Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi still does one thing better than anyone else

Arsenal fans have been souring on Shkodran Mustafi for quite some time, but no matter where he stands, he is still the best at one thing.

Arsenal‘s defense has been flimsy for quite some time now, and despite the build-up and the price tag on Shkodran Mustafi, he hasn’t been the one to fix the problems and, for some, he has only exacerbated the problems.

You won’t find many people that will argue that there are just sometimes when Mustafi does some truly boneheaded things. And these mistakes have compiled on a defense that already struggles with staying honed in during matches. Take the Manchester United match for instance. They showed, in one match, how they tend to let their guard down.

But I would wager that not many people would argue with the assertion that Mustafi does have a ton of individual talent, and you can’t take that away from him. Mentally, he’s a bit loose at times but physically, you can’t do much better.

And at Arsenal, he is still the absolutely top of the totem pole at one thing in particular – winning the ball back. No one does it better than him. No matter how ineffective Mustafi is in the bigger scheme of this team at times, he still wins the ball back with amazing efficiency.

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That comes from the style of player that he is, his proactive, nothing-held-back style of literally attacking opposing attackers to win the ball before anything can happen. Maybe he overextends, or takes too many risks, but the numbers don’t lie – he’s good at what he does.

On the season, he leads the team with 3.7 ball winning plays per 90 minutes played. In addition to that, he leads the team in successful clearances per 90 minutes with 5.3. Oh, and he is also the leader in the air as well, by quite a margin.

In the physical aspects of the game, Mustafi just excels. He’s fantastic. And it makes you wonder what he could truly become if he can either learn and adjust, or have a system that allows him to be himself.

There’s no denying that some players deserve to be built around. Granit Xhaka is one. You make certain concessions having him in the center of everything, but it pays off tenfold by what he delivers on. Same goes with Lacazette – you just can’t take away how good he is for the team.

It may sound crazy, but Mustafi still has the potential to be one of those players if he can do what he does so well. A little more Xhaka-esque growth, not necessarily of eradicating the problems, but of improving on them, and I’ll be 100% backing this idea.