Arsenal’s first game of the season was away against Newcastle United and they got off to a great start with a win and a clean sheet.
In the very next game Emery broke up that defence and there were no more clean sheets in any competition until Thursday night against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.
When you have a defence that is lacking in so many areas including communication is it a wise idea to keep on changing a defence after it keeps a clean sheet?
Obviously it would mean keeping Mustafi next to Luiz and Chambers as a right-back but what would be so wrong with that?
Replacing Mustafi with Sokratis and Chambers with Maitland-Niles is probably what the coach will do but I am not sure it is an upgrade on the back four that started against Frankfurt.
One game does not make a season, that I understand but the favoured backline that Emery has been going with has been less than successful and if fans are honest with themselves a lot of them were saying that Emery should go back to the defence that started against Newcastle.
The reason is simple, you do not mess with a winning combination and Thursday’s defence is a winning combination.
It is too late to go back to the Newcastle line up because Sokratis and Maitland-Niles have not been in good form since, which could have something to do with the changing of personal at the back.
The defence on Thursday stood strong against a good German side that put them under intense pressure and they deserve another chance to show Emery that they are the back four that can bring stability at the back, especially when there is no guarantee that changing the defence again will work out.
Of course, there is Holding to come back in and shortly after Tierney and Bellerin but I have to ask, why mess with a defence that has just kept a clean sheet away from home against a decent team?