Arsenal: David Luiz is everything wrong with the Gunners’ defense

Arsenal are bizarrely being linked with a move for Chelsea centerback David Luiz, but the man is an incarnation of everything wrong with out defense.

Arsenal’s defensive woes are easy to see. Individual mistakes, positional irresponsibility and a lack of leadership plague the club, particularly when Shkodran Mustafi has been injure, as he is the vocal centerpiece of the defense.

When you think of then things they may need on defense, you would probably think of a few things. A stoic, strong central defender. A large, menacing presence. A leader on and off the pitch. Someone young and improving.

What you would not talk about is someone who is lackadaisical in his positioning. Someone who abandons his post to pursue his own means. Someone who is known for defensive mishaps. Someone who is 30. These are all things we want to avoid.

These are all attributable to David Luiz, the 30-year-old Brazilian who is suddenly linked to a move to Arsenal.

According to reports from the Metro, the Gunners have “taken the lead” over Barcelona in the race for the rambunctious Brazilian defender, who in no way would benefit this Arsenal back line.

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He is everything that is wrong with the Gunners back line and everything that they have too much of. We have too much ambition to get forward. Shkodran Mustafi does it. Laurent Koscielny does it. Nacho Monreal does it. Calum Chambers does it. They all push the ball forward from deep positions because they have the athletic ability to do so.

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It has led to problem in the counter attack, as teams are able to exploit the space in behind the defense.

The other problem is that, other than Mustafi, no other regular defender is under 30 years old. So we would be acquiring a defender with the exact same tendencies as our current stock of defenders. Maybe he has a bit more attacking ability and a bit more tenacity, but the return is so little that can hardly be seen as worth it.

I would far rather see this time invested in Calum Chambers or Rob Holding, two young defenders who can be molded into what we want them to be. That’s favorable over Luiz, who has his own vendetta, is surely not going to reinvest himself in a club that doesn’t let him be himself and has already had an entire career of accomplishments.

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It’s tomfoolery, all of it. This is the exact type of transfer that Arsene Wenger rightfully avoids like the plague.