Henrikh Mkhitaryan image 22

Henrikh Mkhitaryan Armenia flag

2016-17 Performances


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6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
41
Goals
11
Assists
5
Yellow cards
4
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Jose has an intriguing challenge. On the one hand, you have Matta who has upped his game and working hard and on the other, you have a newly purchased £30+ million player who would be a candidate for both positions that Matta has been playing.

I personally think that Mkhitaryan is considerably better in every aspect of the game and has more to offer and his flair is the icing on the cake. But then again this is based on watching him in the BL and some of his highlight vids + a cameo here. That skill set and level of performance may not translate here, not straight away perhaps.

By the way, I am of the opinion that comparing leagues as "weaker" and "stronger" is very subjective and a lazy way to look at things. If the EPL is so strong then why are there so much more CL winners outside the EPL? It's the same mistake that people make when judging players like Pogba or Zlatan (and a million other players), with statements like "Oh the French, Italian, Spanish league are a joke". Then why do they dominate the pinnacle of domestic and national continental football?

Yes, they have comparatively weaker teams in those leagues but so does the EPL. I would be more inclined to believe that the dominant teams in those leagues are so much better than their competition which gives a false impression of the relative strength of that EPL which skews the actual strength of the EPL. Following this logic, I would say that the reason why the EPL is so competitive is that the "bigger clubs" in it are not better than the lower clubs to the same extent/degree as the top foreign teams are in their respective leagues. This to me makes perfect sense when considering how dominant the foreign leagues and national teams are in domestic, continental and international competition.

I think a more accurate argument is the style and possibly tempo of the league and the fact that most if not all the best players in the EPL have come from outside of the EPL, to begin with, so IMO the league comparison is next to useless when talking about the top 5 or so leagues especially when trying to predict if a player will make it here.
 
I think that given a few matches this combo would make Rooney loose his spot permanently:

Mkhi Mata Martial
........zlat

Pace, through balls, goal threat, creativity. It would just be too convincing for Mourinho to ignore, when we need even more pace mkhi goes to #10 and Rash or Lingard comes in as RW.

Let's hope Rooney has a bad batch of curry soon and get the shits for 14 days straight.
 
I think that given a few matches this combo would make Rooney loose his spot permanently:

Mkhi Mata Martial
........zlat

Pace, through balls, goal threat, creativity. It would just be too convincing for Mourinho to ignore, when we need even more pace mkhi goes to #10 and Rash or Lingard comes in as RW.

Let's hope Rooney has a bad batch of curry soon and get the shits for 14 days straight.
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&M

Nailed it.
 
Rooney won't be dropped. All of these 'Mourinho doesn't want to cause unrest' or 'Rooney has many friends in the dressing room and media' quotes are ridiculous. It is reason enough for Rooney to be fecking sold immediately.

You can't keep bringing in managers who are undermined and have their hands tied by their player, to the point where they can't select a team that they want to. Especially when we are not talking about Lionel Messi, but a player who should be no higher than 3rd choice in all of his positions - yet is the captain and undroppable.

Other than injury, the only thing that can set the ball rolling is Allardyce dropping him first.
 
Had to take him out my fantasy team because I don't see Mourinho dropping anyone just yet :(

Its obvious when he plays he'll get assists & goals though. Can't wait to see him play for us more.
 
Lingard might not be faster but he's a different kind of runner. Most of his running is off the ball.

...And Lingard is superior to Mhkitaryan in this instance? I refuse to believe that. There is more to him not starting than he's telling us.
 
Had to take him out my fantasy team because I don't see Mourinho dropping anyone just yet :(

Its obvious when he plays he'll get assists & goals though. Can't wait to see him play for us more.
yep same here - I presume his value will drop though whilst he isn't playing? As soon as he starts get him in quick :)
 
I heard someone's idea the other day avout why he hasnt been starting and it makes sense. He has a big squad so its important to keep them happy and valued. Lingard played the first game, an important game, so even if he isnt starting every game, he feels valued. All that shit about mata would have been huge but mourinho started him in the first 2 games. No worries at all now. Once september starts, we'll be in 3 competitions so they will rotate and all still play around 1 match a week, but its probably better for the overall morale if mkhitaryan was the one on the bench for the first few games as he is a new signing, and the others started. If Mkhitaryan started both games, we could well have had mata asking for a transfer by the end of the window, so this way everyone is happy.

Saying that, I hope Mkhitaryan plays tomorrow. Needs a start so the City game isnt his first one.
 
I really really wish he starts tomorrow. Hes so much better than Mata that he has to be in the starting line up. I dont think Mata will do well at all against City since he isnt very good against the high line the pep likes to deploy. Miki would give us something else - speed and creativity, Jose needs to put trust in him.
 
I thought he would start actually, but I suppose it's only fair for Mata to stay in the team if Jose has liked his performances so far. Obviously there's the Rooney question too but I won't go into it. Hopefully he gets some decent minutes today as a sub.
 
Once he starts, i expect him to start every week from that point. Think he wont start for quite a while in the league, whatever the reason. October for me.
 
He's part of Mourinho's plans for operation marginalise Rooney, I reckon.
 
Bound to come off the bench and grab a goal and then he'll go into the City game with a load of confidence.
 
Hopefully he'll get some time tomorrow, loved his cameo earlier.
If only he was to replace Rooney...
 
He's part of Mourinho's plans for operation marginalise Rooney, I reckon.

That's very possible. Wait for EL games to start, play Rooney then and Micky starts the league games. Pass it off as "we need Wayne's experience to guide this young team". Saves Jose from dealing with an unhappy team captain scowling on the bench in his first few weeks.
 
Hull City 0:1 Man Utd
Mourinho's an idiot for not starting him
 
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