Why Arsenal fans should stop booing Mustafi

Booing Mustafi Is Wrong!!!! By Dan Smith

Before he left Arsene Wenger spoke about a section of the Arsenal fan base showing him disrespect he ‘Will never forget.’ The Frenchmen had long spoken about Arsenal values, our reputation for doing things the ‘right way’ and the fear that we were starting to lose those principles.

This week Mustafi was booed by his own supporters. His crime? The opinion that’s he’s not good enough for this level. That’s it. This is the same people who feel betrayed by Koscielny going on strike. No matter his reasoning, no matter if there have been broken promises, the consensus seems to be that no matter what, he owes us a level of respect. Doesn’t respect work both ways? Shouldn’t we no matter what support our own, no matter form? Or again is our moral compass only measured on how talented you are?

If Auba asked for a transfer he’s disloyal and not committed? If someone is professional and gives 100 per cent, we only care if we think they are good at their jobs? Let’s clarify it’s not the player’s fault over 30 million was given for him? Blame the recruitment team. It’s not his fault if he’s on a salary which might put off any suitors. That we haven’t replaced him with anyone better, blame our owners for a lack of funds.

We boo a Nasri, Fabregas and Van persie for not turning down a pay rise elsewhere yet verbally abuse though who want to stay? The German didn’t help things with his performance against Bayern Munich but to me a true supporter……supports. Jeering him while he’s playing is counter productive.

The team have more of a chance winning with confident centre backs. The harder time we give him, the longer that will take. By all accounts a sensitive soul, him reading comments on social media or listening to negative chants in stadiums won’t help us if he starts at Newcastle. Imagine he’s in possession at St James Park, is he terrified of making a mistake? Have us gooners done all we can to make him as composed and confident he can be? So far in pre-season the answer would be no. He’s probably dreading the Emirates Cup in a few weeks.

With the situation regarding our captain, we might be relying on Mustafi. How is making him a scapegoat going to benefit anyone? I say scapegoat as he seems to get a harder time then the rest of the back 4/back 5 (he didn’t feature in Baku where we were humiliated). Dealing with away fans’ banter comes with the job, part of what you earn means needing the personality to handle critics. But from own fans in the middle of a game? In front of thousands of people and your peers, who then feel sorry for him.

Remember this is a human being who doesn’t deserve his wife and kids to watch someone they love to be subjected to that when all he can give his is best. He had a dream, chased it and has a World Cup winners medal. I appreciate the hard work and sacrifice it takes to be an athlete. He doesn’t deserve to be mocked by a minority of ‘ fans’ who clearly think being offensive is entertainment. I’m sure they have had a bad day at work before, yet wouldn’t tolerate being sworn at, abused on Twitter, etc.

The irony being that if we lost on the opening weekend, the away section would look at each other and wonder how Mustafi’s mojo be rebuilt after mocking him all summer.

In my view for 90 minutes we back whoever is wearing the red and white shirt. If you disagree you can’t then ask for loyalty the other way. Unless Mr Wenger was correct.?

Dan Smith

62 Comments

  1. Mustafi only has bad mojo.

    Yes, that’s it blame the fans again.
    Not the hierarchy, manager or dare I say player.

    Fans have every right to voice their opinion (I know the Emirates particularly and football stadiums in general or more and more being designed into sterile affairs). So if a group of fans don’t think he is Arsenal standard and he is a liability they have the right to voice it. After all they pay his wages.

    This whole argument that it is somehow un-loyal and will disrupt the team is nonsense. If no-one voiced their opinion (as in the case with the black scarf movement and other parties) their objections or desires would ever be known.

    No, Mustafi can try to learn to play better football and make less frequent calamitous mistakes for his fee and we can support /give it to the team and it’s players when they don’t deliver.

    It’s how it’s always been, just that today the salary they earn is astronomically higher than in relation to the working fans that support them.

    Think about it..

    1. Is there not a difference in voicing opinions after a game but for 90 mins support team
      We start booing players not good enough, we be booing every pass
      Think btw I did blame

      1. So people should just turn up to the game, buy the program, maybe a prawn sandwich and merchandise and just applaud the team and players no matter how bad they play and then go home? Then come on here and moan a bit about it.

        Not in my world.

        Fans have a voice and they are entitled to use it during the game and they will. This cannot be stopped unless they enforce a negative expression law within the Emirates.

