Shkodran Mustafi performance against Burnley receives praise from Mikel Arteta.
Shkodran Mustafi has been one of the players who has divided opinion since he joined Arsenal. The German has often been prone to making silly mistakes and a recent one was his mistake against Chelsea that cost David Luiz a red card after the Brazilian tried to help save the day.
He, however, recovered well from that mistake and even created an assist as the 10-men Arsenal played out a well earned 2-2 draw.
He got a knock in his next game against Bournemouth in the FA Cup and he was scheduled to miss their game against Burnley.
But he surprisingly started the game and gave a good account of himself once again.
Arsenal kept a clean sheet in that game and Mikel Arteta singled him out for praise after the game.
He assured the German that it was ok to make mistakes as long as he doesn’t wallow in self-pity.
He said, as quoted by the Mirror: “Yeah, I said to him that he could make a mistake but I like his reaction afterwards and the courage he had to play and make decisions.
“He’s been training really well and I think you could see today how good he was.”
Mustafi still has many detractors but only the blind would refuse to accept that he has shown significant improvement under Arteta. He was one of the best players on the pitch yesterday and was a rock in the Arsenal defence.
No one is suggesting that he is the future in the Arsenal defence for the next three years or so, but as it stands right now, he is fast becoming a reliable defender and the manager has acknowledged that.