Arsenal: Laurent Koscielny, please make Shkodran Mustafi obsolete

Laurent Koscielny returned to training on Wednesday. The Arsenal captain could make Shkodran Mustafi obsolete for Thursday’s match against Napoli. That would be a truly wonderful thing.

The recent absence of Laurent Koscielny has been hard-felt. A bruised left foot saw the Frenchman drop out of the team for a win over Newcastle United and last Sunday’s loss to Everton. In both matches, the Arsenal defence did not look as secure.

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There are obviously more reasons than just the absence of Koscielny for that. Granit Xhaka also did not feature. Similarly, the Everton match was away from home, where the Gunners have been extremely poor all season. Nevertheless, it should come as no surprise that the team looked increasingly vulnerable, especially from turnovers and against the counter-attack, without Koscielny anchoring the defence.

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Koscielny’s replacement in both matches was Shkodran Mustafi. The German takes a lot of flak for his gung-ho defensive attitude, maddening mistakes, and erratic distribution, but he should be capable enough to fill in as a fourth-choice centre-half for two matches. Sadly, though, his performances have highlighted his inability to shoulder that responsibility, however small it may seem.

The main issue with Mustafi’s inclusion at Koscielny’s expense is the reshuffling it causes of the back three. Sokratis has to move into a central role, with Mustafi playing the right-sided centre-back position. Because of his ill-discipline, positionally and when tackling, allied with his over-eagerness to recover possession, playing on the right of the three is far from an ideal role for Mustafi. He is much more comfortable in a pair, alongside a calmer, more conservative complement.

But Unai Emery seems committed to the 3-4-3 shape that has served his side well for the past month or so. And if he is to continue with it on Thursday night against Napoli, it would be most helpful if it is Koscielny, and not Mustafi, joining Sokratis and Nacho Monreal, who will almost certainly play the left-sided role.

It remains to be seen whether Koscielny is fit enough to start. He returned to training on Wednesday and will be assessed on Thursday morning, as Emery confirmed in his pre-match press conference. But his inclusion in the team — and Mustafi’s subsequent exclusion — is a key component of trying to overcome a very dangerous Napoli team.

The thought of seeing Mustafi attempt to defend against Dries Mertens and the now-fit Lorenzo Insigne on the counter-attack is not a nice one; Mustafi dealing with a high press and passing the ball blindly into the midfield, as he has a tendency to do, is equally harrowing. But that is what faces Arsenal should Koscielny not be ready to start.

Napoli are an extremely dangerous team. They will cause Arsenal plenty of problems. Conversely, Arsenal will need to be at their best. And their best does not include Mustafi. Let’s hope Koscielny and a pesky left foot, then, can make him obsolete.