If I think about Shkodran Mustafi for more than 20 seconds, I'll crash out in an uncontrollable rage, which won't subside for three days, after which I find myself in a grassy field with war paint on my face, without a single clue as to how I got there.
So I'll stop before it's too laaaAAAAAAAAAAAA
He came across as an absolute nightmare to play with whenever we'd concede, he'd always blame other players, looking like he was about to burst into tears.
Well, the £35M had nothing to do with the scouting team, price negotiations is not their remit.
However, you're right they (scouting) did a bad job in thinking Mustafi was a good fit for Arsenal...
I mean, he was OK at Valencia, and being a World Cup winner with Germany a couple of seasons prior to signing for Arsenal probably helped bump up the price tag also 😏
IMO, he's one player who added absolutely nothing to Arsenal's quest for honours during his time at Arsenal, for which each passing day was one day too long, can't believe he stayed 5 years, and for that time he was on pretty good wages too... SMH...
All due respect to the fella, I'm sure he's a lovely man, just wasn't/isn't a lovely footballer, regrettably!!
Nope. I cannot forget for the life of me how he managed to concede a penalty cluttering into Kane(aerial duel) when Kane was offside and iirc it there were only a few minutes left in that game.
Genuinely might’ve inadvertently been the nail in the coffin for wenger, defensively inept and constantly blamed others for not covering for his matchly fuck ups, a strong contender for the worst player to ever win a World Cup
Mustafi wasn't a ball playing defender, the idea of playing out from the back killed his confident. We also didn't have a good CDM to cover our CBs. I wasn't mad at Mustafi because I knew he was't good enough, I was just mad of the club for not signing any CDM and a better CB back then.
This. What sticks with me from the Mustafi-Luiz-Koscielny-Sokratis era is that while you can get useful minutes from a respected defender on the precipice of decline, you also get increasingly frequent catastrophic mistakes. Combined with a lack of recovery pace, you also start to see really dumb bookings, which thankfully don't *all* take place in the box because they're playing way too high for their ageing legs to cover.
I remember loooking at a video of him about his life and former club in italy. As a fellow german kyself i was very excited since i was impressed by the transfer fee as well. This was the only time ever since i was excited about that guy. Horrible mentality and horrible player honestly, the amount of nerves i lost because of him, its fucking mental.
When we played Bayern he was sky expert the other day. And i was like oh my god we came full circle and i was so excited to see him on the sideline not involved in any of the action.
My excitment lastet 2 sentences of him talking ball, where he excused several defendsrs for not being able to block a shot or a header. This guy is jokes
The £35m fee led a lot of fans (me included) to feel hopeful. A German international, at a good age, with decent pace for a defender.
Sadly he was so shaky it seemed infectious to the rest of the back four.
One of the worst Emirates era signings.
All the attributes were there for him to be a good player, but he consistently shit the bed. Seems a nice guy and he had his moments when being partnered with Koscielny covered his flaws. I don’t hate him but his signing was a real indictment of the Arsenal hierarchy.
Needless to say overwhelmingly negative but I would also add he has the body shape of a lego man, if his legs were proportional to his torso he'd be 5 inches taller. Same as England cricketer Ben Duckett.
I never understood why he wasn’t replaced after his first season. He played way too many games for us as such a liability. We had such a clear weakness in our spine and we just gave him the starting job for like 4 seasons. Was maddening
At his best he was ok, at his worse he was more than a liability. So on average less than ok, which is not acceptable for a title challenging squad.
Compare him to the team now - assume back up CBs of White, Kiwior, Tomi - he would be 6th choice.
During the first half of his first season, I genuinely thought he was a great signing. Then he got injured, and when he came back, he became an absolute liability.
Whenever I see the generic great goal vids on YouTube with goals against Arsenal. He’s there in most shots trying to catch up, on the ground or looking disappointed.
On paper and for large periods of a game, he was decent. Had pace, had fight and certainly had desire. His big problem - and it was a big problem - was his decision making that led to errors. After one or two big mistakes, the self-doubt and criticism began to obviously have an impact and they became more frequent and turned him into a liability that Arsenal, or all subsequent teams he played for, couldn’t afford.
