Arsenal: Add another to the enclave in Shkodran Mustafi’s pocket

Arsenal have had a mixed bag from Shkodran Mustafi since he arrived, and yet he has personally constructed a small village of pocketed strikers. Add another.

Arsenal‘s attack has driven them into a Champions League spot, safely in fourth place, looking just as strong as any other team in England. The primary source behind there push, however, has been the attack, with the defense gaining steadily, but still looking flimsy at best.

Shkodran Mustafi has come to encapsulate that mantra of flimsiness. At times brilliant and at times maddeningly futile, Mustafi is just like the defense as a unit – we know they’re capable, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to make themselves the best they can.

But getting the best out of Mustafi has always been at the heart of this club’s defensive woes. If he, and his immense batch of skills, can be maximized, this defense is going to be in fine fettle for a long while yet to come.

It seems that, every so often, Mustafi comes out with a true gem of a performance. But it’s never like a “he did everything!” kind of gem of a performance, more like a “he did exactly what we needed him to do” kind of performance.

Fulham was another one of those.

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Going into the match, the Gunners were up against Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was tied for the league lead in goals scored (5). He carries a reputation for being a bit of a hard nut, playing strong, attacking football with a bit of a nasty edge.

Mustafi had his work cut out for him to keep such a player quiet, but he had done it before. In fact, Mustafi has a knack for taking opposing strikers and placing them securely in his pocket. Diego Costa is a recurring resident of this pocket, so to is Alvaro Morata, and Harry Kane has been known to take a vacation or two into the depths of the pocket as well.

Add Mitrovic to the crew and it’s turning into a bit of an enclave – a small village of sorts, with some pretty solid names, all things considered.

Which just goes to show that maybe Mustafi’s biggest strength is in his ability to negate strikers one-on-one. It’s a damn useful skill to have, and one that should be valued, even in isolation.

It’s worked more times than not, too. When Mustafi is planted on the hip pocket of an opposing striker, that striker ends up in Mustafi’s pocket.