Arsenal: David Luiz did one big thing right in a sea of wrong

Arsenal’s efforts were undone against Manchester City, almost entirely by David Luiz, but at least the Brazilian did one thing right amidst all the wrong.

You wait three months for your team to come back and remind the world that they’re a big club, and then they lose 3-0 against a team that is supposed to be a direct rival. If you looked at the Premier League table since Mikel Arteta took over Arsenal, you’d see them in the Champions League.

There’s a reason for that. And we didn’t just take points from the big teams. When we had a near-similar collapse against Chelsea, we came back with serious fight. But against City, it just wasn’t there. Nothing was there.

But then again, it was, it was just that David Luiz single-handedly gave Manchester City a two-goal lead.

David Luiz did something right for Arsenal, small though it be

Luiz came on for Pablo Mari in the first half following his countryman’s injury and, in response, Luiz proceeded to get beat by Raheem Sterling countless times before gifting him a goal, then surrendering a penalty and getting sent off.

You literally can’t do any worse.

But amidst this sea of wrong, David Luiz did one really big thing right, and that’s that he wasted no time in assuming responsibility for the way the match went. All things considered, that is the absolute best he can do. And he did it.

I only put credence in what a player says in very specific circumstances. I am always quick to praise Granit Xhaka for addressing matches of concern, and for that matter, I am quick to praise anyone who takes accountability for themselves and the team.

David Luiz did that and he deserves what little plaudits he can get for that. Maybe my -1000 player rating should have been, I don’t know, -997.

Players make mistakes. Some more than others and, this year, Luiz had been a font of mistakes. But he did shape himself up and improve in a big way. I didn’t think that Luiz’s mistakes against Brentford would breed what we just saw against City, but he’s a professional. He will bounce back, and we will be thankful again, by the end of the year, that we have him on the team.

Maybe this is a feeble attempt at optimism, but that’s my job here. I’m allowed to be a little impressed with a player’s actions off the pitch. And you should be too, for what little it’s worth.