Arsene Wenger has provided an intriguing update on Shkodran Mustafi after the German international was substituted after just 11 minutes of Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.
The German had just given the ball away for United’s second goal before slumping to the turf, getting some treatment, and then being replaced by Alex Iwobi.
Usually, after a game, the manager will provide some basic info about a player’s injury, but also with some specifics (calf, hamstring, groin etc).
When asked about Mustafi in his post-game press conference, Wenger said, “I don’t know what [injury] he has. I don’t know what’s wrong with him at all.”
Whether it’s simply a case he hasn’t yet consulted medical staff remains to be seen, but it’s curious that he doesn’t know even the basics of the problem that forced the former Valencia man off.
The Arsenal manager also rued both his team’s inability to score the goals they needed and the way they gifted United their chances.
“You have to be efficient and we had the chances to score, we didn’t take them and their keeper as well had an outstanding game,” he said.
“In these kind of games from the start you have to dictate your strengths in the duels from the back and I felt that at the back our concentration wasn’t sharp enough from the start and not dominant enough.”
He went off with a broken soul, methinks
Pulled a heartlidge
For me it felt like Mustafi faked an injury to avoid the focus on his error. Should be shipped in the summer so we can get two proper centre backs.
I agree. But a couple of weeks ago, after his trumpish speech, everybody thought he should become our next captain.
might not be that as he is a professional footballer after all , but i’ve always thought that mustafi is an accident waiting to happen . regualarly we can see mustafi making stupid decisions , it could be him being too rash when making a challenge or some stupid passing. till now he has escaped each time because of refree or some other thing. the sooner we sold him the better
How about ship Koscielny? He also made a mistake very glaring lead g to a goal.
Blatant nonsense.
We have aging assets in Koscielny and Monreal, Per retiring, Holding unconvincing and you want to sell Mustafi?
Great logic there.
Bellerin looks more stupid at times but he is your baby. On the third goal why did Bellerin leave the goal scorer free and run to another direction for nothing ?
Bellerien has zero defensive positional sense he needs coaching by someone who knows what a full back is supposed to be, our style and set up always see our defenders reacting rather than being in control our forward play has become predictable and packed defences often stymy us plus we have not had a proper dm since Gilberto!
Even Koscielny for giving away the ball for their 1st goal?
Should be shipped out in January
You dont ship someone after 1 mistake. Hes keep crucial in Arsenal latest few good defensive performances.
He had a MOM performance against the Spuds.
Lol
Yeah as a layman with 40+ years of watching Arsenal I think it’s called lackofupforititis. Fuck off to whatever Euro chumps are willing to pay you the most you c**t
I think you are almost ready to become a pundit–you sound like our Dougan.
Oi. I won’t hear a bad word spoken about Dougan, he’s the best commentor on this site.
He suffered from lackofcojones
“Euro chumps”. The irony is painful
embarressment?……………very shoddy defending…………….monreal was again absolutely brilliant…………yes those poor defensive errors were the reason we lost,but,i will not have a go at the team tonight,i thought we were excellent,and if we can reach this kind of level every week (minus the poor defending obviously) the goals,wins and points will come…………
COYG
At least the recovery time for embarrassment I am told is quite quick.?
A defensive mind set should come from the hole team not just the back 4 or 5
As per former players Wenger’s training sessions are about passing drills. He should reach them how to defend and how to keep the ball.
You realise passing is the way to keep the ball though don’t you?
Monreal brilliant? Not for me. While generally we played reasonably well in defense, all of our players there seem to panic at times and all suffer from lack of positional awareness, including Monreal who ran the wrong way into a group of two Arsenal players instead of left towards the Man U attacker.
That’s it , i’m tired of Arsenal , this pattern is happening over and over again , they get your hopes up and then they disappoint you like this , no more football , time for me to get back to my life bye.
fair play…………..enjoy getting your life back……………..better that you go,because you`re clearly not a fan.
I mean…we all know we have a few missing pieces still…did he honestly think we were going to win every game?
Take the positives..try and work on the weak points…try bc Wenger has yet to get it right at the back.
ha, that’s your fault for getting your hopes up in the first place
Obviously, this is just speculation, but I got the impression that he kind of threw in the towel after the second goal & and injury (real or imagined) was a way to get out of the firing line without further embarrassment. A shame really, as he’s turned in a couple of great performances recently.
Oh he’s bottled it that’s what’s wrong.
Yep, we made some dumb mistakes they capitalized on. But I could easily argue that Man U made ten times as many defensive mistakes that we were unable to capitalize on. Simple as that.
Reminded me of when i was 10 and missed an open goal and faked an injury so every one wouldn’t laugh…Don’t down tools when your playing shit..Kos was awful but kept going and was awful again..Suck that shit up.
In a way mustafi walking was good,we were breathtaking from then on
Yeah, I did something similar once. Fell down the stairs at school and pretended I’d knocked myself out!
Got an afternoon off though. Amazing.
Disgusting from him today.
Was pretty confident at the time nothing was really wrong with him.
