Do Arsenal Finally Have the Defence to Win the Premier League Title?

Arsene Wenger has long been a master of defence. Not the kind played on a football pitch, but the rhetoric contested with the media and even his own fans almost on a weekly basis.

Without that stubbornness the Frenchman would surely have been forced out as Arsenal boss long before now. In the footballing sense of the term, however, he is less than adept.

Indeed, Arsenal’s defensive line has long been considered their greatest weakness, among other weaknesses. Wenger has been perennially accused for the best part of the last decade of ignoring his side’s glaring deficiencies at the back, placing faith in players that had done little to warrant it.

Arsenal’s questionable defence, more than anything else, has seen the club tread water—or slowly drown. Nobody can quite decide which it is.

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However, this season could prove to be something of a watershed for Arsenal. The Gunners have now kept clean sheets in each of their last four games in all competitions, with Wenger presiding over one of the best defensive units in the Premier League. How things have changed, and quickly, at the Emirates Stadium.

So is it all down to Shkodran Mustafi? The German has settled instantly into Arsenal’s back four since making the £35 million move from Valencia on the penultimate day of the transfer window, drawing plaudits from Wenger.

Before Sunday’s 1-0 win at Burnley, the Frenchman said, per James Benge of the London Evening Standard:

"

He has the potential [to be a great defender for Arsenal], which is interesting at the moment. It is a bit too early to say, you have to be cautious when a guy has played only three or four games.

What makes me positive is he is focused, has the desire to do well, and is 24 years old. So for a central defender that is quite young. Let’s see how he survives in games like Sunday against Burnley, where it is a case of ‘Can I head the ball? Can I win the second ball?’ I would say I have a positive feeling.

"

Maybe Mustafi’s stint at Everton earlier in his career prepared him for the nature of English football’s top flight. Perhaps the German’s physicality was a natural fit for the Premier League in the first place, but whatever the reason, the 24-year-old looks to be the kind of player Arsenal have so desperately missed for a number of years.

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He could be the difference. Alongside Laurent Koscielny, the Gunners now appear to boast one of the finest, balanced centre-back pairings in the league, with the duo striking up an instant understanding. It’s long been said that all Arsenal are missing is a strong defence. Now they have one, the theory will be put to the test.

Of course, Wenger somewhat stumbled across this solution. The Frenchman reluctantly entered the transfer market in the final week of the summer window following injuries to a number of key defenders, coupled with mounting pressure from fans for him to “spend some f--king money.” It led him to paying over the odds for Mustafi and Deportivo La Coruna attacker Lucas Perez. 

Without injuries to Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista, it’s doubtful whether Arsenal would have made another defensive addition before the close of the summer window.

But, nonetheless, the money splurged on Mustafi will be worth it, and then some, if he turns the north London club into genuine title contenders. That’s the way the Gunners are heading on the basis of their form over the past month or so. 

If there was a moment to illustrate how Mustafi could be the player Arsenal have lacked for so long it came in the 1-0 win over Burnley at the weekend.

An opposition player had caught him with a flailing limb, collapsing the German defender to the Turf Moor pitch. There was blood on his forehead, yet Mustafi was up quickly, wiped away the wound and was back in the game again within seconds. He appears to relish the kind of physicality that has been the shortcoming of so many Arsenal defenders before him.

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Comparatively, he is Arsenal’s Nemanja Vidic, and Koscielny has become their Rio Ferdinand alongside him. While the German attacks everything that comes within 10 yards of him—putting his head where others wouldn’t dare—the latter is the organiser and pass-master out from the back. Characteristically, it’s the perfect partnership.

Against Chelsea, Mustafi handled Diego Costa with little fuss, keeping the striker in check even as he tried every trick in the book to get under the skin of the German. If he can handle Costa, he can handle any forward in the Premier League. 

All this from a player who is still only 24. Wenger made that point last week, remarking on Mustafi’s quality, presence and composure for a player of such a young age.

He was signed as something of a stop-gap solution to compensate for the absence of Mertesacker, but Mustafi will now surely replace his compatriot as the long-term, and short-term, future of Arsenal’s defence.

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Factor in the form of Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal, Arsenal’s two Spanish flyers in the full-back positions, and the Gunners arguably possess the most inherently talented back line in the Premier League. The turnaround in their defensive fortunes is as remarkable as it has been rapid.

Of course, Arsenal have been here before, assembling what looks to be something nearing a title-winning team only for injuries and inconsistency to thwart them. There’s the possibility that the same could happen again, with Koscielny only just returning to full fitness after his participation with France in the summer’s European Championship. 

But if Wenger can find a way to keep things together, Arsenal appear to have finally addressed the one thing that has undermined them more than anything else over the past decade. Maybe the Frenchman won’t have so much defending to do in front of the media now that he has players who can do it on the pitch.