Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi was given a less than warm reception when he came on as a substitute in the club’s match against Lyon at the Emirates yesterday.
Mustafi was one of the three players that came on for Arsenal in the 70th minute, the other two being loan signing Dani Ceballos and Gabiel Martinelli.
However, the German defender was met with boos from Arsenal supporters. This wasn’t the first time Mustafi was booed during the pre-season as he was also booed while coming on as a substitute during the Gunners’ first pre-season fixture against Colorado Rapids. Then, he wore the captain’s armband upside down.
And things became even worse for the 27-year old as just minutes after he came on, Lyon striker Moussa Dembele scored to give the Ligue 1 club a 2-1 lead over the Gunners. Mustafi was seen shouting offside as Dembele shot past Bernd Leno.
Still two weeks until the season starts and we’ve already seen the reassuring sight of Mustafi calling for offside as Arsenal’s defence falls to pieces pic.twitter.com/syaAbG1OvP
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) July 28, 2019
Fans have mixed reactions on Mustafi on Twitter. Many criticised the German for his performance against Lyon. One user named @clockendchigz wrote: “Problem with mustafi is he’s too slow and positioning is poor.” Another user named @dukefola wrote: “We prefer when a player makes a rash challenge even intentionally and get booked honestly rather than one who raises his hands for offside when more than ever without trying to defend and leaving spaces exposed. Mustafi has always been a highlight and never gonna change tbh.”
Keep it up Arsenal fans
All our class and values were destroyed by Wenger over the last decade so for now this behaviour is fine
Let all the deadwood know they are not wanted loud and clear
Once the club is cleansed of them we can try to go back to our old fashioned values ?? https://t.co/bzxEr4Kjuj
— #OzilOut (@HerbertChapman0) July 29, 2019
There were many who defended Mustafi’s decision to shout for offside. One user named @andrewv9182 wrote: “Offside is offside. VAR disallows that goal – non story. If it was about Mustafi playing offside when the guy is onside then that’s another story.” Another user named @ArsenalHomerton wrote: “Mustafi was calling for offside because it was offside.”
Im quiet sure this was offside …soo mustafi was right https://t.co/FYvgrgk7aJ
— ElliotOlumide88 (@OlumideElliot) July 29, 2019
Mustafi wasn’t bad yestaday considering the goal that was “his fault” actuallly was offside
— EnglishZanetti (@jakefifagamer) July 29, 2019
Arsenal are in dire need of defensive reinforcements as Koscielny wants to leave while Mustafi has been very poor for a while now. The Gunners signed centre-back William Saliba who will spend the 2019/20 season on loan at Saint-Etienne.
Arsenal have two pre-season matches left against Angers and Barcelona before they star their Premier League campaign against Newcastle United.