Arsenal Shkodran Mustafi rewarded the risk against Southampton

Arsenal were without Laurent Koscielny, the key piece of the defense, and had to use Shkodran Mustafi instead, which brought out his high-risk, high-reward scenario.

It’s always been a dicey situation when Arsenal has to field a starting XI without Laurent Koscielny. The central defensive cog has been a mainstay for good reason back there in the defense and it goes without saying that his absence is always noticed.

However, the 3-4-3 formation allows for far more options coming out of the back line because rather than have two centerbacks, where the pairing is crucial and anything absences are keenly felt, there are now three, where you can mix and match to your hearts content to try to fill any missing pieces with the pieces you do have.

Shkodran Mustafi had been gone for exactly a month, had not taken part in the 3-4-3, and was tasked with filling the center-most defensive back position that Koscielny normally fills.

The risk was clearly there. He is an aggressive defender that can get caught way ahead of the ball. While he does boast great communication skills, it is still a new position and in such a crucial game, there was plenty to lose.

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There were definitely some moments when Mustafi got a bit lost in the moment, or mentally checked out, but for the most part, he was absolutely superb. It was a very no-nonsense approach from a guy that has been seen trying to lead the attack from the back. He left that for Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal, if need be.

Mustafi was more concerned with cleaning things up when they got nasty. He made a whopping nine clearances all on his own while chipping in seven reclaimed possessions as well. That is quite the numerical showing for someone who has been absent a month.

While it’s clear we still haven’t found the perfect combination back there, it was refreshing to see that the risk of Mustafi’s aggression was mitigated by the responsibility of the position. he understood what he was there to do and he held up his end of the bargain.

It will be curious to see where Wenger goes from here, once Koscielny is back. In all likelihood he will sub out Holding and leave Mustafi in there out of loyalty to the longer-tenured Nacho Monreal, but I’d be curious to see what happens when you put Mustafi-Koscielny-Holding back there.

Next: 5 Things We Learned Against Southampton

That is the most defensive talent you can currently have out there and it might clear up any remaining questions about the solidity of this back three.