Players considered past their best are still important to Arsenal.
When Arsenal signed David Luiz from Chelsea last summer it raised a few eyebrows, he was considered a liability and summed up the Arsenal transfer policy perfectly.
Now, Luiz is a clown, in my opinion, I have made my disdain for him as a footballer very clear on this site from the day he was acquired, however, he does have other uses.
Experience at the highest level is a great asset for any player but it cannot maintain them on the field of play when age catches up with them but it can still be a huge asset off the field.
Of course, you do not sign a player like Luiz to do off field work, that is what coaches are for but you can sign them to play a stop-gap role and help mentor and guide the younger players.
When Arsenal have their backs to the wall it is the job of the senior players to calm the younger players down, to keep them focussed and to mentor them and that applies both on and off the pitch.
I have zero time for Mesut Ozil and feel he should be sold as a matter of urgency, however, only recently Joe Willock revealed the influence that Ozil has on him. The same no doubt applies to the young strikers around Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (not past his best but still a senior player) or defenders training and playing alongside Luiz.
I would personally like to see David Luiz not to be a starter but someone that can be brought off the bench when the Gunners are trying to see a game out. I would prefer Ozil to be utilised nearer the end of a game when the opposition is tiring, space is being opened up and Arsenal needs a goal. It would also be far better not to see Aubameyang chastising Willock but instead encouraging him.
There is always a role for senior players as long as they are utilised in the right way.
I don’t think David Luiz has actually past his best at the top level of the game in top club football. But in actual sense he is passing his best with maybe 2 more years left for him to continuing playing at the top level in top league football. The decline by Arsenal in match winning in the PL which us Gooners have been witnessing so far this season in the Premier League is not down to Luiz singularly. But down to the team generally as a whole including the head coach and his back–room staff I will say. It’s a collective responsibility but not a singular one. If Arteta who is the Gunners current head coach will take it upon himself to always bring the very best out of his best players at the Emirates Stadium, and the players in turn will always play to their very best in matches for Arsenal but not go slack a times in their performances but show hunger consistently to win matches and be winning them always for Arsenal e.g. Liverpool FC who have been winning matches consistently in the PL since this current season’s campaign that will soon come to an end begun, Arsenal with the current players at the club would have been running neck by neck with Liverpool at the top of the summit battling to lift the PL title big platinum trophy at the end of the season.
Will Abraham basically said something similar when saying how helpful Giroud was to him in training.
David Luiz lacks most of the qualities needed by a modern style CB. He was of his era. Football is now too dynamic, fast and athletic for Luiz. We often recycle much too slowly going forwards which takes the intensity from our game. Mustafi and Socratis are guilty of this slow recycling too. The better teams are motivated to move on the ball and move the ball on with pace and intention and not ‘dwell’ on the ball. It’s not just about making tackles it’s also about how quickly defenders recycle. Teams like Wolves and Leicester illuminate how slowly we move out from defence into meaningful attack. They create an intensity that is leaving behind at the moment.
Before Luiz will be benched according to your suggestion mention the defender that is ahead of him in our team? Luiz has been doing fine since Arteta arrived, he has been contributing to our chance creation with his long range passes to the strikers, and recently I discovered mustafi has started doing this. I am not saying Luiz is the best in the world but comparing him with the defenders we have presently,
The senior players are the players that seems passed playing time..
Do we suggest to sell them all?
These are all the negative we need to wipe out..
Maybe under 20 team is better than this senior team, y not bring all of them to the First team…
Arsenal fans too critical…
It is not going to help, it has never ever helped
You are killing the team…
Fans are killing Arsenal…
Fans are not managers nor coach…
We are just supports…
Give this team a chance to work…
Up Arsenal…