Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi is already exactly where he needs to be

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has opened up about the improvements he is making to his game, but he is already in the perfect place.

Arsenal’s defense has fallen under intense scrutiny this year and there are so many reasons why. They can go from looking stalwart and impenetrable to a wall of immobile toothpicks in about a split second and it has led to so much frustration.

Take Petr Cech, for instance, who is currently in his longest Premier League streak ever without a clean sheet. He is stuck at 199. This isn’t all down to Cech, it’s down to each and every member of the defense.

Even Shkodran Mustafi. But, for the record, he has been the best centerback on the team this year and, equally for the record, will continue to retain that place going forward.

Mustafi has spoken out recently about the improvements he is making to his game and, forgive me for being simple, I love to hear a guy proudly talk about these kinds of things.

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"I would say that in the last year I’ve taken a lot of experience for myself. As a defender, it’s really difficult to always do your job 100 per cent. As soon as you do something wrong, it gives the other team an opportunity to score a goal, and then obviously it looks not so good."

That is part of what he said, as quoted by SkySports, but there was another sentence that really hooked me.

“I’m working on being there when it really matters.”

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I don’t think he could have said anything more applicable to the defense’s woes. At least not summed up perfectly in one sentence. The defense this year has been all over the place, Mustafi included, because they haven’t been where they need to be. They’ve been positionally unaware, over-aggressive and a bit like loose cannons.

Which, in my ever-inquisitive mind, got me to thinking more and I stumbled unto the reality that of all the defenders Arsenal have, no one is in a better place than Mustafi. Obviously Mustafi was talking about in an actual game, but big picture, Mustafi is where he needs to be and he will be when it matters most.

The big question with this defense has been their increasing age. That was before we bought Mustafi, who raised more than a few eyebrows.

But since he has arrived, Mustafi has ironed out kinks in his game to become a truly gifted defender with a hugely bright future. He is only 25 years old and has become the centerpiece of a backline that sorely needed one.

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That is where he is, and that is where he is needed.

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