For most Arsenal fans I am sure they would not give Shkodran Mustafi the time of day nevermind a place in any Arsenal team but to some extent that is akin to cutting off the nose to spite the face.
For starters, Mustafi earns a big wage and having him just sitting on the bench or training with the youth team seems to me to be an absolute waste of money.
I am also not convinced that he is as useless as most people think he is, he was one of the better defenders at the end of last season, certainly better than the likes of Sokratis and as I have said many times on here, he is no worse than David Luiz.
But Unai Emery appears to have lost total confidence in the German and prefers to use both Sokratis and Luiz in the middle of the defence, so what to do with him?
I have already written an article on here that he should be given a chance in the Carabao cup and possibly the Europa League but what about trying him in a different position?
Hector Bellerin is not due back for a while yet and for all the will in the world, Ainsely Maitland-Niles is not a natural right-back.
So what about trying out Mustafi in that position?
I am not suggesting he is tried as a right-back in a Premier League game, though I would not be against it either, but why not try him out in that role in the cup competitions and see how he does?
Something to think about in my opinion.
yes, a good idea i think. if i were emery i would move mustafi to the position of a security guard on the gate. no disrespect to security guards.
Wind back
Formation 3 3 1 3
Front 3 Abu,Lac,pep
1 cabellos
3 metto,Chaka,mustafi
3 sokra,Luis,calum
Try this new format may be work or not
Mustafi would be a solid defensive RB if Emery wants to park the bus again. He is like a more defensive version of Wan Bissaka, another defender that is also not good offensively
The problem is he is lousy in attacking and nowadays top teams need their fullbacks to create crosses. For example, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold and Walker
Maybe Mustafi would be good as an RB if Arsenal rely on their midfielders to create crosses and let their fullbacks stay in the back. But this tactic has to be introduced slowly, because the players are more accustomed to the old 4-2-3-1
the only problem with mustafi he’s very slow in turning and he can’t running to bring crosses.Back right needs a quick person who can intercept those killer passes
AdMartin I think your dislike for David Luiz is always clouding your judgment of him. Luiz might have his own silly moments but Luiz and Mustafi are nothing close to each other, not to even say Mustafi is no worse than Luiz.
Compare him with our Greek wrestler not David Luiz please, he’s so much worse.
I know he’s nothing close to Luiz.
That being said, I’d like to see him get a shot at RB.
in a carabao cup game!
We all have opinions Eddie and I welcome yours. I cannot help how I feel, I simply do not rate Luiz at all, I think he is woeful and that Mustafi is a better player. I hope I am proven wrong and he is a success for us but I have a horrible feeling I will be proven right, I mean, he has proven me right so far this season.
Luiz has always had great CB partners that make him look better than he actually is. Better than Mustafi but I dont rate either as well.
Compairing mustafi to luiz is a very big insult to luiz
True. Luiz can cross a ball, can take free kicks. What else can Mustafi do apart from lifting up his hands for illusionary offsides every time an opponents beats him
I never rate Luiz, Liverpool third goal is exactly the same as when Son Heung Min went past him last season. Some people said give him time, heck I would give Saliba, Holding, Tierney a helluva lot of time. But Luiz, he is 30+ and expected to perform straight away.
He is similar to Mustafi, Sokratis is better.
selling programmes, although he’d probably drop them all!
Can’t put Mustafi at the gate, defense is his weakness, remember. How about a “heel” on WWE, him and Sokratis have that natural wrestling ability.
He can remain 5th choice behind mavropanos
Then we move chambers to DM to give Xhaka a sense of no belonging till January
Tea lady ? with haka coking the toast
Xhaka
They may end up poisoning the whole team ?
Mustafi has played at right back before. I remember last season vs Rennes in France, Southampton and even vs Tottenham when he bundled over Harry Kane for the penalty he was playing as a right back. He struggled but I guess was no worse than Lichtsteiner or Jenkinson. Still, I wouldn’t risk him playing again.
Try him between the sticks??
Mohamed Aziz ??? I would prefer him as a team physio
Come on Mustafi is better than Luis,the Greek wrestler and chambers but it’s the kinda horse that is being dragged to the water bank
Mustafi isn’t that bad and he might prefer to do it for arsenal but certainly not for emery
There’s bad blood doing round presently with a clique of our players namely xhaka,Mustafi,ozil and the departed ones koscielny and elneny
Emery has kinda stifled the effect of ozil by bringing in ceballos and neutralizing mustafi with the bench and next up should certainly be xhaka on whom the carrot was dangled with the captaincy offer but that seems to failed enticing xhaka into the good book
Time will prove me right
He’s not good defensively or offensively. We have Chambers, Luiz, Sokratis. Holding will come back. None of them are World beaters but better than Mustafi.
Also when Bellerin and Tierney come back he won’t be needed as a Fb either.
Mustafi may be used in early FA cup and League cup matches. Maybe early Europa league or if we have a lot of injuries
I think considering the mistakes Grant Xaka has often make and he is still in the team, Mustafi should be given another opportunity to prove himself. To me, with what I have seen so far David Luiz has not played exceptionally for Arsenal.He seem to have been well protected by good defensive midfielders in Chelsea. But his flaws is now in the open at Arsenal. I would like Unai Emery to try Chambers or Mustafi at right back. Mustafina is still useful in some games depending on the tactics.
Mustafi has been given a year to prove himself. I feel for Chambers, he kept a clean sheet yet dropped and forced to watch the incompetency of Luiz.
Mustafa played as a right back for Germany at The world cup. He has also played in that position for Valencia. He played in that position for Arsenal on a number of occasions last season and the season before. His performances were worse at right back than at centre back. His passing was poor. He is not good at overlapping and his crossing is atrocious. A good example is his last game as a right back away to Spurs where he conceded a needless penalty. I am convinced that Mustafa is very useful but at the moment his confidence is low. The coaches are not helping him at all.
As a rightback Mustafi would raise both his hands up in the air looking for a nonexistent offside or something as the opponent attackers run past him. He has problems at the basics and also with confidence and mentality.
Maybe we should play with 2 RB’s?
Mustafi can’t attack, but he sure can defend better than AMN.
AMN can’t defend,he makes so many more mistakes, than Mustafi,but he sure can attack better than Mustafi.
We have to pray Bellerin comes back soon and stay injury free.
It’s not solely about his inability to play in the centre that makes him a bad player, it’s his decision making and reading of the game. You couldn’t play him anywhere on the park and that would improve. He just doesn’t read the game quick enough for the prem. It’s that simple. His wages don’t need to be justified by Emery, Mustafi was not his fault. The club can suffer another drain in the short term so we should be concerned with what happens on the pitch and let the money men worry about the wages
i would love to see Mustafi in the cup matches we have coming up as a DM, just to test the waters, we would have nothing to lose, but more like something to gain
Mustafi can be a liability, trying him out in a new position might not be such a bad idea. Grant Xhaka to me does not belong in the Arsenal team. Give Mustafi a go in his defensive midfield role, that wsy he is not the ladt last line of defence, but he gets around the pitch far better than Xhaka…just saying.
I don’t think Mustafi is worse off. He’s been unduly blamed sometimes bcos he’s been made a scape goat for anyone’s blunder.
I think he needs a pep talk and a mind work like in a motivational class. Also he needs to be coached alone in field and also with the videos for sometime, to regain his confidence in games.
I don’t like his loss of concentration and mistimed takes but I agree he shld be used in another position for Midfield,