Shkodran Mustafi: We’re Still Working To Deliver Unai Emery’s Philosophy

Shkodran Mustafi says the squad is still working to deliver what’s expected of them by Unai Emery…

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi stated that the team is still working on perfecting Unai Emery’s philosophy and admitted that there is still a lot of work to do, BT Sport reports.

Mustafi scored in our 3-0 win against BATE Borisov as we overturned out first-leg defeat to see us comfortably through to the last-16 of the Europa League.

The performance wasn’t without its hairy moments, with the visitors creating a few clear-cut chances in the first half including an effort which we cleared off the line.

However, once the World Cup winner found the back of the net with a clean header from a corner to double our advantage, we remained in control.

Sokratis finished the tie off in the second half with another header from a set-piece.

Very little can be gauged from the performance on Thursday against the Belarusian champions, but Mustafi is keenly aware that work still needs to be done to perfect Emery’s orders.

“That’s what we keep working on every day,” the German said when asked if the team is understanding Emery’s philosophy.

“We are trying to produce on the pitch what we are doing on the training ground, and the manager encourages us to stick to our plan, with our style of play that we have. 

“I think we have to believe in ourselves and work to improve and I think we are doing well.”

It is rather alarming that the players are not yet fully aware of what Emery wants, though the constant formations certainly don’t help.

With the team in need of goals, the Spaniard reverted back to the fluid 4-2-3-1 system he started the season with, and it provided us with better control.

Having said that, only Emery knows how he’ll line-up against Southampton on Sunday.