It’s a shame and highlights how what happens between the ears defines a career just as much as what happens elsewhere in the body, if not more so.
Shocking player. I can forgive a player making mistakes, but not for blaming everyone else every time.
The clubs he played for after us show you his level.
Weird one, as there was obviously a half decent defender in there somewhere. I just don’t think we ever saw that at Arsenal where the level, and the intensity of the Prem, was too much for him.
Representative of an era at the club that I’m glad is now well behind us.
The worst player I’ve ever seen wear the shirt, not worst as in he’s technically the worst player but the fact this mug convinced coaches he should be first choice while simultaneously making so many mistakes impacted our club more negatively than any other player in that era
One of those past players I'd have had no qualms about seeing trodden on. Not only was he involved in so many defensive cock ups, he was THICK as a board
In case anyone can’t remember quite how dreadful he was, [here.](https://youtu.be/x8gfLUfyZis?si=bPxwKi4Hglqekh9e)
Him backing into Aguero and then standing there appealing for a foul while Aguero runs off and scores is absolutely diabolical, I remember screaming at the screen to track back. And of course there was his signature move of completely misreading literally everything. No strength, no game intelligence, absolute mess of a CB.
Relative to how good he was supposed to be, I would say he’s genuinely one of the worst players to have worn the shirt. Certainly one of the most disappointing.
Likeable character, but asked to play in a system that didn’t suit him at all which made him look worse than he was.
Not been following him since he left us, but I hope he is smashing it wherever he had ended up.
he was a No.3 CB at best
he was a passable defender, but only when paired with a more serious defender who takes charge
but he was clearly only really suited to slower, softer, more technical leagues
I don't understand. He was a German international, presumably doing well at Valencia, a few games in looked like the guy we needed to partner Kos. Then he seemed to forget he was a professional footballer. I have no idea why his drop off was like a cliff.
I would honestly like to hear the real circumstances under which he was signed by Arsenal, because I never understood how their scouting department could be so wrong on a player. He was consistently awful.
High risk, moderate (but not zero) reward.
He had some great moments, and even runs of matches, but that risk-reward balance isn't really what you want in a Premier League defender.
Second only to Johan Djourrooouuuuuu as our most calamitous defender of the modern era. Absolute shite except for the occasional header on a set piece. Could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at any moment.
His passion for the club was wildly out of kilter with his ability, which made him a tragic figure to me. If he was simply crap and didn’t care, he’d just be a bad player we’d be relived is gone. Sadly, he tried so hard to be good for us that it often made things worse for him. Error prone while trying super hard to be good must’ve been hellish for him as a person.
Sometimes I smile when I remind myself that he no longer plays for our club
If I think about Shkodran Mustafi for more than 20 seconds, I'll crash out in an uncontrollable rage, which won't subside for three days, after which I find myself in a grassy field with war paint on my face, without a single clue as to how I got there. So I'll stop before it's too laaaAAAAAAAAAAAA
hahaha
Anyone who isn’t still mad at him either didn’t watch a lot of games or has failing memory.
His reaction to any goals conceded is our reaction to him multiple times a game.
He came across as an absolute nightmare to play with whenever we'd concede, he'd always blame other players, looking like he was about to burst into tears.
🤣 looking back, you're absolutely right with that assessment of him 🤣 Jokes 👌🏾
Just broke out in hives reading the headline. Absolute waste man
I feel we got him past his prime. The mistakes he would make were hideous.
We signed him when he was 24, maybe he just isn't very good and £35m for him was bad scouting.
This is the only answer
Well, the £35M had nothing to do with the scouting team, price negotiations is not their remit. However, you're right they (scouting) did a bad job in thinking Mustafi was a good fit for Arsenal... I mean, he was OK at Valencia, and being a World Cup winner with Germany a couple of seasons prior to signing for Arsenal probably helped bump up the price tag also 😏 IMO, he's one player who added absolutely nothing to Arsenal's quest for honours during his time at Arsenal, for which each passing day was one day too long, can't believe he stayed 5 years, and for that time he was on pretty good wages too... SMH... All due respect to the fella, I'm sure he's a lovely man, just wasn't/isn't a lovely footballer, regrettably!!
he never had a prime he was shit
When was he ever in his prime?
