The resurgent Arsenal centre-back hasn’t impressed Lee Dixon.
Shkodran Mustafi looks like a different player for Arsenal these days – literally.
The Germany international seems to be markedly less calamitous under Gunners boss Mikel Arteta than he was during Unai Emery or Arsene Wenger’s stint in North London.
On Sunday, Mustafi was arguably the best defender on the pitch as Arsenal edged out Everton 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium.
It was the 27-year-old’s third successive Premier League start and those goals are the only two that Arteta’s side have conceded in that run of form, following back-to-back clean sheets against Burnley and Newcastle United.
Mustafi has been known to be somewhat error prone throughout his three-and-a-half year spell at Arsenal but this does seem to be a new-and-improved defender.
Not only has there been a transformation in terms of defending, but Mustafi looks physically different too and turned up sporting a new white hairstyle against the Toffees.
Many Arsenal fans are loving this new-look player, but club legend Lee Dixon isn’t having it just yet.
Speaking on The Handbrake Off podcast, the former right-back said: “He seriously needs to have a word with himself and pipe down a little bit. Bang me 25 appearances out and 15 clean sheets then he can do what he likes with his hair and his sunglasses. Just sit back down for a bit and carry on churning the results out.”
Plenty of other Gunners fans will share Dixon’s view. Three or four decent games doesn’t cancel out scores of horrific ones since 2016 and although it’s nice to see Mustafi playing much better, consistency is key.
This isn’t the first time that he has looked to have bucked up his ideas, so time will tell whether this transformation is for the long term or not.
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