Arsenal and Shkodran Mustafi: ‘Erratic’ the perfectly painful word

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has described Shkodran Mustafi as ‘erratic’. Sadly, it is the perfect description for the painfully inconsistent centre-half.

Shkodran Mustafi is a hugely divisive figure among Arsenal circles. Like many of the players in the squad, he has many of the tools to be successful in the position that he plays. But, thanks to a mix of mental errors, inconsistencies and turbulent confidence, it never quite clicks as it should.

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Because of this disparity between potential and performance, there is a wide range of opinion on the value and utility of Mustafi. His supporters are more willing to absolve the mistakes and wavering performances because of his potential; his detractors argue that his potential will never be realised. It is the foundation of a very frustrating scene.

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Writing this week in his column with the London Evening Standard, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith said:

"“It can’t be easy playing alongside Shkodran Mustafi in central defence, because the German is very erratic, and it would be no surprise if Arsenal made it their priority to sign a centre-back sooner rather than later.”"

Smith is actually writing on the recent form of Rob Holding and the possibility that he could replace Mustafi, who may be sold with Unai Emery potentially holding a different opinion on the centre-half to Arsene Wenger and the previous coaching staff. In this piece, I do not want to focus on that aspect of the debate. Instead, I want to touch on the very word ‘erratic’.

This, for me, is the perfect way to describe Mustafi. Erratic does not mean bad. It does not mean untalented. And neither does it mean gifted or exceptional. It means that both of these extremes are capable within the same person. For someone to be erratic, they, at any time, can lurch from one extreme to the other. In Mustafi’s case, in any match, he can play like a world-class centre-half or a clueless centre-half. And there is no way to predict which will be which.

For a defender, that is a criminal trait to exhibit. There is nothing worse than having to play with a player who is unpredictable. Smith writes about how it must be a nightmare for Holding to have to play with Mustafi. This is because of his unpredictability. One match, it is breeze; the next, you feel like mere chaff in the wind.

Is that enough to give up on Mustafi and his potential? I do not know. At some point, that decision must be made, and I do feel that that time is not too distant in the future. This is, after all, his third season at the club. How long do you wait for a player to find his best form?

Mustafi is an ‘erratic’ player. It is the perfect description of his playing style, and that is extremely painful indeed.