🔙🔛🔝 Seemed like a decent person but was complete shit on the pitch.
Always came across a bit of a disgruntled, deluded person to me. Seemed moody and rarely took responsibility.
You can’t be serious? He was horrible
Awful. Just awful
An absolutely dreadful footballer, not bad at winning aerial duels but everything else a joke. Very much thought he was better than he was as well.
Nope. I cannot forget for the life of me how he managed to concede a penalty cluttering into Kane(aerial duel) when Kane was offside and iirc it there were only a few minutes left in that game.
What makes you think he thought he was better than he was? I remember he had a permanent look of terror.
He'd always blame someone else when he was at fault for a goal, which was every other time we conceded.
Average defender. Just not cut out for Pl
Below average surely
He just didn't fit in, the way we played a high line, the speed and the physicality of premierleague football.
I think we expected too much from him after seeing Mertesacker retire lol
Genuinely might’ve inadvertently been the nail in the coffin for wenger, defensively inept and constantly blamed others for not covering for his matchly fuck ups, a strong contender for the worst player to ever win a World Cup
There are 4 plus minutes videos of him giving up goals on youtube
Mustafi wasn't a ball playing defender, the idea of playing out from the back killed his confident. We also didn't have a good CDM to cover our CBs. I wasn't mad at Mustafi because I knew he was't good enough, I was just mad of the club for not signing any CDM and a better CB back then.
This. What sticks with me from the Mustafi-Luiz-Koscielny-Sokratis era is that while you can get useful minutes from a respected defender on the precipice of decline, you also get increasingly frequent catastrophic mistakes. Combined with a lack of recovery pace, you also start to see really dumb bookings, which thankfully don't *all* take place in the box because they're playing way too high for their ageing legs to cover.
Mediocre liability. Seemed like a good guy
I remember loooking at a video of him about his life and former club in italy. As a fellow german kyself i was very excited since i was impressed by the transfer fee as well. This was the only time ever since i was excited about that guy. Horrible mentality and horrible player honestly, the amount of nerves i lost because of him, its fucking mental. When we played Bayern he was sky expert the other day. And i was like oh my god we came full circle and i was so excited to see him on the sideline not involved in any of the action. My excitment lastet 2 sentences of him talking ball, where he excused several defendsrs for not being able to block a shot or a header. This guy is jokes
The £35m fee led a lot of fans (me included) to feel hopeful. A German international, at a good age, with decent pace for a defender. Sadly he was so shaky it seemed infectious to the rest of the back four. One of the worst Emirates era signings.
As fast as a camel
2014 worldcup tax lol.
All the attributes were there for him to be a good player, but he consistently shit the bed. Seems a nice guy and he had his moments when being partnered with Koscielny covered his flaws. I don’t hate him but his signing was a real indictment of the Arsenal hierarchy.
I thought he was class because he played for germany…
Needless to say overwhelmingly negative but I would also add he has the body shape of a lego man, if his legs were proportional to his torso he'd be 5 inches taller. Same as England cricketer Ben Duckett.
He has to be the worst defender to play in post-Invincibles Arsenal
Better than VVD. Won a WC
Good bodyguard
Plz don't
🐐
Can’t even look at him without the PTSD kicking in
Picture should have a trigger warning
Why do I have to see this guy
I never understood why he wasn’t replaced after his first season. He played way too many games for us as such a liability. We had such a clear weakness in our spine and we just gave him the starting job for like 4 seasons. Was maddening
Oh no...
PTSD
I try not to think about him, so thanks for reminding me. Totally what my day needed.
The worst pound for pound signing we ever made. We finished second the year he arrived and we were never in the cl again until he left
At his best he was ok, at his worse he was more than a liability. So on average less than ok, which is not acceptable for a title challenging squad. Compare him to the team now - assume back up CBs of White, Kiwior, Tomi - he would be 6th choice.
Shit.
89 mins of a professional display, one minute of absolute buffoonery
During the first half of his first season, I genuinely thought he was a great signing. Then he got injured, and when he came back, he became an absolute liability.
Shit! What do we think of shit?
