Arsenal defender David Luiz has given a long and very interesting interview to ESPN Brasil this week.
The 32-year-old has detailed his feelings following his move from London rivals Chelsea last summer, and the ups and downs he’s had with the Gunners so far.
David Luiz had many compliments to make towards Mikel Arteta. He claims that although he couldn’t play for Pep Guardiola, being managed by one of the manager’s disciples is something great for his career, saying he’s the right man to be in charge of Arsenal.
“I’m grateful because I made another dream come true. Not in a concrete way, but in a different way. I always had the dream of working with Guardiola. I couldn’t work with him, but I’m having the opportunity to work with a person who grew up and learned and was victorious with him, who has the same ideas. So in a way, I’m making a dream come true,” David Luiz told ESPN Brasil.
“The thing that impressed me the most was that the day he arrived, he brought the whole club together, not just the players. And he’d like the club to walk together, with the same ideas, the same purpose, the same oxygen. Let everyone understand why we were there, who we were representing and the way we were supposed to do it. Since that first meeting, I saw, breathed and said: now I understand why I’m here. Since then, I’ve been delighted by the form and conduct he had.”
Regarding the Coronavirus break, David Luiz explains the players have never stopped taking lessons from Arteta, and are even tested about the games they’ve played this season.
“We have homework, like schools and universities! I was with Arteta two days ago on a video call of an hour and a half doing game analysis, training analysis, of our season. ‘Speak of this game without seeing the game, David’. And then we watch and see that we think we had a good game, but we couldn’t come out playing. Or we think it’s bad, but in this part it was good. This exchange is very positive and will help us a lot in the future.
“Today, we can understand how to defend with the ball, how to be a team in possession of the ball, who dictates the pace, who knows when to keep the ball and when to respect it, how to understand the opponent. This helps the defence a lot. We get into that cliché phrase that the first defenders are the attackers, but it’s the truth.”
David Luiz can’t hide how happy he is at Arsenal, especially seeing the direction the club has been going in since the manager’s arrival. His comments about how things have been working between the management and the board are quite optimistic.
“What I see today is that this process is being done well. The club will always be big, it’s a winning club, it has always won. And then it goes through processes, cycles of people are over, cycles of leaders are over, and that is a part of meeting again.
“Now, Arsenal undoubtedly got the person to be that head, that leader, right. I’m fully aware that Arteta will be one of the greatest coaches in the world. And the people who are leading, not only Arteta… Edu himself, who came from our Brazilian team and is a good person, of character; Raul, who worked at Barcelona and knows how to work in a great team. The players are getting it, so are the employees. And to have the hope, the ambition that this club should shine again.”
