Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi attitude shows what Unai Emery is for

Shkodran Mustafi revealed that he was staying up until 3 A.M. watching Prison Break during a preseason tour. His attitude is why Unai Emery is at Arsenal.

Shkodran Mustafi hasn’t had the most convincing first two years at Arsenal. While he has displayed his natural skill set for the position, his propensity for foolish individual errors has repeatedly undermined his reliability and efficacy.

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It was always difficult to pinpoint why he was never able to produce at the level of his talent. Was it just his style? Was it a deeper-lying mental problem? Was it something to do with the coaching that he has received? Well, perhaps it is an attitude problem.

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Read these comments from Mustafi regarding the preseason tour of 2017 in Australia:

"“I was in pre-season in Australia when I discovered Prison Break. When I was awake everyone was sleeping – so I had no one to chat to. So all I was doing all afternoon and evening was watching Prison Break. Until three in the morning [I would watch it], then I had to get up early to go to training. I would say ‘I’m going to go to bed early tonight’, but again I would stay up until three.”"

Now, I do not have an issue with this per se. But there is something to be asked about his attitude. Does he really want to win? Is he actually giving everything to the cause or is he merely doing the bare minimum to keep his place in the team? Does he actually care?

Perhaps some of these questions are a little harsh for someone who has essentially just watched television, but the mentality of the team and the attitude of many of the players is something that was continually called into question throughout the latter years of Arsene Wenger’s reign. Ultimately, it is one of the key reasons why Unai Emery is now in north London.

The ruthlessness of the Spaniard, his lack of loyalty to the players, which means that it is substantially easier for him to cut ties with them if he feels that they are surplus to requirements, and the steel and resolve that he is set to instil is something that will change this type of behaviour from Mustafi.

It is not necessarily the actual action of Mustafi that is the problem, but more the attitude behind. The lack of a deliberate neglect of everything to win has repeatedly killed this team. It is why Emery was a necessary hire.

His need is because of the attitude of the team. Mustafi is an illustration of that. Hopefully, Emery will be the change of it.