1 – How do you solve a problem like David Luiz?
Defensive players and injuries go hand in hand at Arsenal, so it wasn’t much of a surprise to us all that after just 24 minutes, we’d already waved goodbye to Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari.
Arteta would’ve already been sweating on the severity of Mari’s injury, so things didn’t get any better when his so-called ‘role model’ Luiz picked up a two game ban.
Currently on loan from Flamengo, 26-year-old Mari has impressed in the short time he’s been with the Gunners, having not conceded a single goal in the 204 minutes he’s played for the club. With Arteta describing his injury as ‘not looking good’, we may even have to wake up to the reality of not seeing Mari in an Arsenal shirt ever again.
With Sokratis also injured and reportedly out of action for another two weeks, it’s left Arsenal in a sticky situation when it comes to filling bodies in the centre of defence.
One option is academy graduate, Daniel Ballard, who at 20 years of age is yet to make his senior debut for the club but has been a regular in first-team training since Arteta’s arrival.
Ballard is known to be a tough tackling defender, having played a big part in Arsenal’s youth setup for many years now. With the team selection against City, Arteta proved last that age nor experience is a big factor to win a starting place. Ballard has all the credentials of a player who cares, is consistent under pressure and understands how this team want to play.
Sticking with academy graduates, a name that keeps cropping up on my timeline is Zech Medley. Again, the youngster has been a regular in first-team training since the start of the season, and at 19 years of age would fit into Arteta’s vision of the ‘future Arsenal’.
Last season, Medley kicked off his senior career with two appearances in the early stages of the Europa League which were rightly rewarded with a place in Arsenal’s FA Cup game later in the campaign. As a 6ft 5in centre back, Medley is built for the Premier League, but could the step up be too much, too soon?
You’d be easily forgiven if you forgot about Rob Holding by the way! The ‘rising star’ is now 24 and can no longer be handed the ‘new boy’ treatment when it comes to playing for a club like Arsenal.
Holding has spent a big chunk of his Gunners career in the physio room, but fresh from his latest injury setback he did manage to put in 45 minutes against Championship side Brentford in last weeks mini friendly.
It’s undoubtable that Holding has talent, but we’re in a weird time where there can’t be any risk factor going into 90 minutes of football, so its a roll of the dice that Arteta could be forced to make if he starts running out of any more options.
With Calum Chambers also sidelined at the moment, it could fall on Arteta to try something drastic and add Sead Kolasinac into the mix. Having Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin back to full fitness could allow the Arsenal boss to adapt his defensive line to more of a three, having the likes of Saka and Pepe as wing-backs to solve any issues on the flanks.