Arsenal: I love when David Luiz makes things look easy

Arsenal kept a clean sheet against Manchester United, and somehow David Luiz made this monumental task look relatively easy.

In case you’ve missed my ongoing narrative this year, I cannot stand when Arsenal count on David Luiz and Sokratis to be their centerback duo. So yeah, against Manchester United, you could say I was dubious. But Mikel Arteta made me confident enough not to dread.

What a treat this was to watch. Even from a defensive standpoint. Before I talk about David Luiz, I have to say that Sokratis was actually quite good. He had a few head scratchers, as he always does, but overall, he was solid.

David Luiz, though? Completely brilliant. I had feared that his dominance against Chelsea was just him rising up against his former team, but he was every bit as good as, if not better, against Manchester United.

It was one of those rare matches where Luiz essentially made no mistakes. No shaky moments. Every single movement he made I believed in. That sounds dramatic but I 100% mean it.

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Luiz had the highest confidence throughout the 90 minutes. He never let anyone get comfortable. He never left anything up to question. He didn’t even have to sweep up that many messes because he was so good about securing against messes occurring in the first place. We’ve always known him to be a proactive defender, but usually that involves some rash decision that leave the team scrambling.

That didn’t happen against United. And to add to it, his passing was brilliant. he completed 63% of his 16 long balls, which was better than both Bernd Leno and Sokratis. The highlight was that brilliant quick-take on the free kick where he found Sead Kolasinac streaking down the left.

I always hesitate to think that someone this far along in their career could be reinvented. And I’m already struggling with Mesut Ozil‘s supposed reinvention, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s too. Now you’re telling me I have to consider that David Luiz has become a stalwart, reliable defender, all because Mikel Arteta is the new head coach? What is even going on anymore? He’s making veterans looks like prospects. (In a good way.)

Again, it’s early going, but Luiz has looked every bit the class defender this defense is needed. I will still reservedly put my hope in him, but it beats not being able to put my hope in anyone. This has all been so remarkably convincing.