Unai Emery Praises 'Very Positive' David Luiz After 1st Arsenal Goal

Unai Emery praised the impact David Luiz has made since joining Arsenal after the centre-back netted his first goal for the club during a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.

Luiz, who moved to north London from Chelsea this summer, headed the winner after just nine minutes against the Cherries at the Emirates Stadium.

Aside from the match-winning contribution, Luiz has been a good influence in the squad, according to his manager, per James Benge of Football.London: "He is very positive. He is every time speaking about positive things. He is helping the young players. He came late in the squad but his commitment is very high, his behaviour. Everybody was happy with that goal."

Emery also hailed the aerial threat Luiz offered the Gunners after the 32-year-old emphatically met Nicolas Pepe's corner: "The most important is to have a lot of corners offensively. We had a lot in the first half and overall. Less in the second half. When we take a corner we can score. We did that today. It's important for us to have different players scoring."

Luiz was signed in the transfer window to add experience and assurance to what had been a suspect back line. Things had hardly gone to plan before Sunday, though, with the Brazilian giving away a penalty during a 3-1 defeat away to Liverpool in August before doing the same during a 2-2 draw with Watford last month.

High-profile errors have always been a part of Luiz's game, but he had yet to offer the solidity the Gunners were expecting. The former Paris Saint-Germain ace was on form against Bournemouth, bossing strikers Callum Wilson and Dominic Solanke in the air and making his share of key blocks.

Being a menace aerially at the other end of the pitch has also been a Luiz hallmark during his time in England's top flight:

He can add a new dimension to the attacking play of a team heavily reliant on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for goals this season. The striker had bagged seven in as many league matches before Sunday, but Arsenal's next-highest scorer Alexandre Lacazette, who has two goals but has missed the last seven games in all competitions with injury.

Luiz can be the goalscoring defender Arsenal need after Laurent Koscielny joined Bordeaux in the summer. He can also help stabilise a unit set for an infusion of younger talent in the near future.

He has been working well with 24-year-old right-back Calum Chambers, who also impressed against Bournemouth:

Emery, who briefly worked with Luiz at PSG, is waiting on left-back Kieran Tierney, 22, to get up to speed. He's been injured along with 24-year-olds right-back Hector Bellerin and central defender Rob Holding.

Asked when the trio will be ready, Emery said Tierney, who was on the bench against the Cherries, is the closest to being able to start, per Benge.

Eventually, Tierney, Bellerin and Holding will likely be integrated into the starting XI. They will offer greater athleticism than Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi.

Luiz will have a key role to play as the senior man in a young group set to welcome 18-year-old William Saliba, who is on loan at St-Etienne, next season. Emery will be increasingly reliant on Luiz for steady performances like this one, even though steady hasn't always been a quality the erratic defender has been known for.