Arteta’s delight after he gives Saka chance to shine and teen star grabs it with both hands
THEY were written off like old bangers in a demolition derby – but instead of dunces with Wolves, they were Mikel Arteta’s three amigos.
Between them Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz have been in more horror shows than Freddy Krueger’s neighbourhood watch on Elm Street.
This time, as 18-year-old Bukayo Saka stole the show at Molineux and decorated the best week of his life with a maiden Premier League goal, manager Arteta’s born-again backbone gave the boy wonder his platform to shine.
Eight months ago, Xhaka’s career at the Emirates was more or less finished. Stripped of the captaincy, after cupping his ear sarcastically to jeers of critical supporters, tearing off his shirt and telling fans to “f*** off ” when substituted, Xhaka was on borrowed time.
But at Wolves he was disciplined, tenacious and reliable – all the qualities he mislaid under Arteta’s unlamented predecessor Unai Emery. Dear old Luiz, the Frank Spencer of defenders, reminded us that in a back three – especially when he is not assigned to trail a specific opponent for 90 minutes – he is still an asset, not an accident waiting to happen.
Whether he was taking one for the team by wiping out the escaping Adama Traore, or throwing himself in the way of anything in Arsenal’s box, this was the Luiz who won the title at Chelsea three years ago.
And centre-back Mustafi was consigned to the dead wood under Emery, but here he was up for the fight against 24-goal Raul Jimenez and came out on top. The end product was Arsenal’s first away league win, against a team starting above them in the table, since September 2015 – a shocking statistic for such a lofty club.
All of a sudden, spirits are soaring in the red-and-white heartlands of north London ahead of tomorrow’s home game with Leicester.
As Saka’s crisp half-volley and substitute Alex Lacazette’s exemplary finish gave Arsenal their fourth straight win, the recriminations and acrimony of defeats at Manchester City and Brighton last month were consigned to the realm of bad dreams.
The best things to come out of Switzerland are not all made of chocolate, and Arteta said of Xhaka’s gold-plated grit: “He was pivotal – he and Dani (Ceballos) dictated the game really, really well.
“And then, when the game plan changed a little bit and we suffered, they read the situation really well and gave the team exactly what they needed. They had to manage the game but they did it with great maturity.
“I know his character, he’s a great personality and he’s so focused he deserves to be helped. And then, when he puts in performances like this, the team is really happy with him.”
Mustafi’s transformation now means you can recline on your sofa to watch him play, rather than hide behind it.
“We try to help every player to improve – first of all to feel we trust them,” said Arteta. “They can make mistakes, of course, but if they’re willing and they’re happy to try again, I think they will get the rewards.
“And Musti’s attitude, his training, attention levels, the questions he’s asking and how much he wants to help everybody has been really good since I joined.”
Wolves, whose hopes of a late charge into the top four were holed below the water line, we can deal with in short measure. They got what they deserved.
Traore missed their best chances, after 17 seconds and when clean through in the second half, and boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: “The sense of urgency we need to chase a result was not there.
“We were a little bit too passive and in both boxes we needed to be more clinical – which we had been doing since the restart.”