      2. Dan I totally agree, we should be the 12th man for those 90 mins , jeering our own players isn’t right at all.
        People say it’s because they are passionate about the club, I call bs total BS in fact.
        We want our team to win every game right?
        We want to be back in the CL right?

        Yes mistakafi is error prone for sure I don’t doubt it and I’m not blind, but why make the situation worse?

        I’d say they are being very myopic if they think booing our own is productive

    2. Okay, I can see three possibilities here..

      A:) Dan Smith is Mustafi’s secret love child!?

      B:) Dan smith is completely blind

      C:) Dan Smith has been kidnapped by the Mustafi family and is being held to ransom!?

      1. Maybe Dan Smith is showing a bit of “sporting class.”
        Every player once they walk onto the field representing Arsenal FC should be supported. We can scream our frustration, but booing every touch or when someone is introduced to the stadium is a step too far, in my opinion.
        In any case, the impact of booing on hardened professions is best represented by the performances of Steve Smith and Dave Warner in the recent one day cricket world cup; they toughed it out and didn’t let it affect their performances.

        1. Our so called supporters can be obnoxious. I remember Wenger pulling Eboue after he had come on as a sub a few years back as he was constantly booed. We bitch and moan about players performance; perhaps supporters should look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are doing what they are supposed to do; which is supporting the team and those representing the team on the pitch. Booing our players is really counterproductive at best.

        2. I agree, I have never condoned booing anyone on the pitch but, If we do not rate a “professional” who fails to learn from his/her mistakes and continues to cost the club valuable points and millions of pounds we do have a right to air our opinions!

          The club have not protected Mustafi in fairness to him. He should have been benched a long time ago!

          At the end of the day, we can all take criticism for our actions. It’s how we deal with them that counts. Obviously, Mustafi deals with the criticism by being even more prone to lapses in concentration?!

      2. Funny how people switch sides, don’t forget in an hurry that the same mustaphi was once one of our inform defender when we newly got him, we went over 20 games unbeaten in all competitions and he was responsible for the solidarity in defence.
        Booing him won’t get him out of our club did season, trust me, we need him at least for this season. Booing and complaining has not change his style of play instead it makes it worst. Cheering him up might prove productive though. Consequently, we need to stop standing against our own, I remember G12, we chant that he is too slow and not good enough, he was the difference in Baku, we complain about mertersacker, I mean, we should stop the negative energy in emirate stadium. Look at Liverpool fan base and learn from them.

  2. The footballers, the managers, the directors and the coaches surely know the risk when they took the football jobs

    When you are a celebrity or a popular person, expect many people to criticize and condemn you. Be it for your actions, your behaviours or your identity

    That’s why they are paid so high, far above what normal doctors, engineers, scientists and corporate executives get. If they cannot take negative comments lightly, they might as well choose other professions

    1. It’s easier to blame others than to blame yourself or accept why we have a player like him.

      OT:

      Nice article spelling out the reality on Stan/Josh Kroenke in a humorous but to the point kind of way.

      HTeeTeePeeS://news.paddypower.com/football/2019/07/17/daily-cannon-gooners-kroenkes-waffle/

      (Remove all the E’s in above link!)

    2. Inter Milan wanted to loan Mustafi with 4.6 M + option to buy with 23 M, but Arsenal wanted to recoup their 35 M loss and he rejected to move to Milan

      If there is no real interest from other clubs, Arsenal have to extend his contract as what they were forced to do with Ozil’s contract extension

      The clubs have to either sell their expiring-contract players cheaply or extend their contracts. As what Fulham, Chelsea and Bournemouth have to do to Sessegnon, Hudson-Odoi and Fraser

    3. The writers point is legit. We need to back our players. We know his weaknesses and there is no point in rubbing it in. Our defence need confidence. Mustafi did not choose to play, the coach chose to play him in the CB. This season lets direct our focus on the one person who is responsible for our club’s downward trend, STAN KROENKE. Support the team, The managers and the Club

  3. In a perfect world every one would be treated the same.
    Footballers would get paid 500 quid a week.
    Mustafi is paid 90,000 a week.
    That is the same as 250 workers on the minimum wage get paid.
    He plays in front of thousands and millions on TV.
    Free air fares + hotel accommodation.
    Retire at 30 and live in luxury thereafter.
    What are a few boos?
    Most players say they never hear the crowd.
    When you get paid 90,000 a week even you are off work sick
    you have no right to complain.
    Try flipping burgers for 7.50 an hour.

