Uncoachable. That’s how Gary Neville described Arsenal’s defence back in November.
Unai Emery had just been sacked as the Arsenal manager after a tumultuous 18 months in charge that saw them lose to Chelsea in the Europa League final and miss out on Champions League football once again.
Neville’s comments were difficult to argue with at the time. A defence consisting of David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos at its core and the inexperienced midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles filling in at right-back were leaking goals with alarming regularity.
Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney were keeping each other company on the treatment table for large spells, leaving Bernd Leno exposed between the sticks. Who would be a goalkeeper, eh?
However, the Gunners appear to have turned a corner and maybe, just maybe, Neville was wrong after all.
During Emery’s 51 game spell in charge of the north London outfit, they only managed ten clean sheets. Under Mikel Arteta, they’ve recorded 11 in just 25 games. Same players. Different coach.
If you combine Bernd Leno and Emiliano Martinez’s Premier League clean sheet tallies this season, they’d be sitting in joint eighth position. Not anything to brag about on the face of it, but arguably an overachievement for a side that currently sits in tenth place.
In fact, the Gunners have conceded fewer goals than ninth placed Burnley, sixth placed Tottenham and third placed Chelsea.
Arteta inherited an 'average bunch of players' according to Neville. There is no doubt the former Manchester City assistant has a big rebuilding job to do and a questionable budget to do it on, but the foundations may have already been laid for him. Just nobody had realised.
There is a noticeable imbalance throughout Arsenal's midfield and forward players but the same can’t be said at the back. Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin have been inspired of late, epitomising the modern day full-back who typically wreaks havoc down the flanks and rains in quality crosses.
Sead Kolasinac and Cedric Soares are capable deputies, while Leno and Martinez offer Arteta an embarrassment of riches between the sticks - a position that once plagued the Emirates Stadium, and one that continues to plague some of the Gunners' fiercest rivals.
That leaves the centre of the defence, where we must start with a man called David Luiz. The Brazilian signed a new one-year contract last month to much bemusement, particularly after his error-riddled performance against City in the first game post-lockdown.
But sticking true to his Jekyll and Hyde nature, Luiz put in a heroic display against the same opposition at the weekend to take his team to the FA Cup final.
Simply put, he was a rock. The foundations on the day for Arteta’s biggest victory so far in his short managerial career but all too often he is something else. An enigma. A maverick. Not the words once associated with great defenders of the past such as John Terry, Rio Ferdinand or Tony Adams.
Keeping Luiz at the club may be a sensible decision in the current financial climate, though. The former Chelsea man is a serial winner and a natural leader in a dressing room that desperately needs guidance. Arsenal have also tied Pablo Mari down to a long-term contract - who could yet prove to be successful in the Premier League - not to mention the incoming teenage sensation, William Saliba.
The same can't be said for every defender at the club, though - with Sokratis and Mustafi beyond redemption.
The pair need to depart in order to allow room for a new partner to come in alongside forgotten man Rob Holding, who was instrumental in the recent 2-1 victory over newly-crowned champions Liverpool - bouncing back after serious injury.
That was a performance that backed up his man of the match display against Southampton in June, reinforcing how important the former Bolton Wanderers defender is to Arteta. Getting the better of a player like Sadio Mané is no mean feat, and brought back memories of the purple patch of form he was experiencing before rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in December 2018.
Keeping him fit will be key, but his return serves us a reminder that things may not be as bad as they once seemed at the Emirates. Unconventional yes. Uncoachable? It appears not.
Source : 90min