Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi needs his guardian angel, Sokratis

Arsenal’s defense is still a bit of a mess, but it’s shaping up thanks in part to one man, who has become the guardian angel of our dear Shkodran Mustafi.

Arsenal managed to keep their first clean sheet of the season and, ironically enough, it may have been their worst overall performance, bar Manchester City. It just wasn’t a good effort and we were incredibly lucky to win, let alone give up zero goals.

Shkodran Mustafi was part of the problem again, go figure. The German had actually been in a fine run of form before last week, when he rather unreliable against Newcastle United. He followed that up against Everton, where he was better, but was still left creating a few too many messes.

In the end, though, it never came back to bite us, which is the important thing. Same as against Newcastle. But it wasn’t thanks to Mustafi that it didn’t bite us, it was thanks to his new guardian angel, Sokratis.

Against Newcastle, it was Sokratis who came swooping in to stifle a fast break that Mustafi had allowed after a bizarre failed clearance.

Against Everton, it was Sokratis who swooped in and bailed out Mustafi when he was dispossessed after trying to bring the ball out from the back. He was then seen giving his team mate a stern talking to about clearing the ball, rather than putting himself and the team in a precarious situation.

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Sokratis has really started to establish himself as a serious, no nonsense defender. I, and many others, were not to high on the signing of the big Greek, but he has settled remarkably quickly and has made consistency a regular thing, which, needless to say, for a defender is a remarkably special thing for the current state of the club.

The problem is that Sokratis is now out injured, and what stability they were beginning to find with him in the middle of that defense is now at risk of being lost for a period of time (any period of time would be bad).

According to reports, the extent of the injury to Sokratis is not yet known, but given that he had become the sweeper of sorts, it’s vital that he get back as soon as humanly possible, because Holding has the exact same problem that Mustafi does.

In the end, it’s a good partnership developing, because Sokratis isn’t afraid to talk some sense into his centerback mate.