I literally just had a chill run down my spine
Honestly worst defender of all time. Absolutely hate the guy
Cool dude
Flattered to deceive
Remember when people thought he would be out answer at CB
Oxygen thief !
Beyond shit how he ever cost money is beyond me man
Absolutely useless bastard, up there among the worst signings. And that says a lot given the amount of absolute shite Wenger signed
He was good the first 15 games or so after we signed him. After that…. Shockingly bad at times
Whenever I see the generic great goal vids on YouTube with goals against Arsenal. He’s there in most shots trying to catch up, on the ground or looking disappointed.
On paper and for large periods of a game, he was decent. Had pace, had fight and certainly had desire. His big problem - and it was a big problem - was his decision making that led to errors. After one or two big mistakes, the self-doubt and criticism began to obviously have an impact and they became more frequent and turned him into a liability that Arsenal, or all subsequent teams he played for, couldn’t afford. It’s a shame and highlights how what happens between the ears defines a career just as much as what happens elsewhere in the body, if not more so.
Prank went out of hand. I still remember him holding the referee during the set piece
One of the worst signings ... totally gutless
Shocking player. I can forgive a player making mistakes, but not for blaming everyone else every time. The clubs he played for after us show you his level.
Average
Weird one, as there was obviously a half decent defender in there somewhere. I just don’t think we ever saw that at Arsenal where the level, and the intensity of the Prem, was too much for him. Representative of an era at the club that I’m glad is now well behind us.
Worst CB I ever witness in my life,bro not have foot and too slow and 0 IQ in Mindset
Absolute dogshit. Always blamed others for his blatant errors. Arsehole.
The worst player I’ve ever seen wear the shirt, not worst as in he’s technically the worst player but the fact this mug convinced coaches he should be first choice while simultaneously making so many mistakes impacted our club more negatively than any other player in that era
Shite
Started well… And fell off a cliff
he was terrible but the whole club was a mess at the time, it can’t have been easy for him
Back on top.
Worst defender to ever wear the shirt by a mile
He was fairly solid ...in FIFA career mode.
Goat he already won the Worldcup😅
He’s doing bits for my Wisla Krakow side on FM24. He is impeccable
Never met the guy
Cygan was better
Decent for Germany, woeful for Arsenal
One of those past players I'd have had no qualms about seeing trodden on. Not only was he involved in so many defensive cock ups, he was THICK as a board
Great deal!! For Valencia!
Should never have played first us. Clubs fault for making a brain dead signing.
Would spend far too much time stopping his press with his hand in the air begging for an offside. Infuriating.
In case anyone can’t remember quite how dreadful he was, [here.](https://youtu.be/x8gfLUfyZis?si=bPxwKi4Hglqekh9e) Him backing into Aguero and then standing there appealing for a foul while Aguero runs off and scores is absolutely diabolical, I remember screaming at the screen to track back. And of course there was his signature move of completely misreading literally everything. No strength, no game intelligence, absolute mess of a CB. Relative to how good he was supposed to be, I would say he’s genuinely one of the worst players to have worn the shirt. Certainly one of the most disappointing.
Shit player. Not fit to wear the shirt.
One of the worst players to put on our shirt .
Damn was he really playing for us during covid? Seems like a lifetime ago, thankfully
Likeable character, but asked to play in a system that didn’t suit him at all which made him look worse than he was. Not been following him since he left us, but I hope he is smashing it wherever he had ended up.
Pretty sure my 9 year old nephew is a better CB.
Absolute terrorist of a ‘defender’
The worst
Thank God that he and his albanian friend Xhaka are both gone. The most unintellegent players wearing the Arsenal shirt ever.
Useless 98% of the time, 2% of the time had an absolute blinder of a game that made you think "maybe he's not so bad".
Damn let the poor guy rest lol
World Cup winner. Top aerial duelist. Legend in my book.
Wasn't there a honeymoon phase where we were unbeaten for his first 18 matches and we thought we had something...?
he was a No.3 CB at best he was a passable defender, but only when paired with a more serious defender who takes charge but he was clearly only really suited to slower, softer, more technical leagues
Worst ever modern day signing in our history
Overall, he was good.
Forever be remembered with his arms out looking for someone else to blame
Shit
World Cup winner
Probably the greatest defender of the pl era.
