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David Luiz (Out)

GDeep™

League is very weak
You think Saliba will be a starter next season?

I agree re Mari. But if Mustafi and Sokratis remains next season, at some point we're going to see them together starting games.
Saliba will be in and out the team, given he’s 19 and new to the league. But I think he’ll get a decent amount of minutes, can see guys like Holding/Mustafi playing too next to Mari.

Who knows, Sok might leave this summer too as he knows he’s out favour. He himself said he rather leave than sit on the bench at this age.

Some might want the security of having the experienced Luiz around, but I like the idea of getting rid of these old guys and blooding the younger guys and trying to build a new team.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
Trusted ⭐

Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
Saliba will be in and out the team, given he’s 19 and new to the league. But I think he’ll get a decent amount of minutes, can see guys like Holding/Mustafi playing too next to Mari.

Who knows, Sok might leave this summer too as he knows he’s out favour. He himself said he rather leave than sit on the bench at this age.

Some might want the security of having the experienced Luiz around, but I like the idea of getting rid of these old guys and blooding the younger guys and trying to build a new team.
Unlike young attackers, the thing with young CBs is that they only thrive when they play with a top CB next to them.

If you get rid of Luiz, we'll be just one injury away from seeing the mustafi-sok or Mustafi-Saliba/Sokratis-Saliba partnership.

Arteta needs to clean house
 

OnlyOne

‘Donkeys don’t have a peak, they remain useless’
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Luiz will get extended and we'll see Luiz x Mari as our starting CB.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Unlike young attackers, the thing with young CBs is that they only thrive when they play with a top CB next to them.

If you get rid of Luiz, we'll be just one injury away from seeing the mustafi-sok or Mustafi-Saliba/Sokratis-Saliba partnership.

Arteta needs to clean house

Looking online, the average rating this season for Luiz is below that of 12/13 other players, obviously below Leno, Auba etc but also below Sokratis, Xhaka, Cebellos, Özil, Laca etc.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
Luiz will get extended and we'll see Luiz x Mari as our starting CB.
What’s the point of signing Saliba then? One year of his contract has already gone on the loan, we’re not going to have him sit his second season as an Arsenal player watching a 34 year old Luiz.
 

GDeep™

League is very weak
He was poor every game for Emery, can anyone say he wasn’t? He’s average ratings back that up if his overall rating is lower than even Özil.

On top of that he gave that interview where he basically said he couldn’t be bothered because he had no faith in Emery.
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
Looking online, the average rating this season for Luiz is below that of 12/13 other players, obviously below Leno, Auba etc but also below Sokratis, Xhaka, Cebellos, Özil, Laca etc.

If your looking at whoscored ratings they only tell half the story and are incredibly heavily weighted to certain elements of the game.

Dribbling scores highly hence why Traore gets man of the match every game even when he doesnt do great.

Aerials are another one hence why Mustafi tends to get decent ratings.

Personally i think we need to find someone within the Premier League who can either start with Luiz/Mari/or Saliba who is solid, reliable but capable. Who is a leader and who can organise a defence.

Who that is I'm not sure. And for the price range even less. These may sound poverty but these are the possible players we could look towards within our budget.

Tarkowski (Burnley)
Laceslles (Newcastle who knows with takeover)
Ake (Bmouth)

The above list dont sound too great. And I would probably plump for Tarkowski. Perfect age, good in the air. Decent on the ground. 25-30m could do it.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
We'd be taking a huge gamble on both Mari who's proved nothing yet and Saliba who's a teenager. As well as Mustafi and Holding who aren't good enough. It's all well and good saying Mari is left footed and Saliba is promising but in practice will it work? I'd be surprised if we don't suffer, certainly initially if we go down this route. Luiz is a relatively safe option and for me you get rid of the likes of Sokratis, Mustafi and Holding before you get rid of Luiz, especially if you're not bringing in a top CB.

I can see the reasoning behind the move but for me the team suffers. It'd be more a business move than a footballing one and when you go down that route you're handicapping Arteta significantly. You're expecting miracles if you think Arteta does anything significant with Mari-Saliba as his starting CB partnership or worse Mari with one of Mustafi/Holding.

With all that being said I don't think things are that much better with Luiz, imo we still lack a top CB in his prime. So far that we'll suffer no matter what. Maybe we just don't want aging players on big contracts when we know they don't contribute anything long term. But if that's the case why sign Luiz in the first place? Was he just another stop gap? In which case why did we sign Sokratis, we've essentially signed two stop gaps and now expecting a teenager to come in. All these windows and we continue to neglect signing a top CB.
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
What’s the point of signing Saliba then? One year of his contract has already gone on the loan, we’re not going to have him sit his second season as an Arsenal player watching a 34 year old Luiz.

