David Luiz provided Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher with a hilarious moment when he playfully mocked Graeme Souness following Chelsea’s Premier League triumph in 2017. Luiz’s performances on the field often left observers questioning whether he was a highly skilled or error-prone defender.
The former Brazilian international, renowned for his stints at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Arsenal, had a tendency to showcase moments of brilliance followed by moments of inconsistency, occasionally even within the same game.
Gary Neville, and it’s a comment that the Sky Sports pundit admits he probably overstepped the mark with, famously said that Luiz played like he was “being controlled by a 10-year-old on a PlayStation” during one match between Chelsea and Liverpool.
To be fair, there were instances when the assessment of David Luiz’s performance as a defender was not entirely unjust. On his off days, his performances could be quite poor.
However, when Luiz was in top form and fully concentrated, he proved to be a fantastic defender.
His track record speaks for itself – being signed by Chelsea on two occasions and amassing 57 appearances for the Brazilian national team would not have been possible if he was consistently unreliable.
David Luiz’s interview with Graeme Souness remembered
While playing in England, David Luiz achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Premier League trophy with Chelsea in the 2016-2017 season.
His outstanding performances under the guidance of manager Antonio Conte earned him a spot in the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Premier League Team of the Season.
On the final day of that memorable campaign, Sky Sports covered Chelsea’s trophy parade at Stamford Bridge, where pundit Graeme Souness found himself in an embarrassing situation during an interview with the charismatic centre-back.
“You have had an outstanding season,” Souness said. “First time around, we remember you for making some mistakes. This time around, I can’t think of any mistakes you’ve made and I think that’s because you’re in the middle, would you agree?”
Luiz paused for a second before bluntly responding: “I don’t agree.”
Neville and Jamie Carragher couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Souness wasn’t shown up like that too many times during his 15-year career as a pundit.
Souness, sounding a little taken aback, added: “You don’t? Look. Because, if you make a mistake there, it leads to a shot at goal.”
“Yeah,” Luiz replied. “My position there is to cover everybody and to be the guy to help who makes a mistake.
“But… I think we can [portray] things in a positive way and a negative way.
“In the past I had many amazing games and every time [pundits analyse] one little mistake. But this happens when you don’t win the title. When you win the title, everything is good. This is football.”
Watch the clip here (1.24 on the video):
Souness got owned 😂 pic.twitter.com/hLB180SMQO
— Best of Football (@BestofFootball8) September 9, 2021
And this is how viewers reacted at the time:
It’s a fair point from Luiz.
Many of his better performances probably did go unnoticed, while every mistake was scrutinised.
But rightly or wrongly, that’s part and parcel of life as an elite-level footballer.
Souness: ‘I owe 100 apologies’
It was announced on April 30, after Liverpool’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham, that Souness would be leaving Sky Sports after 15 years with the broadcaster.
During an emotional farewell, Souness said: “I think I owe 100 apologies, but we haven’t got time for that, to people that maybe I may have said some harsh things to.”