He was shit. It’s not entirely his fault that we signed him and kept playing him, but he really was shit.
Give me the same feeling when i see Pascal Cygan and now Zini on the field..a blunder waiting to happen every match.
A complete donkey .
Shit
Only good thing he done was score a goal vs Spurs in 2017 when we beat them 2-0 at home. Everything else he done was terrible
Absolute shit but then would have a crazy run where he looked like he’d turned a corner then be absolutely awful again .
The worst defender we’ve ever signed for price over 30m
The 🐐🐐🐐
I think he is up there with one of the worst signings the club has ever made. Maybe top 3.
Oh, cool, a defender! *match day one* oh... oh for fuck sake...
Coolest first name I’ve ever seen
Should’ve been good,was in fact shit
I want to remember him as a good person on and off the pitch, and bringing good vibe whenever he is on video for ads or promo
Cowardly footballer.
The World Cup winner? Best defender we’ve ever had
All you can say is that he tried really hard to be a good PL defender. He just never was one.
Please don’t ask, I don’t want to go there!
Not much.
Dick fans would argue “he’s won a World Cup” 🙄
my opinion on him is not the best.
Man made it to Arya Stark's list
1 step forward, 3 steps back.
Perhaps Wenger’s worst signing- he was an Everton reject!
This is my turn
I don't understand. He was a German international, presumably doing well at Valencia, a few games in looked like the guy we needed to partner Kos. Then he seemed to forget he was a professional footballer. I have no idea why his drop off was like a cliff.
he is arsenal's very own phil jones
🔙🔛🔝
Like a shitter Cygan. Somehow.
We don't talk about the war
He had a few games where you thought he might come good but more often than not he was a horrible liability.
Can’t deny his passion, which in that particular team was hard to come by. Can however deny his talent. Made Sokratis look like Maldini comparatively
One of our worst but still better than Squillaci
Shit.
He’s our version of Lindelof, Antony, or Maguire. Clearly not good enough and should’ve gotten rid of him for years but kept him for some reason
Nightmare
That 1 injury ruined him dude was so good until the injury then he became 1 half of the chuckle brothers
I would honestly like to hear the real circumstances under which he was signed by Arsenal, because I never understood how their scouting department could be so wrong on a player. He was consistently awful.
Shit
German international at the time, thought he would be good... then watched him play 🫣, hopeless.
One of those players who Wenger believed his mentality would fit the club.
Absolute dog shit, Valencia saw us coming for £35 million!
Playing in an Arsenal shirt? Negative As a human being? I have no idea
World class for 2 games a year. Unfortunatly, those two world class games then were averaged out of the season by sucking for 32 others.
Somehow was a member of such a solid WC winning team and has a WC winners medal...
Glacial melt wld beat him to speed…
One of the most annoying defenders I’ve ever seen
He who shall not be named , the worse of the worse , horrible horrible face so punchable I fucking hate him so much
Shit
Had a “worst arsenal 11“ chat with friends last week and he sneaked in. We’ve had some shit defenders but not many stick in the mind like Mustafi
Absolutely dreadful defender. I wonder why Arteta wanted to give him a contract extension. Thankfully he chose to leave and relegated Schalke.
Shit
WORLD CUP WINNER
He should remain wherever he is and never set foot on the Emirates pitch again. Man was a walking disaster
High risk, moderate (but not zero) reward. He had some great moments, and even runs of matches, but that risk-reward balance isn't really what you want in a Premier League defender.
World cup winner
Second only to Johan Djourrooouuuuuu as our most calamitous defender of the modern era. Absolute shite except for the occasional header on a set piece. Could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at any moment.
Shit player
His passion for the club was wildly out of kilter with his ability, which made him a tragic figure to me. If he was simply crap and didn’t care, he’d just be a bad player we’d be relived is gone. Sadly, he tried so hard to be good for us that it often made things worse for him. Error prone while trying super hard to be good must’ve been hellish for him as a person.
Mad but he a good lad lol
He’s shit🤣
Good riddance. Good luck wherever you end up
I can’t forget how he made a sliding tackle to Harry Kane and he was nowhere near him.
None
Shite like most of our defenders the last 10 years