Arsenal: What is the furthest extent of David Luiz usefulness?

Arsenal brought in David Luiz for a reason, but that reason is bound to evolve as the season goes on, so how far will his usefulness go in the end?

I was really, really opposed to Arsenal signing David Luiz from the start. I didn’t understand why you would add a mistake-ridden defender to a mistake-ridden defense. I even made the claim that you might as well just start Shkodran Mustafi and save your money.

Harsh? I don’t know. Seeing Mustafi this year, I’m like… maybe I had a point and didn’t even know it. Regardless, I do understand why Luiz was brought in. With Rob Holding hurt and Calum Chambers an unknown, Luiz was someone that was known. We knew exactly what to expect out of him.

And sure enough, we’ve gotten exactly that. Some heroics, a lot of shouting, and a lot of defensive mistakes to go along with.

He may well have saved himself with that goal just before international break, because I was about to bet money (figurative money, of course) on a completely new back four when we got back from international break.

Give me Holding and Chambers over Luiz and Sokratis any day of the week (but preferably on the weekends).

I fully expect Emery to stick with Luiz. Probably for a hell of a lot longer. And that’s where my question comes into this. The biggest perk of bringing in Luiz was his leadership and his experience. That’s vital to a team like the Gunners, no doubt.

That said, being brand new to the Emirates and still undoubtedly having Blue in his veins, I wonder if he doesn’t retain that starting job simply because it’s unclear how much of a positive impact he will be from the bench, playing midweek matches. And maybe I’m overthinking this, or doubting Luiz’s character too much, but he left Chelsea, his long-time club, because he couldn’t jive with Frank Lampard.

Frustration doesn’t pair well with Luiz, and Emery may keep him implanted in the starting XI in order to avoid losing out completely on Luiz’s usefulness.

I hope it wouldn’t be like that. I hope that if Luiz was benched, he would still be barking in the locker room, he’d still be a beacon of leadership. But I just don’t know.

Per Mertesacker led from the bench in his last year, but he was a Gooner through and through. I hope we never have to find out the answer to this question.