinity the arm-band had to Terry, under Mourinho.