Sell him in January -he’s flattered to deceive of late- and give Holding or Chambers or Mert or anyone else a run.
Disgusting from Koscielny too…Mustafi wasn’t the only one making a mistake.
Stupid thinking.
Sell an improving player when we have aging assets in Koscielny and Montreal, Per retiring, Some people’s favorite Holding yet to prove consistency.
Great idea.
You’re right. I forgot that Koscielny slinked off with that head injury.
Here’s a banana, you can put it with your apples and oranges and pretend they’re all pears. While you’re at it, add it as a decoration to the strawman you’re building for your field.
Mustafi had a brainstrain.
Better than muscle strain. We don’t need to be out of a Cback.
Mistakes occur when defense is put under duress.
Considering the number of reds penalties conceded and sending offs Koscielny had first season, Mustafi is doing great.
For someone who accuses others of speaking nonsense all the time, you would think you would try to avoid it yourself but clearly not. He is clearly not doing great. He is doing Ok ish & no more than that. He certainly hasn’t looked like being value for 35m to date. The comparison to Kos is more nonsense. Kos’ first season was marked by generally good performances ruined by one off mistakes. A lot of Mustafi’s mistakes have been in line with the level of his performances generally. Some good stuff but a lot of bad stuff too.
Fucking coward.
Honestly, you are such a hateful person. I feel sorry for you, and for the people who know you in real life. It was an incredibly stupid mistake, and if (IF!) he really isn’t injured (I would think he deserves the benefit of the doubt), it’s clearly an immature move, borne out of a very emotional reaction. (Then again, I’m guessing when you make a big mistake at your job, it’s not broadcast live to a global audience of millions.) But that being said, it’s next to impossible to know someone’s true character from their actions on a football pitch,… Read more »
Got moderated and changed your name Priest?
Pride fucking with him?
If that is the case, we need stronger men than that, especially in defence. Real shame as he was finally starting to look worth the vast amount of cash we paid for him.
Mustafi’s L.A. privileges have been revoked?
Mustafi pulled a heartlege and wanted out knowing he had stuffed up bigtime. Was such a basic error which was very costly. He is a pro which is what makes it so bad, even ya average 12 yr old knows when defending if ya got no options to pass and ya being pressured near your own box clear the ball downfield or into stands and reset.
I know what’s wrong… he’s shit. Can’t kick a ball with his left foot. Pathetic. I’ve got more ability than he has.
I’d bet my house that you don’t.
After that 10 minute shit show I’m genuinely up for the bet.
If it really is just a mental thing, well. I think mental problems can be just as bad as the physical – and if he couldn’t play on because of it, it’s no different to if he couldn’t play on because he had a muscle injury or something like that. But might just be the manager isn’t sure yet.
He is suffering from an injury called embarrassment. Both Koscielny and Mustafi normally so dependent in recent games at fault. But it stems from our lack of outlet in central midfield to pass the ball to, someone like Santi who hasn’t been replaced for 3 seasons now, that can dribble and turn on a pin and carry the ball from deep. Instead with two players in midfield with the turning circle of a loaded lorry, it is easy to sufficate us should we elect to build from the back. Just put two speedy wingers in Martial and Liindgard to press… Read more »
Quit it with your level-headed, reasonable analysis of the weaknesses in our play! Denounce the coward, I tell ya!
When you’re last man with no outlet you dump it up or out or play it back. It’s not rocket science. He fucked up taking on a needless one on one. If he’s off for anything other than a true injury bench him and sell him. He’s a liability.
If it isn’t a real injury, I would agree, he needs to be moved on as pulling oneself out of a game when your not really injured points to mental fragility and we need the opposite from our team. But for me, the jury is still out on whether he has an injury.
Don’t want to see him injured but when he hobbled off so early I felt some relief as it clearly was not his day. He wasn’t the only at fault in our defence but he needed replacing and fast.
It is just possible that Mustafi bollixed himself and that led to the goal, not that he is now (after several good games recently) a terrible defender or that he died of shame on the pitch.
Wenger doesn’t know what it is yet doesn’t mean Mustafi is making it up, or had a mental breakdown.
He bollocked himself trying to foul after losing possession and that loss of possession led to the goal. He got DB’d.
The response on this thread is fucking ridiculous. No one knows what happened to the guy and he’s getting castrated. The main disspointment of being an arsenal fan is the negative idiots that post this shit. If only I had the sense to switch off from it all
In previous matches he was very good they said. Now he including Koscielny made a mistake and everyone’s firing them.
Hahaha Well said. I don’t know what happened to Mustafi and Koscielny but i do know that Monreal has a classy mentality and a great temperament.
The guy has been giving 100% consistently for a while now regardless of where he plays.
Castration will put him out three weeks.
Four at least, minimum.
> castrated
ha ha – think you meant castigated.
