Saturday at Anfield was a wake-up call for Arsenal after a good start to the season. According to Kenny Cunningham, defensively there was only one man to blame.
Speaking on Monday's OTB AM , the former Ireland international was surprised that Arsenal even brought in David Luiz in the first place.
“I was very surprised that Emery made that jump and brought him there.
“In terms of what Arsenal need in the centre of that defence, they need someone who knows how to defend basically.
“They need someone who enjoys defending and David Luiz has never struck me as someone who enjoys defending," he said.
As well as giving away a penalty for the second goal, Luiz got beaten very easily in the lead up to second. Cunningham didn't hold back with his criticism of the Brazilian.
“His position for the third goal, the Salah goal is almost unprecedented.
Lazy defending
“You very rarely see defending like that the way Salah left him ten yards behind him running towards the edge of the 18-yard box.
“The only way you can get beat as a defender in a situation like that is if the forward drops his right shoulder to the ground and actually spins to the left.
“All he basically does is lean to the left and take a quick touch. To be left ten yards behind your man after a simple bit of skill like that is unheard of," the former Sunderland defender said.
Cunningham feels it comes down to Luiz's attitude to defending more than anything.
“It’s lazy defending and it’s typical of David Luiz; it’s all or nothing.
“When it comes off and he wrestles the ball of the centre forward and walks up the pitch with the ball, 40,000 are off their seats clapping.
“For me, he is the last signing that Arsenal needed going into the season where they needed to improve in that defensive central area.
“I would be amazed if he played the whole season there because these kinds of problems are just going to multiply and continue," Cunningham said.
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