Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi indispensable to this defense

Arsenal’s defense has been rocked at times this year, but how anyone can think that Shkodran Mustafi isn’t integral to the club’s success is crazy.

Arsenal’s season has been pretty typical, unfortunately, but lately, things have been looking up. There’s been a lot of optimism, especially considering the hard-fought 0-0 draw that we pulled off against Chelsea.

But there are some out there (Paul Mariner) who think that drastic changes are still needed and his suggestion should be pretty unpopular. Have a look (as quoted by the Daily Express):

"I want security at the back. There might be some eyebrows raised about Koscielny and Mertesacker. Mertesacker maybe they think ‘oh he’s past it’ but when they play together, he plays with his brain Mertesacker, he doesn’t get exposed. We’ve seen him in big, big games that everybody says ‘oh he’s going to get run over’, he doesn’t get run over."

I agree with one thing. And only one thing. And that’s that Per Mertesacker definitely still has his uses.

But the rest of that is utter madness. Shkodran Mustafi should be replaced by Mertesacker? That is perhaps the most easily disprovable thing I have ever had the pleasure of disproving.

Consider this. Arsenal have played five Premier League games. They have started Mustafi in three and sat him in two. In the three that he started, the defense has given up one goal.

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In the two matches that he hasn’t, they have given up seven goals.

That’s .33 goals surrendered when he starts and 3.5 surrendered when he doesn’t. And, if you need that numerically explained one more time – they give up over ten times as many goals without Mustafi as they do with.

It’s a small sample size, no doubt. But if you recall, Mustafi went on a 19-match unbeaten streak last year to kick off his North London career. Add this year to that and we are starting to get to some evidence that can’t be dismissed as coincidence.

I’ve been talking a lot about Arsenal moving forward from old tropes. Leaving behind the individuality of forwards like Alexis Sanchez and focusing instead on the effort and athleticism of Danny Welbeck is one example. But having a more athletic defense is also a big deal, especially when you want to talk about a back three.

The back three has been built on athleticism and when it has been at its most effective, that is precisely what has worked best for it.

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Plus, Mustafi is a communicator and we can’t keep relying on someone that we know is leaving (see Alexis), especially when a better option is available.

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