Shkodran Mustafi: Cack On Top

[<<reed>>]

I gave up on that dude long time ago. I was disappointed he was not shipped out last Summer. He is Verm 2.0, complete liability.
I used to be a Xhaka fan before he joined AFC, but he is definitely not good enough. I agree he should be sold as well.

How is your day, mate? I just saw Marseille's result, two heavy oil defeats for you

 

[carlito'sway]

He was 4th choice for CB at the WC. Got played at RB. I don't think he played 90 minutes before getting injured in the last 16. He's just not that good. I want to support him but can't. Sell in the summer. I wish we'd kept Gabriel over him right now.

Gabs is a no nonsense defender. He knows his job. Mustafi at the other hand, is just clueless.

 

[Longy]

This guy is pretty bad....

 

[Camus]

He obviously has some glaring deficiencies, but he's not so technically and tactically bereft that he wouldn't look decent in a proper defensive system. We all laughed when Chelsea signed Luiz last season but he was a vital part of a title winning defence. Otemendi was a joke until this season and played in the same Valencia back four as Mustafi, this season he'll also be a vital part of a title winning defence.

Until on a tactical level we actual play with some defensive cohesion and structure, it's difficult for me to accurately judge just how bad our defenders are. Especially when they've been good in other teams.

I'm not saying he's the 2nd coming of Baresi or that he's even good enough to win us a PL title, and I'm even in favor of selling him and by some stroke of luck bringing in a CB that can actual play in the chaos that is a Wenger defensive unit. But surely he's good enough to be playing better than he currently is.

 

[dashsnow17]

I've defended Mustafi on here previously based on performances where he's been very good and dominant over 90 mins. I knew he had inconsistencies and he went to ground too easily, but I thought he's essentially still a young defender who on his day can clearly play well; he just needs time, a better partner, system and manager etc.

But that mistake for the 1st goal today...I mean...it was monstrous. It wasn't even one single mistake like a reckless lunge, it was several mistakes. Not goal-side of the attacker, not dealing with the ball in the air, getting brushed out of the way, complaining to the ref then looking at the attacker RUN TOWARDS GOAL and then LOOKING BACK TO THE REF. I can't get my head around how a professional defender could make all those mistakes in any game at any time, let alone in such an important game.

We've seen this before with the Bayern game last year where play carried on and he was just talking to someone while Bayern scored. It's a worrying sign. I don't know if it's reasonable to give up on a player because of one mistake like that, but if any mistakes warrant that then it's the ones Mustafi has made: wilfully ignoring the opposition to talk to a teammate or ref. It's inexcusable.

I imagine if Mustafi had done what he did today in a Fergie team with Keane as the captain he'd have been sold by the following transfer window. Arsenal aren't as ruthless as that, but they probably should be.

We don't have a single central defender worthy of a top team, how depressing is that?

 

[pacstud]

lol, fans truly believe we're in a position to be shipping CB ....


OUT?


Christ we need all we can get for now.

 

[El Duderino]

I've defended Mustafi on here previously based on performances where he's been very good and dominant over 90 mins. I knew he had inconsistencies and he went to ground too easily, but I thought he's essentially still a young defender who on his day can clearly play well; he just needs time, a better partner, system and manager etc.

But that mistake for the 1st goal today...I mean...it was monstrous. It wasn't even one single mistake like a reckless lunge, it was several mistakes. Not goal-side of the attacker, not dealing with the ball in the air, getting brushed out of the way, complaining to the ref then looking at the attacker RUN TOWARDS GOAL and then LOOKING BACK TO THE REF. I can't get my head around how a professional defender could make all those mistakes in any game at any time, let alone in such an important game.

We've seen this before with the Bayern game last year where play carried on and he was just talking to someone while Bayern scored. It's a worrying sign. I don't know if it's reasonable to give up on a player because of one mistake like that, but if any mistakes warrant that then it's the ones Mustafi has made: wilfully ignoring the opposition to talk to a teammate or ref. It's inexcusable.

I imagine if Mustafi had done what he did today in a Fergie team with Keane as the captain he'd have been sold by the following transfer window. Arsenal aren't as ruthless as that, but they probably should be.

We don't have a single central defender worthy of a top team, how depressing is that?

Kolscieny ****ed up at the last time we were in a League Cup final, but at least with him, you could kinda see there was someone in there still holding his head high and thinking "I can do this".

Probably part of his gratitude towards Arsène/Arsenal and his desire to prove he could make it in a big club, that he belonged.

Don't see that drive in Mustafi. You can visibly see that he takes no responsibility on the pitch. Once it doesn't go his way, he's gone.

He's done at Arsenal.

 

[Rex Stone]

Don't think him and Koscielny are good partners, both too similar.

Compare it to the invincibles, you had Kolo who was actually undersized for the position at 5'10 but was a converted midfielder who was naturally good on the ball. Then you had Sol who was much more of a typical English CB who was tall, strong and tough in the tackle.

