Shkodran Mustafi is one of the most improved players at Arsenal since Mikel Arteta became our new manager.
The German has been one player that Arsenal fans have been desperate to see the back of. Since he moved to the Emirates in 2016, he has never managed to hold down a regular starting place and the Gunners had made him available for sale last summer (The Guardian).
He was so poor that the club had been unable to find a buyer for him.
However, when Arteta became manager last year he gave everyone a fair chance to get back into the team and Mustafi seems to have taken his chance and he might have earned himself a deal.
Speaking about the defender recently, Arteta couldn’t hide his delight at the performance of the German, and he insisted that he loved the former Everton trainee.
‘That’s something the club has to address but he knows my opinion,’ Arteta said regarding a new deal for the German as quoted by the Mail.
‘I’m really happy with him as you can see. The way he’s playing, how committed he is with everything we’re trying to do, the level in his performance every three or four days, he’s been really consistent.’
Well, this is bad news, Mustafi may well have improved but he is not top class and if Arsenal is to ever have any hope of becoming a top-four side again and challenging for major silverware they are going to need top-class players.
At best, Mustafi is average and that is simply not good enough.
What improvement, Mourinho laughed at the Asn’l improvement after the game yesterday. Mustafi being a better player under MA is crap, bull, poppycock. He is the same lousy no gooder he have been ever since the dreadful day he came to Emirates, and if fool Arteta give him a new contract, the boss should have a big fat foot in the… Out! It was a big gamble to give him a job he is not qualified for. Arteta is just a wannabe without experience, who isn’t man enough to keep distance to the players, and now is collecting losers just because he can’t be ruthless and fire them. Asn’ls main problem seems more and more spells A-R-T-E-T-A. Offering a new contract to hopeless misfits like Clown Luiz and Mustafi (who’s name is a obscenity in itself) is incompetence of first degree. Maybe wannabe Arteta still is an errand boy for Pep and on an agent mission to Ashburton to ruin Asn’l completely. It looks like he will be successful.
Mustafi is one of a group of our mediocre players who must be unloaded if we are to have any chance of regaining our top four status.
Arteta has to do a lot in order for Arsenal to get a better position. we need players like Thomas Partey, Zaha and good striker to supplement the performance of the club. Aubamenya is okay, our major problem is in defense, center strike. We need Thomas by all means as Arsenal funs.
I’m not sure Arteta really means what he says about Mustafi.
I think he is just trying to motivate the player to give his best while he remains at the club.
I mean, even if you want to get rid of a player, you don’t tell them so when you don’t have a better alternative
Nice. This proves to me that not many people can read in between the lines. Arteta is very intelligent and knows how to man-manage and lead a group . How can he be motivating his players and at the same time saying he will bin them? That can potentially disrupt he balance and mood in the squad for the rest of season. In the coming transfer market, we will know exactly how he feels about his squad.
Why does this not surprise me in the slightest??
There is so many football leagues round Europe where players who is not adequate (not good enough) for English Premier League can seek their happiness – and find it! I’m sure that most of Asn’l misfits (Xhaka, Mustafi, Luiz, Kola, Bellerin etc) can be adequate in such top leagues as Ligue 1 and Serie A, even in Bundesliga, but they are not good enough for EPL. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Of course, every young man with an ambition have the right to look for the highest top, but when they’ve tried it and their qualifications isn’t enough, someone must tell them so. In this case, with those players named above, it’s Mike Arteta’s job. It’s your job, senor Arteta, It’s your job to help those guys to a more suitable workplace, for a more suitable place in life. You don’t have to hurt their feelings, just help them to find other clubs to play for and be happy. None of those players should be playing in the first English division, it’s as simple as that. Do your job, senor Arteta, and do it now. Do it now, before it’s to late, to late for them – and to late for you yourself.
Let’s face it. Arsenal is not going to buy world class players when they are out of European football and their wage structure is built for European football.
They can’t afford to buy new defenders.
Mustafi has been the best defender in Arsenal many games in a row.
If i had to choose a central defender for a game from Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Luiz and Chambers, i would choose Mustafi.
