Shkrodan Mustafi has revealed that Arsenal would rather play teams like Chelsea every week than minnows such as Burnley.
The Gunners delivered a masterclass to beat their London rivals 3-0 nine days ago but struggled against Burnley the following weekend and needed a controversial late Laurent Koscielny goal to secure a 1-0 win.
Arsenal have made failing to win these kinds of game into an art-form. And, with seconds to go, it looked as though Manchester City’s defeat at Spurs earlier that day would go unpunished. But, somehow, Theo Walcott played Steve Bould, his flick-on setting up the most un-Arsenal of goals and the players celebrated like a team starting to believe. It is, though, just the first week in October.
Mustafi believes that Arsenal have to adapt their style of play against the Premier League’s less heralded sides and admitted it is a difficult challenge.
Mustafi, 24, arrived in north London this summer in a £35million deal from Valencia and has adapted well to life in the Premier League.
The centre-back played the full 90 minutes in the Arsenal wins over both Chelsea and Burnley.
“It suits us more to play against big teams [like Chelsea] because it’s not always easy to come to places like this [Turf Moor] and change from style to steel,” Mustafi told the Daily Star.
“But we showed that we have good character and steel, and that’s what gave us the three points in the end.”
The three points move Arsenal up to third place in the Premier League behind Tottenham and Manchester City.
Arsene Wenger’s side have recovered well from an opening day defeat to Liverpool to collect 16 points from seven games this season.
The Gunners have won their last five games on the bounce and now face back-to-back home clashes with Swansea in the Premier League and Ludogorets in the Champions League in mid-October.
The key to success for this Arsenal squad was always going to be the contribution of Wenger’s pair of superstars, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
The final phase of the manager’s tenure was always going to be defined by how the duo performed in Arsenal shirts, and so far, they have not really justified the outlay of nearly £80 million.
That could change. Wenger has adapted their roles this season, and individually and as a combination, they look significantly more dangerous. Sanchez is playing in the striker’s role.
It gives him the opportunity to use his prodigious energy and anticipation to unnerve defenders. He is a one-man high press, and centre-backs dare not dwell on the ball with the Chilean around. He adds vigour up front, where Olivier Giroud (who has plenty of different qualities) looked lethargic.
Ozil has been deployed behind him. This gives the German the chance to play in a position where he can hurt the opposition.
It limits his passing range more than a deeper role, but playing in the final third means the killer ball is available more often for the 27-year-old. Ozil’s subtlety and incisiveness come to the fore. It also puts less pressure on the World Cup winner to track back, which has never been his strongest point.