Arsenal’s German defender Shkodran Mustafi (2nd R) climbs to head the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Burnley at the Emirates Stadium in London on January 22, 2017
LONDON, United Kingdom, Jan 30- Shkodran Mustafi is hopeful of keeping his unbeaten run at Arsenal going for as long as possible.
Since joining the club in the summer, the German defender has notched up 22 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners, winning 16 and drawing six.
His absence was keenly felt in December as Arsenal lost back-to-back games against Manchester City and Everton, and Mustafi revealed to Sky Sports that his hatred of losing is what helps drive him forward in his career.
“I hope I can keep that statistic until the end of the season,” he said. “It’ll be difficult but for me personally but I just go from game to game and try to give the maximum and improve, then the results come.
“When I lose I sometimes just don’t come home and stay at the hotel, because I don’t want to listen to all that. But I’m happier for the other people than me that I haven’t lost yet.
“When I go into a game I’m not thinking about losing, I’m there because I want to win. If I do something I do it properly, I’m a footballer because I want to improve and win games, that’s why I’m sometimes difficult when I lose.”
Arsenal find themselves in second place in the Premier League table heading into their clash with Watford on Tuesday night, but eight points behind leaders Chelsea.
Arsenal’s defender Shkodran Mustafi (L) slides in to tackle Chelsea’s midfielder Nemanja Matic (2L) at the Emirates Stadium in London on September 24, 2016
Despite that and the battle to finish in the top four this season, Mustafi insists Arsenal are only focused on their own game rather than the results of others.
“We are not looking too much at the other teams and what they’re doing,” he said. “In the end you have to be focused on what you’re doing as a team. We know we have big games coming up and we have to go game after game.
“We know the Premier League isn’t easy, all the teams know how to defend and they can catch and hurt you on the counter-attack. Suddenly then you’re looking at other teams but dropping points as well, so it’s important to look at ourselves and try to take all the points we can.”
Mustafi’s arrival in the summer from Valencia made him the third German in the squad alongside Mesut Ozil and Per Mertesacker, and he admitted that having his compatriots already in the dressing room made his transition to the Premier League smoother.
“It’s nice because when you first come you can talk to them and they can explain a few things,” he said. “They can say: ‘I know you’re used to this but in England it works a bit different’. It makes life a bit easier.
“When I came to the national team Per had left, so we’ve never played together before. I know Per, but I know Mesut a bit better because we’re still playing together.
“But in the end we have a really nice changing room and it’s easy to get on with all the players in there because they’re nice people.”
