Jose Mourinho, New Club And Country, Injury Or The Player Himself: Who Is To Blame For Henrikh Mkhitaryan's Poor Form For Manchester United?
By Ewah Chika.
Manchester United are blowing hot and cold this season despite spending an excess of £150 million in player signings in the summer. Scoring 13 league goals, keeping two clean sheets , conceding eight goals and sitting fifth in the Premier League table. Such was the excitement and euphoria following the appointment of former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho in the summer that many fans quickly concluded the Premier League title was their's to lose this season.
Fast forward to October and it seems the fans were living in illusion as United have lost against rivals and league leaders Manchester City and against inconsistent Watford at the same time dropping points against Stoke City. However, even with all these incidents, the most shocking of all is the inability of star signing and Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan to secure a starting berth at the club. Signed for a fee in excess of £25 million with a year to run in his contract with former club Borussia Dortmund, the attacker has failed to replicate his best form in England, as the likes of Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford have been preferred in attack to him. While Rashford has impressed on the wings, the same cannot be said of Lingard who has blown hot and cold.
While struggling with injury, the former Shartkar Donetsk player flopped in his first start against Manchester City as he was substituted in the second half. This is why it might sound foolish to say that the Armenian still remains the best player in the No 10 position for United. The reason for this is due to his vision and ability to play defence splitting passes to the striker. Mkhitaryan also possesses the strength and energy to go physical with opposition defenders who rely on bullying attackers. Unlike Juan Mata who is perfect on the ball but deficient off it, Mkhitaryan has that x-factor which he utilised to great effect at Dortmund last season scoring 15 goals, creating a further 15 assists in the Bundesliga and in all competitions scoring or assisting a total of 49 goals last season, an average of a goal or an assist every 89 minutes. This season, star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic regularly has had to drop deep most times to collect the ball as a result of poor service hence this is where the Armenian comes in handy.
Last season, the former BVB player's 15 league goals was equal to that of Rooney (six), Mata (five), Martial (four) all combined together. This is coupled with the 67 chances he created which was 19 more than Mata (United's top playmaker), not discounting he had 84 successful take-ons more than Mata.
At present Mkhitaryan might seem an odd player at United considering the
contrasting styles of Thomas Tuchel (BVB coach) and Jose Mourinho. The Armenian thrives In a team that plays with so much attacking velocity and fluidity, pressing high up the field and forcing opponents to make mistakes which is the reason he was a success under Tuchel unfortunately this is not the same in United where Mourinho utilises a more cautious approach, inviting opponents to attack his team while they rely on the counter attacks . This contrast in style might be to blame for his inability to consistently turn out for the Red Devils and must be corrected before the damage is done .
For now, it seems the Armenian simply has to adapt and stick to Mourinho's style in order to have a happy time in Old Trafford as the likes of Juan Mata learnt the hard way while at Chelsea with Mourinho or seek a move away from the club just like Romelu Lukaku and Kelvin De Bruyne did years ago.
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