    1. Could not agree more..

      Awwww the poor little mustafi got his ickle feeling hurt didn’t he.

      Try coal mining Mussa!

    2. Love this mindset
      So where’s the line, how much should someone earn before it’s okay to swear at another human being ?
      How talented do you have to be till its okay to.verbally abuse someone on social media?
      Is it okay to punch Jack Grealish because man who did it flips burgers ?
      What about those who racially abused Sterling?
      Is that okay if you earn less then 20k a year
      Please tell me where the line is ?

      1. I find yours amusing.

        No blame, no bad feelings, no expression of discontent..

        Maybe if they was more Vocality and recrimination allowed (Wenger stopped this) in the dressing room we wouldn’t have been the soft touch we have been for many years now.

        Adams and co were muzzled and that fighting, no nonsense spirit dies and was replaced by a completely different ideology that has imo had a very negative impact on our club.

        1. So im asking where is the line ?
          Booing ?
          Swearing ?
          Racism ?
          Death threats ?
          Where is your line between football’s a game but that’s another human being

          1. I don’t sweat, shout and scream at the players but I know I’m in an environment where people do and will. That’s why I don’t take my kids there.

            I’m not here to lay the line for anyone..but at a football match you get a spectrum of people from different social and working classes so it is naive to think that won’t go on.

            Moral grounds are far too easy a ground to take imo.

            It just isn’t realistic.

            That said, if mustafi was having a mate and I was there I am well within my rights as a paying customer to express my displeasure through booing and shouting at him.

        2. I always read from the players comments, that AW stood back and allowed the players to let of steam, before talking quitely to individuals.

          That was from the likes of Wrighty, Keown and Adams himself, let alone Vieria,Henry, Campbell and Gilberto.

          I seem to remember the fighting spirit of the Invincibles (after Adams left of course) weren’t muzzled in any way, as the famous fights involving manure stand testament too.

          Still, everyone has their own perceptions and memories.

          Mustafi was an awful buy, is an accident ready to happen and, if his mistakes seem highlighted, it’s because they have always cost us dearly.

  4. With respect Dan , Mustafi is a seasoned professional footballer who is paid a huge salary to make an effective contribution to our Club.During his time with Arsenal he has failed to do so and based on his performance the other day when he was culpable for the Bayern goal,he has not improved and sadly never will.Faced with his on going inability to perform is it any wonder that our fans vent their frustrations vocally.You are correct, morally they are wrong to do ,and in this regard I do not condone their actions.However they had every right to criticise the man who recruited Mustafi and a host of other sub standard centre backs during his time with Arsenal and who to my knowledge has never once admitted his errors of judgement.AW was a great Manager but humility is something he lacked big time.

    1. Hello Grandad. Saw your post in a previous article let me reply here. Search kieran Tierny injury record and click on Transfermarket data. All his information is there, he is clearly an injury prone player!

      1. No not really….. A niggling hip injury last season that led up to his hernia op and then he also suffered a ligament injury that kept him out for a good chunk of 16/17….. Yet both seasons he still made 43 appearances.
        His broken jaw happened at end of a season so he missed nothing (not even lifting the trophy at the end of the match it happened in) and I’m pretty sure that his broken leg occurred just before he made his breakthrough into the first team.
        Hardly what I would call injury prone and if you watched some of the games he has played in and seen the abuse/bad tackles etc that he has taken in games it’s testament to his toughness that he hasn’t had more injuries.

        1. Tierney is not injury prone compared to most Arsenal players. Rectifying a hernia is pretty straight forward, with minimal chance of ongoing complications.

    1. And yet, when we went on a string of wins with Mustafi playing, guys like you were quick to point out how good he was playing. We ger is not the reason for his dip in form. Ignorance needs a scapegoat to justify it…

      1. Plus the fact NY Gunner, that team was full of the players who were seen “by a section of the fans” as not good enough.

        Having said that, on one seems to be able to answer the question as to why the “sickening state we are in” saw a european cup final, what should have been a third position in the league and just one point behind the best spuds team for decades…even my sparring partner Jon Fox evades the question.
        Someone judged Ozil on a seven minute highlight piece recently, I watched the game and the guy was everywhere and looked the part yet again…ingrained perceptions are hard to change no matter what the situation.
        UE is installing his own brand of football and we should be backing him to the hilt, no amtter what his selections are during the preseason.

