Douglas Luiz - back home on loan

[Risso]

Luiz is better on the front foot rather than moping up in front of the defence. A superb display today and for me, his best in a Villa shirt.

But he was mopping up in front of the defence , he was part of the 2 in a 4-2-3-1 with Dedoncker.

[Ger Regan]

Special mention for him tracking the whole length of the pitch to chase down a brentford player, despite us being 4 up already. That's the sort of desire i want to see from the players.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

What a colossus today! A superb performance from Dougie.
Totally dominated the midfield along with Emi and Leander.
Seemed to have a great understanding going with Dendoncker...when one stepped forward the other stepped back.

Absolutely. He was brilliant today.

Thirded!

[not3bad]

Definitely the best I've seen of Luiz in a Villa shirt today. Only disappointed he didn't get the goal he deserved.

[PaulWinch again]

Think this proves him signing a new deal is massively important for us.

[Paul.S]

I don’t think Luiz was mopping up in front of the back 4. Under Gerrard and Smith he found himself about 2 feet in front of the defence of not within it.
Today he was making tackles and playing the ball from the centre of midfield with Dendoncker the more withdrawn if needed. It’s the way a 2 should play, retrieving the ball in midfield and not from in between the 2 central defenders.

[Dante Lavelli]

I maintain that he was the biggest reason we stayed up after the lock down.  He was everywhere, like having tow players.  if he can get back to those levels then he will be a big player for us (or significantly boost our FFP).

[Lastfootstamper]

Playing the two meant they could hunt the ball down aggressively rather than him having to hang around waiting for it to appear through our usual vaporous "midfield". It's been a while since we dominated the middle of the park like him, Dendoncker and that bottle of fizz that was Buendia did today.

[ChicagoLion]

What a colossus today! A superb performance from Dougie.
Totally dominated the midfield along with Emi and Leander.
Seemed to have a great understanding going with Dendoncker...when one stepped forward the other stepped back.

Absolutely. He was brilliant today.

Thirded!

The best performance by a central midfield player for a very long time.
That performance had everything, brilliant.

[Beard82]

What a colossus today! A superb performance from Dougie.
Totally dominated the midfield along with Emi and Leander.
Seemed to have a great understanding going with Dendoncker...when one stepped forward the other stepped back.

Absolutely. He was brilliant today.

Thirded!

The best performance by a central midfield player for a very long time.
That performance had everything, brilliant.

He was awsome - and Dendocker very impressive - just felt like they knew exactly what they were being asked to do and picked because they were the two players that best fitted the role.

[Mister E]

He was awsome - and Dendocker very impressive - just felt like they knew exactly what they were being asked to do and picked because they were the two players that best fitted the role.

Damn right! The duo were fantastic today ... and it looked so natural from the outset because they both read the game so well.

[Nunkin1965]

A sensational performance from him today. Some wonderful and stylish touches and passes in possession and a real terrier when hunting down the ball.

[Risso]

Very nearly a third goal of the season direct from a corner as well. Keepers must be shitting themselves when we get a corner from their right hand side.

[Drummond]

Very nearly a third goal of the season direct from a corner as well. Keepers must be shitting themselves when we get a corner from their right hand side.

They certainly won't want to be far off their line!

[eamonn]

To think, slippy almost lost him on us.

"Listen, we're working with the players that we have in the building and it's my job to protect them. And to try and make them be the best versions of themselves. By playing them in the wrong position. In the wrong formation."