Mikel Arteta vows to defend David Luiz despite under criticisms

Despite several critics aimed at Brazilian defender, the manager seems to be on his side.

The week wasn't a good one for the Arsenal football club following their result against Manchester City. It was a 3-0 loss to the north London side against Pep Guardiola side.

Goals from Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden saw Mikel Arteta side condemned to a loss as the Premier League season restarted on June 17th. 

One man who fans weren't happy with was David Luiz, who was blamed for two goals scored by Manchester City. 

The Brazilian defender came off the bench after 24 minutes when Pablo Mari was injured. 

Just a minute into the second half, David Luiz was sent off for a reckless tackle on Riyad Mahrez in the box, which De Bruyne converted the penalty. 

Speaking ahead of their weekend clash against Brighton Hove Albion, Mikel has come out to defend his player. 

Arteta believes his most experienced centre back still has a chance to play for the Gunners this season. 

According to his transcript obtained from Arsenal’s website:

On whether David Luiz has played his final game for Arsenal:

"I don't know. I told you when I was talking to you guys last night that he's very open. He's a man, he's a leader and I was sure that he was going to speak in front of everybody. You heard what he said, he was very direct with us too. That's what I value from him, that's what I like from him, but we need to be fair on him. Me personally, I'm going to defend him with everything I have because I believe in him, he's shown me a lot of things in his time here and his career speaks for itself"

On whether David Luiz's departure would be more for business reasons than personal:

"Well we cannot forget the financial situation, the way that COVID-19 has hit every club and the economy in general - it's going to have an impact. What the club is doing at the moment is assessing the situation and trying to clarify a lot of uncertainties that we have in the future. We have to make big decisions but time-wise it's difficult to fit them in our needs. We are trying our best, the club is trying its best, and it's difficult sometimes because it puts the player or our sporting necessities in a difficult situation. We have to adapt. That's what it is and that's why I wanted to protect David yesterday. That's why I didn't start him. But it's a funny game and after 20 minutes, you need him and he's a player who has had a lot of uncertainty in the last few weeks."