Castigated is more accurate in a literal sense, although castrated works because he’s receiving a well deserved bollocking
Kolscielny has credit in the bank. Not his best performance, but at least he carried on. Mustafi has made dreadful defensive errors before where a player with the ability to kick a ball with his left foot would find a team mate or clear his lines. His injury smacked of looking for an excuse for letting everyone down. I’m not usually one to lambast players for one individual error, but in my opinion he’s not good enough for us. I said we should have sold him in the summer and we were pretty close to doing so which should probably… Read more »
If he actually faked injury that is bottling it of Gallas esque proportions
If mustafi went off because he was embarrassed then I don’t think he can play for us ever again,no place for players like that at Arsenal,as to our defending,not good to be tweeting how good our defence is when clearly it isn’t good ??
That way too familiar feeling when watching them score against us. Man U and Mourinho can’t stand them both. And they always do well against us.
We know it won’t happen but iron out these errors where possible and go for throat at Old Trafford next year.
Toss my hat into the ring with the consensus that he feigned injury to avoid what was looking – in those first few minutes, a potential blow out. I’ll be quite disappointed if he says he was nursing a prior injury that came to a head after the second goal.
Mustafi has a little bit head muscle niggle
Don’t good many Sunday league players do that? Fuck up and pretend an injury? xd
Mustafi is not his first time to do that. He has done it before. When he fails to defend superbly he will simply slip out of the pitch. I did not think he has an injury
I don’t for one minute believe that Mustafi feigned an injury, and it disappoints me that so many people, I can’t bring myself to call them fans, would think that. I think he may have been carrying an injury after the Huddersfield game, and that Kos was obviously struggling with his Achilles. I also wonder if Kolasinac is carrying an injury, he’s been a lot slower since the muscle problem he had. Not a good day for our defence.
If wenger thinks he faked injury then we’ll know in a few weeks when mustafi hasn’t played any games.
My gut feeling at the time was ‘there is nothing wrong with this bastard. He gifted them a goal, we’re 2 nil down after 10 minutes. He doesn’t want to be on the pitch for a 4 nil drubbing. Gutless’.
You could be falling foul of character assassination….but it feels like there is truth to it.
Kos is not good enough either. Two new good cb’s are needed in the summer, along with, yes, a new younger manager
I agree. Plus get rid off Bould too. Plus a youder goal keeper. I would also sell Welbeck, and replace him with another good striker. Plus a leader, a holding mid-fielder is needed.
Right…. so just two new defenders, a new manager, new asst manager, new goalkeeper, new striker, and a new holding midfielder, and THEN we should be good to go. Why not just buy a whole ‘nother club mate
I would rather ask: What is wrong with Arsenal: One word: Wenger. This man is old and the game has passed him by. He has to go along with his deputy Bould who is supposed to be a defence coach.
Arsenal neeeds to clear out the defenders it has, and buy a new set of proven defenders. Cech is alsopassed his sell by date.
Agree, Kos has stated he wants to finish his career at Lorient. As for Mustafi if George Graham or Maureen or Conte etc coached him he would be a top class defender. Wenger won’t coach defense all the Ex players have said this. There lies the age old problem.
strained heratillage muscle
That’s our 4th game against our major rivals lost 3 won 1 the losses 0_4 ,1_3,1_3 and in none of those 3 defeats have we looked in any danger of winning the games! It’s not as if we’ve even looked CAPABLE of getting a result in those games ! Schoolboy defending has cost us dear in all of those games and in the other 2 losses suffered this season ! So WHY IN THE NAME OF SANITY has this NOT been addressed? Season after season after season this unending cycle of abysmal performances followed by a mini revival followed by… Read more »
Interesting. Wenger would have known people would suspect he faked it so these comments are telling. Regarding Kos the concerning thing for me was the horrendous lack of technique in the second goal. Any defender knows in that position you shepherd Pogba away from goal and you don’t let him turn. Kos dived in and fell off him. If you look at the reply Pogba basically did nothing to beat him.
I’ve got a theory, namely that he WAS faking the injury, but not with the intention of being subbed, just the knee-jerk reaction of embarrassment after a big mistake, with every intention of running back on after getting some “treatment” from the physio. But then Wenger’s disgust at Mustafi’s mistake (and perhaps his reaction), as well as our obvious need to switch things up and start attacking after such a horrendous opening, meant Wenger and Bould made the call to sub him off before Mustafi realized what was happening and could insist he was fine and wanted to go back… Read more »
mustafis problem is he thinks he’s Franz beckenbauer
Always calling for czech to play it short and then panicking under pressure
Return of the back 4!
Wenger certainly needs to look to address our back three this Summer (or even in the Winter) as this is Per’s last year, Kos has been great for us, but he’s beginning to break down and not getting any younger and at some point Monreal has to slow down (though to me he’s been easily our most consistent performer over the last few years). Wenger doesn’t seem to have too much faith in Mustafi and apparently tried to ship him out as well over the Summer. We have Holding in the wings, but I don’t think Wenger has much faith… Read more »
So much ire for Wenger and the team. They are still sitting right where they should be expected to. More expensive than Tottenham, cheaper than Man City, ManU, Chelsea, and I believe Liverpool.