        I have always said that Mustafi was a bad buy, one of Aw’s worst, but who, at the time, REALLY expected a world cup winner to struggle so much in the premier league?

  5. Fast forward to the end of the season and Arsenal’s player of the season, Mustafi, has just picked up the award for players player of the season. He announces he is off and doesn’t wish to play for the club anymore as Real Madrid triggers his release clause with a £6 bid and macdonalds voucher. You will all be sorry for booing him then. seriously though we need to get behind the team the manager selects, I can’t see how getting on at one player helps the team or player, probably just adds to the likelihood of him making mistakes instead

  6. Mustafi got WC medal couse marco reuse is injuried, he was pick to fill the gap, nothing more.
    He alredy became the infamous titus bramble, prone to mistake
    He have all the attribute to be great defender, bar his height, but prone to mistake is huge weakness for defender.

  7. Totally agree, frankly, he was much better before fans get too harsh on him, same for Ozil was better before Emery starts to critisize him on conference.

  8. Mustafi has a level of semi pro footballer at best,the reason he gets booed is because he makes the same mistakes time and time again. Has the concentration of a toddler and does not take responsibility for his mistakes, he turns and blames teammates or officials. Cleary to get booed in a different country means the fanbase cant all be crazy. If this was Spain or Italy fans would be at the the training ground with bats. He is well remunerated for his poor level of performance. For the amount match going fans are charged they are well within their rights to voice their frustrations.

  9. Aren’t we supposed to learn from our mistakes? Mustafi clearly hasn’t!
    He is such a frustrating player to watch… he has a great game in him, unfortunately followed by many awful!
    I can understand both sides of this… but then I come on here & moan about him, so perhaps I’m no better than the fans booing him at the game

    1. Haha, I don’t think Mustafi has learnt a thing Sue..

      What gets me is the “In my view for 90 minutes we back whoever is wearing the red and white shirt” comment at the bottom. That’s like saying, “If Joey Barton wore the strip I should support him”!?

      No, no ,no ,no, no..

  10. Mustafi is incompetent and should be out of this club, same case with Xhaka. If UE makes Xhaka captain, I will have no sympathy for him when he is inevitably fired next season after failing. Mustafi and Xhaka GUARANTEE failure to this club. Those 2 cost us no less than 15 points between them last season with their silly mistakes. I can’t believe this is now the quality of players at this once great club.

    1. QD, Emery won’t be fired at the end of the season, as that is the completion date for his current contract. The option to extend does rest with Arsenal however. One would think that should Arsenal take the option to offer an extension, there is no compulsion for Emery to stay.

  11. This may trigger the fanboys but mustafi has more good games than ozil and Iwobi combined. The problem is he could keep a Striker in his pocket all game and suddenly have a brainles error on a regular basis.

    If he was not a defender this would be less costly. E.g aubameyang and mustafi are the same, he occasionally misses a sitter which is the equivalent of an error leading to goal but since he’s a forward its less costly.

    1. Seriously ackshay!! I cannot believe
      You’re comparing mustaphi with aubamayeng, silly comparison one of them gets you 20+ goals a season the other will cost you the same amount

      1. It was just an example of how different position have different responsibility. Aubameyang is obviously more consistent since on an above average season he gets you 30 goals and 40 goals in a good one.

  12. Dead right. He tries, nothing wrong with that. The scum that boo him should just F.Off

    1. “Scum that boo him” have every right to do what they do to any player.Im guessing you don’t even attend matches do You?Yeah thought so.If you did you would soon realise that paying hard earned money week after week watching this clown make the same calamitous and costly mistakes is the reason we lose points.Pathetic statement from you

      1. @Phil.
        If you were as consistent as you are at encouraging others to boo and disrespect other players you don’t rate. It seems you are okay with the likes of Mustafi, Xhaka, Elneny, Iwobi etc being booed, and you are happy to encourage others to boo.

        But when it comes to your Sweet Princess “Ozil” you apply different criteria and standards. Excuses, blaming everyone and everything including the kitchen sink just to protect your boy. On top of that you go into complete meltdown just because anyone even dares to criticise Ozil.

        Double standard or hypocrisy?

