Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi absence curiously understated

Arsenal will be welcoming back Shkodran Mustafi to their defensive set-up, but oddly enough, it’s not like they are crying out for his return.

Arsenal’s spatter of injured stars will all be coming back soon and they will be a welcome buffering to the current set-up, but I am actually pretty astounded to feel like none of these returning stars will make all that much of a difference.

In fact, if anything, it’s Calum Chambers return who I am most excited about, because I just want him to start proving that he is Premier League quality.

Shkodran Mustafi is due back in the coming weeks too, yet for as highly as I rate Shkodran Mustafi, I don’t see his return as changing all that much. Arsenal’s defense has been pretty stoic in recent performances, with just the occasional lapse.

Per Mertesacker in particular has been remarkably solid and while people are always going to gripe about the risk that his lack of pace brings along with it, I’m not so keen to disqualify an entire player because of one physical down fall.

Not least of all because he is a coordinator with one hell of a footballing brain on his shoulders. He has not been the cause of any specific defensive downfall since he has been in charge and I’d challenge anyone to prove that he isn’t deserving of making a case for continued use in the starting XI.

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Not that he should keep Mustafi out, however. Which is where the tough part comes in. I am firmly in the camp of wanting Mertesacker to play as much as possible, since, at the very least, I know his heart is in it for the long-term.

The one area that Mustafi’s return does immediately help is in regards to the rotational defense. I am so sick and tired of seeing Mohamed Elneny slotted in as the center-most defender and with Mustafi back, that likely pushes Mertesacker back into the second team, which, while unfair to the big German in a sense, is a great place for him to be.

It’s odd that Mustafi’s absence isn’t met with more pomp and circumstance. The only defender who I have been frustrated with lately is Laurent Koscielny, and there’s not a chance in hell he should ever be in the conversation of being replaced. He will come around. Probably even before Mustafi gets back.

Next: 3 Reasons Eddie Nketiah Impossible To Over-Hype

Still, the more options we have, the better. Again, internal competition drives players, and this is how it happens.

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