Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi injury reminiscent of Mesut Ozil illness

Arsenal suffered a double-blow when Shkodran Mustafi flubbed and then was subbed for an apparent injury, but shouldn’t conspiracy theorists consider Mesut Ozil?

It’s a rather peculiar season for Arsenal, as a lot of things have gone wrong, quite a few have gone right and in the midst of all of it, the future is just as foggy as it has always been. Even stepping outside of the big picture issues, there have been smaller picture issues that certainly give plenty to talk about.

Not least of all is Shkodran Mustafi. Mustafi came back to this team and changed the game for the Gunners. His presence on defense was masterful against Tottenham, masterful against Burnley, started to slide against Huddersfield and then hit an all-time low in his Arsenal career.

After bumbling and handing a goal to Manchester United, Mustafi came up with an injury that had many doubting quite a few things. Namely, whether or not he was actually hurt or just “in his feelings.”

Many indicated that Mustafi better not be back in training and that this injury had better be real, for his own good, because to “excuse” himself from a match that had started so poorly would obviously be a rather poor thing to do.

After the match, Arsene Wenger didn’t exactly put that uneasiness to rest, as he admitted that he “had no idea” what Mustafi’s problem was. It may be construed as a bit of an unintentional nod towards suspicion, but before casting that assumption, I’d like to also remind everyone of the exact assertions after Mesut Ozil was found to be mysteriously ill prior to the Burnley match.

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Wenger said similar things then, indicating that he hadn’t seen Ozil and didn’t know what was wrong with him.

My point is that I don’t think we should be too quick to throw a suspicious eye on Mustafi if we aren’t willing to do the same to Ozil. And to be fair, I did cast a leery eye on Ozil, though not intentionally, I just couldn’t shake the thought.

Mustafi would have absolutely no reason to take a personal day after helping United go up 2-0. So when he returns to training, it should be welcomed, whenever that may be. Just like it was when Ozil was back for Huddersfield and Alexandre Lacazette was back for United.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Manchester United

You can’t bury the season for the sins of a game. Mustafi had himself an awful gaff, but take care not to forget how good he has been. Or, at the very least, don’t question his character.

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