So what other options we have for next season?
Holding, Mari, Mavropanos and Saliba.
Saliba should be next big thing, but we don’t know yet how well he cope premier football. He also might be injury prone.
Mavropanos have been good playing “the second tier” football in Germany. He might be made of class.
Mari – he looks like a defender who reads game well, but he seems like slowest defender of them all.
We have a lot of central defenders, but none of them are very good.
If we play with 3 central defenders we need at least 5 central defenders. I would choose Saliba, Holding, Mustafi, Mari, Chambers and maybe keep Mavropanos to see if he can shake of injuries behind him.
Sokratis and Kolasinac are not needed.
Mustafi is steel when comparing to many other central defenders of ours (when he is sharp like he has been lately).
Mislintat (now at Stuttgart) is eyeing up a move (cheap move) for Mavropanos this summer, according to reports…
Johannes
I think your top 2 paragraphs say a lot about Arsenal’s financial situation and how busy or not we are going to be in the transfer market especially as wage cuts were introduced
I totally agree with you. We don’t have the cash to splash and I don’t think any top player will be willing to join our team if we are not ready to pay him a mouth-watering salary. Mustafi is still our best CB at the moment.
The way people are praising Arteta for the bad team performance cannot be justified. Thats the reason he can be happy with players like Mustafi and Xhaka. The guy is slowly digging his own grave
Or could it be that Arteta is doing the best he can with being dealt a bad hand?
Apart from Leno, Auba and Tierney the common consenus seem to be that the team sucks. Yet people expect Arteta to produce better with the same players that suck. Choose someone else, like there are options.
We do not play Xhaka, and chuck in Torreira or AMN, do we think that solves our creative problems in midfield? Will Willock be are creative hero?
We do not play Mustafi, Sokratis or Luiz and think our defence will be better with Holding and some U-23 player?
Arsenal is currently a restructuring project that will take 2 or 3 years to fix at least. Arteta is perfect for that rebuild. A top coach that is used to spend a fortune on new signings to achieve results is neither a good nor realistic option.
Totally agree
Well said and spot on !
we all want Arteta to be a top coach at Arsenal but you cannot be one if you respect mediocrity by extending contracts to Luiz and Mustafi.Next who?They may have improved but they are not good enough for a title challenging team. If we are happy to be 10th to 15th then well, okay, no issues with these type of players and don’t blame them when results go haywire. You cannot have 8 to 10 dullards in the team and expect miracles.
Top Gunner, Utter nonsense! If you cannot see quite plainly that Arteta has already made huge improvements and is a splendid coach then you know little about football , my young friend.
I AM ALMOST 70, BEEN WATCHING ARSENAL SINCE 1958 AND AN AMAZED AT YOUR NAIVETY AND HASTY RANK POOR JUGEMENT OF A FINE COACH. I actually pity you and your lackof perception.
Mustafi has to go, along with Sokratis and Kolasinac. That would leave us with Saliba, Holding, Mari, Chambers when fit and Luiz, who cant be more than a cover for the cover. Ideally I want him gone too but he just signed contract extensio so he will stay.
If we can add Ake and Malang Sarr for free. Both can operate as left backs. Then we would have a decent defense with Bellerin and Cedric at right back. Give Bellerin 1 year to probe his worth, otherwise we need to replace him next year.
Nathan Ake would be a dream. When he was at Chelsea (if I remember right) he was playing RWB. But Chelsea is Chelsea is Chelsea, as Gertrude Stein once said.
Belllerin has proved his unworth over a number of years already and yet you want to give him another year. For Gods sake why? He cannot defend at all. Why don’t you see that !
Sorry Arteta but as youi kinow only too wll but cannot say for fear of upsetting throwner who won’t allow you to bring in atop quality CB instead, Musafi is not remotely of Arsenal standard and is not even as the article states “average at best”. If he were average that would be a huge improvement . But he is not He is rubbish and he is a clown, even though he tries hard. PERHAPS HE IS A PRINCIPAL AT CLOWN SCHOOL IN GERMANY! But clowns are funny, whereas Mustafi is a tragedian.