Jamie Carragher doesn’t think Shkodran Mustafi is good enough for Arsenal, and says the German should’ve helped the young defenders around him more against Chelsea.

Arsenal’s defence struggled badly against the Blues on Wednesday. They gifted Alvaro Morata a number of fantastic chances, and were lucky the Spaniard missed them all. Eventually, Chelsea punished them with a late goal from Marcos Alonso, unmarked in the box.

Carragher put a lot of the blame for those problems on Mustafi’s shoulders. He told Sky Sports: “Mustafi, to be honest, I don’t think was great at helping the two young lads around him.

“It’s not just about having young players there, I don’t think Mustafi is good enough really. You can never be confident with Arsenal defensively and at times I felt Chelsea should have gone for them a little bit more.”

mustafi huddersfield
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 29: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Huddersfield Town at Emirates Stadium on November 29, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Mustafi’s second season at Arsenal is going roughly the same way as his first. In both seasons, he started off pretty well. In 2016/17, the Gunners went on an unbeaten run with the defender for a while, before losing to Everton and Manchester City.

This season, he managed seven league clean sheets in a row after the loss to Stoke. But he followed that up with poor performances against Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. That inconsistency is concerning, especially given the fitness problems and inexperience around him.

Laurent Koscielny is perpetually a game away from an Achilles issue. Nacho Monreal is currently sidelined. Per Mertesacker is about to retire. Rob Holding and Calum Chambers are 22 years old.

Arsenal rely on Mustafi to provide some solidity, but he isn’t doing so. That needs to change, or Carragher’s assessment of the World Cup winner is correct.