“I have no comments. I have revealed all that must be said in the last few years. He never learned from his mistakes, and he was very aggressive,” Gary Neville told Sky Sports, commenting on David Luiz’s unusually poor performance when Arsenal were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City. Luiz scored multiple mistakes in the match even though he had just entered in the 24th minute replacing Pablo Mari.
Luiz made a blunder that led to Raheem Sterling’s goal and dropped Riyad Mahrez in the penalty box so he was given a red card for being the last defender. The Brazilian defender is the first player to make a hat trick blunder since Carl Jenkinson in 2015. The penalty was the fourth penalty he gave Arsenal opponents in the Premier League this season. The last player to give four penalties to opponents in one league season was Jose Fonte in the 2016/17 season.
He gave four penalties this season to Liverpool, Watford, Chelsea and City. Neville is right, Luiz is very rash, especially in difficult situations in the penalty box. He made a lot of small mistakes that led to the shooting room for opponents, carelessly, his efforts to make amends precisely resulted in a penalty.
David Luiz vs Liverpool
Starting from Trent-Alexander Arnold on the right hand side who provided Roberto Firmino in the penalty box, Firmino immediately bounced the ball to the free-standing Mohammad Salah. Salah then has room to shoot from the right side. After failing to guard Salah, Luiz added to the error by pulling on Salah’s shirt.
Even if it does not fall, pulling clothes is still a violation so the referee points to the white spot. Liverpool doubled the advantage to 2-0 and finally won with a score of 3-1. Luiz was in a difficult position after letting Salah loose, but he was not forced to give a penalty. One is in a narrow angle and on the side that requires him to use a weaker foot, the right foot. Sokratis Papastathopoulos is also in a good position to block Salah.
David Luiz vs Watford
Come to Vicarage Road in September, Arsenal won two goals in the first round. Tom Cleverley reduced the margin score in the 53rd minute before Roberto Pereyra was brought down by Luiz in the 78th minute. Watford launched a counterattack on the right side through Pereyra with Daryl Janmaat seen overlapping and giving options for a breakthrough bait.
Luiz helped Sead Kolasinac who initially had to face the two players alone. The situation is now two against two. Luiz was seen giving instructions to Kolasinac to release Pereyra and close the room for Janmaat. So far the owner of the Champions League medal is doing the right thing.
Luiz’s mistake was that the body shape was too exposed so that Pereyra could attack the inside. If successfully passed, Luiz’s body shape will prevent him from chasing Pereyra and leaving the Argentine with a dangerous shooting range. The player who helped Chelsea win the Premier League 2016/17 is still trying to stop Pereyra, but by dropping it.
Luiz certainly knew that he could not reach the ball in such a situation, but somehow he continued to do so. Pereyra finally fell and the referee gave a penalty. Watford successfully equalized and Arsenal lost two points in this match.
David Luiz vs Chelsea
The game has only been running for 26 minutes, Shokdran Mustafi made a blunder when his header to Bern Leno was too weak. Tammy Abraham quickly catches the ball and passes Leno out of the goal. Luiz stepped down to cover Mustafi’s mistakes, but he also made mistakes. Luiz’s running direction indicated Luiz’s intention to take the ball, not to close Abraham’s shooting room.
Luiz is not in a good position to win the ball and the risk is too high. If it fails, Abraham can easily score goals. The result is even worse. Abraham is faster and blocks Luiz from the ball using the body. The England striker was seen luring Luiz into doing a body charge until he fell. Abraham was successful, Luiz was careless.
The referee blew the whistle, drove Luiz, and gave Chelsea a penalty. Jorginho finally succeeded in opening the superiority of Chelsea. While Arsenal must undergo the rest of the match with 10 players. The match that took place at Stamford Bridge ended in a 2-2 draw.
David Luiz vs City
Despite not playing from the start, Luiz’s influence was very bad in this match. Just 23 minutes into play, he failed to control the ball so that gave Sterling a one-on-one situation against Leno. About this blunder, Jamie Carragher tries to understand Luiz’s situation but Luiz too often makes such blunders. “I understand Kevin De Bruyne gave a good pass at the time and maybe a reflection on the grass makes the ball roll faster but no, this happens too often and it’s not surprising why he was reserved,” Carragher said.
Four minutes after the second half, Luiz made a mistake again. He tries to get the ball before Mahrez even though Luiz is not in a good position. The risk is also too high if Mahrez can pass Luiz. The two-time Ligue 1 winner with PSG certainly lost quickly to Mahrez and put Arsenal in dangerous conditions. If Mahrez passes, the Algerian wing will have to deal with the goalkeeper.
Luiz tried to arrest Mahrez. But he lost to Mahrez and finally used his hands to stop Mahrez. Just like against Chelsea, Luiz was given a red card and Leno had to face a penalty kick. De Bruyne successfully executed a fine penalty.
Of all the violations in the penalty box, Luiz always makes mistakes first and adds to the unnecessary things. All Luiz’s efforts did not even lead to the ball, but only stopped the opposing players. It’s hard to believe players who have quite a lot of achievements, as mentioned several times above, make the same mistakes repeatedly.
After losing to City, Luiz apologized. “It’s not the team’s fault, it’s my fault. The team played great, especially with 10 players. The coach is also amazing,” Luiz said when interviewed. Luiz also expressed his desire to stay at Arsenal.
Moving from Chelsea last summer, Arsenal certainly hope that Luiz’s experience can help them improve their position in the Premier League. But Luiz actually made a lot of blunders and mistakes, something that should not be done if you want to be an example for other Arsenal players. Luiz’s poor performance has led many to hope that Arsenal will not renew their contracts which will expire on June 30.
When asked about Luiz’s future, Mikel Arteta does not yet know what decision Arsenal will take to see the uncertain financial conditions in the midst of this pandemic. Apart from that, Luiz must prove that he can contribute to Arsenal and not repeat the mistakes he made.
ASL