        A bit of consistency and objectivity is required. Not one rule for your favourite player and completely different rules for others.
        🙂

        1. @Goonster-What rights do fans have to dislike players?Every single imaginable right.I defend Ozil.Others defend other players.When it comes to Ozil and Iwobi there is always a huge amount of posts with differing views.When it comes to Mustafi there is very little in the way of appreciation.Why’s that? Because it is impossible to defend the indefensible that’s why.The player is consistently at fault and has never ever been good enough at Premier League level.
          When some question why he is derided it’s simply because he consistently makes too many mistakes that costs us precious points.

  13. In principal, you’re probably right Dan, I am sure it can’t help his form to be booed and cajoled by his own fans, but if his form is terrible and they pay his wages then don’t they have that right? Conversely some players get fired up by criticism and play better, it all depends on the character of the individual.

    As a season ticket holder the only returning players I ever boo-ed were:
    Ashley ‘I nearly crashed my car’ Cole
    Samir Nasri (he may as well have gone in strike for all he added after he’d agreed to leave for City)
    Adebayor – disrespected the fans.

    Cesc and van p. And many others in my view put in a shift for the club and deserve our respect, those three are the only players I felt left with disrespect. Others booed them, but who am I to say if they are right or wrong? The point about relative earnings of players vs fans is a big factor in fans feeling entitled to gripe.

    Maybe the boos made the returning players play worse against arsenal and these mean fans helped us achieve our buddy Josh’s ultimate aim of winning. Maybe it pushed them on to greater performances.

    I don’t boo mustafi, but I defend the right of others to boo mustafi to the death!

    On koscielney,great servant, sad end. If his contract genuinely offered termination in the last year in event of us not qualifying for CL, fair enough. I am torn. On one hand he is a great servant and I can see he may have felt over used by emery at the end of the season which, when you’re getting a bit creaky round the joints I can understand would upset a player. That said, if he had been injured until the end of his contract against atletico, would he have insisted the honourable thing would be to terminate it? No, most likely he would have picked up his paycheck just like everyone else. Difficult to be on his side when the player has security but the club gets none.

    Sadly we don’t want a player who doesn’t want to play for us, but unless his contract explicitly says he can walk, I think the club should insist we get a fee or he buys out the rest of it.

    If anyone is watching Sunderland till I die – the Rodwell situation is an interesting case of the effects of mad wages on a club.

  14. We gave support to him for a period of time, but now when he is so disastrous in so many games he can’t be cheered. If the fans can see how poor he is, what planet are the management on. He must be replaced. He can’t be played even if we had paid a £100 mill for him. He is poor. Really Emery should know better than to play him. We are not stupid. It’s not like that we as supporters don’t know enough to judge him. His mistakes ruin our rhythm and have cost us games. De facto…..reality. If Emery does not replace him I for one will lose my respect for Emery, but I’m sure Emery won’t play him this season. I’m stating the obvious….Mustafi ain’t good enough.

  15. Because he is one of our players? Because he is a human being? Because nobody doesn’t make mistakes? Because booing him is obviously going to cause him severe emotional distress? Because making a mistake in a game of sport doesn’t make you a bad person? Because booing players only makes them play worse and not better? I donno, take your pick, they’re all extremely obvious reasons in my eyes.

    Literally the only time a player deserves to be booed by their own fans is if they’ve intentionally done something negative against the club or a person.

    1. Nobody deserves to booed. On the other hand to play him regularly when his confidence/ability is low is not clever. There are two sides to this….frustrated supporters and Mutafi’s emotions. Sadly the saddest thing is that he is not good enough. Emery should not play him and should buy a replacement, therefore Emery must take responsibility. If nobody wants him that does not mean we have to play him. I agree booing is unkind and doesn’t help him…. but frustrated supporters will lose their patience at some point.

  16. The best defenders can lose a header and concede a goal against Lewandowski but if there is a space of 6 yards between you and him and you attempt a header you just never gonna reach, your just asking for it.

  17. YOU ARE SO RIGHT .
    When he joined us we went on a 7 or 8 game run unbeaten and everyone thought he was outstanding, then he got injured came back too early but still looked very good. He also had to play on his wrong side because Kosh got injured and he was the only one who was happy to do that for the team, then we started to leak goals and all of a sudden it was his fault. We need to support him so that he can regain confidence and you will find we still have a defender who is a world cup winner.

  18. Great article admin….I am afraid a lot of plastic glory hunter fans wont understand this, we r loosing our culture n club values as it was very evident from the way fans protested against Wenger. There is way of doing things respectfully n I think any one who is part of the club officially deserve at least that…Wenger, Fabregas n now Laurent.

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