Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi Has Gone Unabashedly Rogue

Arsenal saw a brand new Shkodran Mustafi against Manchester City, which was mostly good. He’s seemingly turned into a swashbuckling rogue.

Arsenal did not defend well against Manchester City, particularly in that first half. It all started when Shkodran Mustafi bombarded twenty five yards up the pitch in an attempt to win a header and, in the process, let Leroy Sane go free behind him for a goal.

It happened again in the second half, albeit with less severe consequences. Mustafi felt the urge to push forward up the pitch and try to start something, but ended up giving the ball away and giving City an excellent chance to counter.

But then again, Mustafi nabbed a wonderful headed equalizer and provided a fantastic assist for Theo Walcott. So in the end, I guess you could say he came out on top.

It’s not every day that a center back accounts for both goals in a match like Mustafi did. In fact, if you want to stretch that further, you could say he accounted for three goals, both of the Gunners and Sane’s.

It was just an odd day at the office. Rather than sitting at his desk and doing his job, Mustafi seemingly went full-on rogue and just did whatever he wanted. I can’t imagine conservative Arsene Wenger telling Mustafi “you have freedom to roam. Have fun.”

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Not when he is just now learning to say those words to Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

This looked like a performance that just screamed “I want to make a difference.” And honestly, isn’t that exactly what we need? Mustafi was reckless at times and wildly unpredictable, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to let his club shrivel and die like they have in previous matches.

That, to me, is the true victory here. That someone is finally stepping up and trying to do more. Even if it did involve some eyebrow raising moments, it provided something that Arsenal has lacked all year – unpredictability.

While that word usually carries negative implications, I have used it previously to praise Joel Campbell. Simply because this attack can get so stale at times and to have someone like the rambunctious Costa Rican capable of doing just about anything is a boon more than it is a problem.

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Having a similar mentality on defense in Mustafi is a bit of a questionable proposition, but I am fine to see it explored more. Maybe he can make himself the German version of David Luiz.

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