Napoli have done it well this year with Albiol and Koulibaly. Want to see us get a firm no nonsense CB to go with Kos or Chambers. Don't give a flying f**k about passing ability.

 

[dashsnow17]

Kolscieny ****ed up at the last time we were in a League Cup final, but at least with him, you could kinda see there was someone in there still holding his head high and thinking "I can do this".

Probably part of his gratitude towards Arséne/Arsenal and his desire to prove he could make it in a big club, that he belonged.

Don't see that drive in Mustafi. You can visibly see that he takes no responsibility on the pitch. Once it doesn't go his way, he's gone.

He's done at Arsenal.

Also just the way he always does that shoulder shrug towards refs when he's either made a foul or thinks he's been fouled is really starting to piss me off. He's like a sh*t Sergio Ramos, and Sergio Ramos is only good because he's Sergio Ramos.

 

[carlito'sway]

How is your day, mate? I just saw Marseille's result, two heavy oil defeats for you

Dude....Don't mention it....Terrible day at the office...

 

[Flying Okapis]

Don't give a flying f**k about passing ability.

This 100%

Central defenders need average passing ability at best, all they should be doing is passing it sideways and to the midfield with the very rare long ball if its on once every 5 games etc, surely every professional CB can do that and it comes as standard. I've had enough of these 'good on the ball' defenders.

That tag of being good on the ball usually comes just because they are a little bit shorter or less physical than a Vidic for example and its also at the expense of actually defending i.e Mustafi, Stones, Luiz etc, just get solid defenders and tell them to pass it to the creative players.

Every now and then you get a combination of the two like Ramos/Pique but thats why they play for top clubs and even so they are still somewhat suspect defensively.

 

[Ashybashy86]

Valencia sold us a dud for £35m. Then they got our better defender for about 1/3 of that. Great business for them.

 

[goonerwarsh]

This 100%

Central defenders need average passing ability at best, all they should be doing is passing it sideways and to the midfield with the very rare long ball if its on once every 5 games etc, surely every professional CB can do that and it comes as standard. I've had enough of these 'good on the ball' defenders.

That tag of being good on the ball usually comes just because they are a little bit shorter or less physical than a Vidic for example and its also at the expense of actually defending i.e Mustafi, Stones, Luiz etc, just get solid defenders and tell them to pass it to the creative players.

Every now and then you get a combination of the two like Ramos/Pique but thats why they play for top clubs and even so they are still somewhat suspect defensively.

Exactly. The first and most important role of being a centre back should be to defend and to protect our goal at all costs - therefore giving the team some foundation and strength to build on. This fixation that we have to have ****ing Zidane spraying balls about is nonsense. It’s a bonus. Every goal we concede should be like someone spitting in our face, I want to see defenders that are literally insulted by conceding.

 

[Kroket]

Valencia sold us a dud for £35m. Then they got our better defender for about 1/3 of that. Great business for them.

Mustafi was a monster at the back for Valencia, especially after Otamendi left the club. If we hadn't brought him in I'm certain he would have gone on to captain them eventually.

Absolutely baffling what happened to him in his time here. Same goes for Xhaka, not a shadow of the player he used to be.

 

[Furious]

Valencia sold us a dud for £35m. Then they got our better defender for about 1/3 of that. Great business for them.

LOL Gabriel better. Bloke used to get bullied by the likes of Grabban and Trashford.

 

[Ashybashy86]

Mustafi was a monster at the back for Valencia, especially after Otamendi left the club. If we hadn't brought him in I'm certain he would have gone on to captain them eventually.

Absolutely baffling what happened to him in his time here. Same goes for Xhaka, not a shadow of the player he used to be.

It must be a training issue then, which in turn has affected his confidence. Having said that, he's not too convincing for Germany either.

 

[shootxhakashoot]

Our team is just not set up to defend, period. The defence is totally reliant on peoples individual ability rather than any sort of unit or system hence its "chaos" whoever we put in.
Its why Wenger prefers zonal marking (apart from him being French) it means he doesnt have to do any meaningful organisation of man marking and so on.
Its all exacerbated by the s**tness of what is going on further up the pitch as well.
New manager needed.
That could sum up every single thing in every single thread on here in 3 words quite neatly.
Only then will we see what any of these players can do.

 

[shootxhakashoot]

You dont get in the German national team being a poor defender and all the things being bandied around about Mustafi on here, certainly not with the current team.
The difference is they have an ingrained defensive system that works most of the time.
We dont

 

[bingobob]

He was shocking yesterday. And not for the first time in a big game either.

 

[marting]

His performance was awful, but i bet in any other team he would look a better defender, I bet he wasnt dug out for his criminal mistake in that goal, They will just brush it under the carpet and repeat it next week. No blame.