Massive season ahead for these two. Both were fairly average last season but it was their first season in England.
Mustafi actually came in and played really well and formed a formidable partnership with Koscielny. However, towards the middle and end sections of the season he suddenly became a liability. Panics and dives in and gives the ball away a lot. Might not even be in the starting lineup come the start of the season.
Xhaka started off really badly and his first season with us was average at best. On the bright side, however, is the way that he ended the season. Put in some great performances and seems to have a good midfield combo with Ramsey. He looks a certain starter next season.
Paid a lot of money for both of these players and they will have to put in a real shift this coming season.
IMO I expect Xhaka to do the job but Mustafi just seems not good enough for our team.
Xhaka and Mustafi
posted on 28/6/17
Thought Xhaka started off well but then Wenger kept dropping him when he played well. Some farcial red cards against him meant he missed like 8 games lol. Was pretty pathetic during that spell where the whole team lost the plot. Was actually very good for the last 10 games or so along with the cup final.
Mustafi was actually playing well for us but then got injured and became a liability. I wouldn't have paid £35Mil for him as i feel we could have got a much better CB but the prices these days mean 20-30Mil means squad players.
posted on 28/6/17
Mustafi showed he has what it takes but got tired part way through the season which affected his game play. How many games was it we were unbeaten when he played? If I remember correctly it was about 20 games.
Xhaka on the other hand I dont think has shown he has what it takes in the PL. People say he is a great passer of the ball, but I dont think he is that good. He started off getting a lot of red cards and then stopped trying defensively. I see him as more of a liability than a help and the reason we had to go to 3 at the back was to put an extra defender in to make up for the lack of defensive work from him in midfield. He has to take a large part of the blame for some of our loses for his lack of defensive work. With him and Giroud in the spine it is too slow for the fast paced and physical PL.
posted on 28/6/17
I was very impressed with Mustafi before christmas. I thought he was a great buy and we had two really good defenders starting for us.
He did however lose form and started playing poorly. However with a years experience under his belt i expect him to start showing consistency.
Xhaka i am more wary of. He played better at the EOS admittedly but before the last month or so, he was a liability. Kept being sent off/booked and didnt have many great performances. I expect him to improve but if he doesnt he should be sold next summer.
posted on 28/6/17
Don't see what people saw in Mustafi before this supposed loss in form. I've never seen somebody get away with the stuff he was getting away with in his early AFC days, and it was seriously annoying people were putting that unbeaten run down to him.
From what I've seen, he's worse than Vermaelen, on par at best.
I can only hope he improves, although it's unlikely with Wenger guiding him.
posted on 28/6/17
comment by Tu Meke Santi (U3732)
posted 2 hours, 46 minutes ago
Don't see what people saw in Mustafi before this supposed loss in form. I've never seen somebody get away with the stuff he was getting away with in his early AFC days, and it was seriously annoying people were putting that unbeaten run down to him.
From what I've seen, he's worse than Vermaelen, on par at best.
I can only hope he improves, although it's unlikely with Wenger guiding him.
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He's committed in the way we want are players to be. Got the same amount of passion, motivational drive and commitment as Sanchez except he does it the right way. I think he's just a bit gung ho for your liking. He definitely has what's been lacking at the club in abundance. That with the fact we never lost for 20 games with him in, fans are always gonna love that.
Did you seriously not enjoy TVs first season? Come on Tu Meke, I know he never really found that form again but at the time he was great to watch. The Verminator was one of the precious few who could get the Emirates proper rowdy like match day stadium should be.
posted on 28/6/17
comment by Tu Meke Santi (U3732)
posted 3 hours, 40 minutes ago
Don't see what people saw in Mustafi before this supposed loss in form. I've never seen somebody get away with the stuff he was getting away with in his early AFC days, and it was seriously annoying people were putting that unbeaten run down to him.
From what I've seen, he's worse than Vermaelen, on par at best.
I can only hope he improves, although it's unlikely with Wenger guiding him.
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I agree in so far as he was reckless from the moment he joined, I don't feel he lost form as the season went on, but was just a bit lucky in not being penalised so much earlier in the season. There are aspects of his game I really like, but he has to cut out the reckless aspect of his game, in the way that Koscielny pretty much has.
posted on 28/6/17
comment by Pep The Final Straw!! (Formerly WB2) (U8276)
posted 5 hours, 23 minutes ago
comment by Tu Meke Santi(U3732)
posted 2 hours, 46 minutes ago
Don't see what people saw in Mustafi before this supposed loss in form. I've never seen somebody get away with the stuff he was getting away with in his early AFC days, and it was seriously annoying people were putting that unbeaten run down to him.
From what I've seen, he's worse than Vermaelen, on par at best.
I can only hope he improves, although it's unlikely with Wenger guiding him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's committed in the way we want are players to be. Got the same amount of passion, motivational drive and commitment as Sanchez except he does it the right way. I think he's just a bit gung ho for your liking. He definitely has what's been lacking at the club in abundance. That with the fact we never lost for 20 games with him in, fans are always gonna love that.
Did you seriously not enjoy TVs first season? Come on Tu Meke, I know he never really found that form again but at the time he was great to watch. The Verminator was one of the precious few who could get the Emirates proper rowdy like match day stadium should be.
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"Committed" is certainly a way of spinning it. He was jumping into challenges he had no chance of winning, he was very poor positionally and not so great in the air. I'm not sure what this quality he has "in abundance", and I don't think you know either.
For a 35M cb i expected a lot more, although the price tag is not his fault, and as ive alluded too, wenger's coaching does him no favours.
I already said it annoyed me fans mention him when talking about that unbeaten run, and you've done exactly that Really can't tell if you're a massive wum. Mustafi barely had anything to do with it.
And of course I enjoyed Tommy V's first season. Unlike Mustafi, he scored a fair few important goals, and his blood and thunder attitude was something very different to what we were used to. although long term it proved to not be the best strategy. His defending wasn't great though, especially in the big games.
posted on 28/6/17
comment by Sömeday_693 - Elneny will be our salvation (U8892)
posted 4 hours, 56 minutes ago
comment by Tu Meke Santi(U3732)
posted 3 hours, 40 minutes ago
Don't see what people saw in Mustafi before this supposed loss in form. I've never seen somebody get away with the stuff he was getting away with in his early AFC days, and it was seriously annoying people were putting that unbeaten run down to him.
From what I've seen, he's worse than Vermaelen, on par at best.
I can only hope he improves, although it's unlikely with Wenger guiding him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree in so far as he was reckless from the moment he joined, I don't feel he lost form as the season went on, but was just a bit lucky in not being penalised so much earlier in the season. There are aspects of his game I really like, but he has to cut out the reckless aspect of his game, in the way that Koscielny pretty much has.
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I do think there's a good defender in Mustafi, however I don't think he's with the right coach to coax it out of him. I agree he needs to be less rash, but looking at his mistake in Germany's game against Chile (forced by Sanchez of all people), I think it's just something he'll never be able to control.
posted on 28/6/17
The quality in abundance I meant was just the passion. I think the fans warmed to him straight away because of it. I think it's a bit harsh to say he had nothing to do with the 20 game run, he made many a last ditch save same as Kos so deserves some credit. Hopefully he calms down because he's definite motivator.
posted on 29/6/17
We have quite a few players with passion, there's nothing new there. I don't think Mustafi is even that passionate, you're just confusing his brain dead attempts to win the ball with gusto.
I didn't say he had nothing to do with it, he was involved in every game. But at times it was definitely in spite of him, moreso than because of him.
As I say, there's a good defender in there, but I'm not betting on us seeing that any time soon. Would love to be surprised though.