Arsenal star reveals how team meeting helped drag squad out of slump | OneFootball

Shkodran Mustafi has spoken out about how Arsenal got themselves out of the recent dire slump in form and spirit.

2018 has not been great for Arsène Wenger’s men, who have lost eight games in all competitions this year and have only just emerged out their dark days following two wins over Milan in the Europa League, as well as a convincing win over Watford in the Premiership.

February and March have been particularly difficult for the squad as they suffered three straight league defeats and then that savage loss to Manchester City in the EFL Cup Final.

But, as with all things, this slump was bound to end at some point and Mustafi has revealed how the Arsenal men made it through with the help of a team meeting.

“Everyone knew it was a difficult period,” Mustafi said. “The meeting was about trying to listen to different opinions, different ideas and different feelings, and I think we found a way to try to change a bit.

“It’s not that easy because one meeting is not going to change a lot, especially not during the season when you’re playing every three days, but it was important to speak our opinions out loud. Overall it was about giving 110 per cent to try to get out of it, and I think we managed it well.”

Arsenal are back in action this Sunday when they host Stoke City at The Emirates, but their focus will be centred around the Europa League quarter-finals clash against CSKA Moscow on 5 April.

“To be honest, this season has been more disappointing for us because we had bigger targets,” he told Arsenal Player. “One really big positive thing is that to be able to recover from such a period when everything goes bad and you’re not in form, to be close together and come out of it as a team is a really big, massive thing.

“I’ve been playing in a lot of teams across Europe and I’ve been playing in teams where we have been doing well, I’ve been playing in teams where we’ve been struggling, and it’s not easy to come out especially when you’re a big team.

“You find yourself fighting in every game against every opponent. I think you have to give credit to the team because we managed to come together and go back to the basics. Everyone was fighting for each other to try to get back on a winning streak.”