Hes 19. What 19 year old has came from a foreign league and started CB for a premier league team? He will need bedding in. As in cup games and maybe europa league if we make it.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
He was poor every game for Emery, can anyone say he wasn’t? He’s average ratings back that up if his overall rating is lower than even Özil.

On top of that he gave that interview where he basically said he couldn’t be bothered because he had no faith in Emery.

Poor is actually putting it mildly he was diabolical. And it can't all be blamed on Emery either, Koscielny and Sokratis both looked decent together for a spell under Emery. Luiz has looked better under Arteta because there's better structure and he's been able to showcase his ball playing capabilities. I don't think he's been a revelation or anything. I mean finished Koscileny was putting in better performances last season under Emery than Luiz has shown in his short Arsenal career thus far.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
The penalty he gave away vs Liverpool immediately comes to my mind, for all the good he brings there's always those moments with Luiz where he just makes brainless decisions, loses concentration or whatever. It's been the same throughout his career, ain't gonna change now.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
Trusted ⭐

Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
The penalty he gave away vs Liverpool immediately comes to my mind, for all the good he brings there's always those moments with Luiz where he just makes brainless decisions, loses concentration or whatever. It's been the same throughout his career, ain't gonna change now.
Not like I'm defending him, but before he came here he's only given away one penalty in all his years in the premier league. This season alone he's already given two away. Maybe it might not be entirely his fault. See the mustafi howler against Chelsea
 

OnlyOne

‘Donkeys don’t have a peak, they remain useless’
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
What’s the point of signing Saliba then? One year of his contract has already gone on the loan, we’re not going to have him sit his second season as an Arsenal player watching a 34 year old Luiz.

Why wouldn't we? Saliba was bought for 30M because he's one of the best U20 CB prospects. This guy has the potential to be our CB for the next 10 years or be sold at 25/26 for an absolute fortune.

He will have a ton of opportunities in his first year even if Luiz is still here, he'll start every EL/FA/Carabao cup game and probably get a game or two in the PL.

The only way Arsenal fans will be happy is if we spend big on a proper proven CB which, at this time isn't likely. So why not extend Luiz 1 year and have him and Mari (if we buy him) as our starting CB's and hope that Saliba proves good enough to earn a starting spot near the end of the season? For me that's the best option if we're not going to buy a CB.

Getting rid of Luiz to save a year of wages just seems silly to me if we're not bringing in someone proven to replace him.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
Trusted ⭐

Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
Why wouldn't we? Saliba was bought for 30M because he's one of the best U20 CB prospects. This guy has the potential to be our CB for the next 10 years or be sold at 25/26 for an absolute fortune.

He will have a ton of opportunities in his first year even if Luiz is still here, he'll start every EL/FA/Carabao cup game and probably get a game or two in the PL.

The only way Arsenal fans will be happy is if we spend big on a proper proven CB which, at this time isn't likely. So why not extend Luiz 1 year and have him and Mari (if we buy him) as our starting CB's and hope that Saliba proves good enough to earn a starting spot near the end of the season? For me that's the best option if we're not going to buy a CB.

Getting rid of Luiz to save a year of wages just seems silly to me if we're not bringing in someone proven to replace him.
This
 

TromsoGooner

Obsessed With Looking for Eric
Seems like a smart move. We`re not going to be able to fix our defence in one summer and Luiz has his undoubted qualities, great on the ball and seems to be a good influence in the dressing room. If he he is really motivated to stay here he will accept 80K a week for another season, if not it`s not the end of the world.
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
The thing is Luiz is the cheaper option.

The way I see it we have 2 option in terms of keeping some kind of experience in the backline. Sokratis or Luiz.

Sokratis says he doesnt want to stick around if hes not playing much. Surely someone would sign him for 5m which would almost cover Luiz wages. Not to mention saving salary of Sok.

Thought I read somewhere Sokratis is on around 70-80k a week. So it isnt that much of a difference really.

Going into the season with Mari(nobody knows how he is going to play), Saliba (a 19 year old with 0 experience in the PL), maybe say Chambers ( an injury prone player who hasnt kicked on) and Luiz ( experience but always a mistake in there).

Personally even if we keep those 4 I think we need another good defender.
 

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