I'm not sure how serious those threats are. Lingard is just nowhere near the player Mkhitaryan (or Mata or Herrera) is and no way Mourinho trusts Martial as a 10, and he doesn't like Mata there either, so we're talking about Fellaini or Herrera in all likelihood.
22
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 7
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
I'm not sure how serious those threats are. Lingard is just nowhere near the player Mkhitaryan (or Mata or Herrera) is and no way Mourinho trusts Martial as a 10, and he doesn't like Mata there either, so we're talking about Fellaini or Herrera in all likelihood.
He had a pretty good overall game, sloppy occasionally on the ball but creates loads and gets in scoring positions constantly. Not to mention defensively speaking hes brilliant for us and does loads to actually help us keep the attack flowing with his clever turns and usually brilliant first touch. Hes one of the first names on the teamsheet, and with good reason.
You can see why he had that insane season for Dortmund because if he puts it all together, he could be a monster of a creator.
The 1st half he was so frustrating, he ruined about 3/4 golden opportunities alone through his shit touch or just overrunning the ball.
The 1st half he was so frustrating, he ruined about 3/4 golden opportunities alone through his shit touch or just overrunning the ball.
I remember a n10 recently who barely got dispossesed. He always one-touched the ball backwards or sideways, playing it safe, barely turned around and faced towards goal. He was pretty boring in his stint here, and i think he got about only 5 succesful thru balls in his 2 years here. His name was Kagawa
[whitetext] ok i might had exaggerated a bit. Kagawa was average for us, but you get the point. I preffer n10s who risk more, and they will lose the ball many times [\whitetex]
Quality player for sure. I find him frustrating to watch but he produces in specific moments. He just loses the ball too easily, dribbles into trouble, and also holds on to the ball too long.
It's like he doesn't have the confidence that he has the quality to play in this league and that he can handle the physicality of this league. He's getting better and better though. So, here's to hoping he continues to improve and to think he can improve on his current production is pretty exciting.
It's like he doesn't have the confidence that he has the quality to play in this league and that he can handle the physicality of this league. He's getting better and better though. So, here's to hoping he continues to improve and to think he can improve on his current production is pretty exciting.
Mkhitaryan's game by numbers vs. Everton:
1 goal
2 key passes
36 final 3rd passes
4 dribbles
6 tackles
50% win rate
8.04 rating on Who Scored. Not too bad. He can do better of course, but the numbers are not bad at all.
1 goal
2 key passes
36 final 3rd passes
4 dribbles
6 tackles
50% win rate
8.04 rating on Who Scored. Not too bad. He can do better of course, but the numbers are not bad at all.
Ffs, some of you have ridiculously high standards! Yah he lost the ball 2 or 3 times in the final third, but he was fine for the most part. He's not freaking Messi.
Needs to impose himself more.
I actually think Mourinho would happily play Mata in the middle if he felt there was anyone who could do a better job where he is now. He may not be scoring or assisting much, but makes more happen with his movement and eye for a pass than any of our outright attacking players. He's especially good at drawing people inside and providing space for Valencia down the right.
Mkhi is great in moments in the game and is often deadly with either a pass or a finish in front of goal, but I can't be 100% satisfied with a player who drifts in and out of games to the extent that he does. He's sufficient for us in the #10 position for the moment, but I think if either Antonie Griezmann or Dele Alli became available in the summer, they should be signed as a direct upgrade.
The biggest issue with him is the 2-3 extra touches he takes on the ball rather than playing it forwards to a team mate who has made a run. He ends up either getting pushed off or overruns it to an opponent player.
Yeah, he often gets pushed off the ball in possession because he holds it too long.
Still I'd rather a player who does nothing all game and gets a goal/assist than a Rashford who looks great but falls apart whenever he gets near the penalty area.
On the break, or when he has space in that number 10 spot, facing the goal, Miki is a different type of animal. His only issue is that he tends to get fazed too much when he loses the ball or when things don't go his way. If he starts a game in good form, has a few touches here and there and ups his confidence, the guy will deliver for sure. It's all about that confidence with him.
I still feel he needs to adjust his game just a bit though, go faster into the box when he can't deliver the killer pass, fake some movements near the box. But he started the season well, massive improvement on last year, props to him.
6.5 rating. The guy leads the league in assists, he got a goal today. RC is really disconnected from reality.
Scored now. Leads assists chart. But hey, he's lost the ball a few time trying to do this, so let's focus on that instead.
I can now see why we shouldn't criticize the Bernabeu crowd for booing Ronaldo...
I feel it is a bit harsh on Rashford. Mkhitaryan is 27 years old and has played in the German and English leagues. Rashford is very young and is still learning. Also, he isn't a wide player at all but has been shunted there due to our 75m pound summer acquisition.
We need to be patient with him but he shouldn't be starting games like these. It puts too much pressure on him to deliver.
I think we need to play only one of him or Mata. Play them centrally and have Rashford on the right and Martial on the left.
Would do world of good for him to get his first goal of the season after missing chances against basel. He will be more confident now that he has got a goal.
As i said before the season started if we are to win the league then him and martial got to have great season & I am confident we will be right there till the end and hopefully win the title.
As i said before the season started if we are to win the league then him and martial got to have great season & I am confident we will be right there till the end and hopefully win the title.
I can see that he's improving to become our main creative force. Our attack would be less potent if we don't play Mkhi.
If Van Gaal was our manager he won't start and would have been sold as he gives away possession a lot, for Jose it shouldn't matter. He is frustrating player but you always feel he will create something or score a goal, that's his style of play.
Thought he had a really poor game. He has so much potential but so many times today he just dribbled into the opposition and I think a better player could have threaded some nice balls forward rather than holding for too long.
I would have hooked him at half time to be honest and moved Mata middle and Martial subbed on.
I would have hooked him at half time to be honest and moved Mata middle and Martial subbed on.
He's been responsible for about half of our goals this season but yeah sure let's flog him because he's obviously crap and wasteful and nobody is sure what he even offers on the pitch. 
He's got pace, and eye for a pass, can finish, finds space, and he's even been tracking back. Jose's process of moulding him into the player he wants him to be will continue, and as he settles, we'll see even more of what we've seen so far this season - assists, and now goals too.
He's got pace, and eye for a pass, can finish, finds space, and he's even been tracking back. Jose's process of moulding him into the player he wants him to be will continue, and as he settles, we'll see even more of what we've seen so far this season - assists, and now goals too.
People want everything. If he plays it safe thus not losing the ball but creating feck all, they'll criticise him for being a passenger, not taking the responsibility to create, not being creative blah blah blah. Now that he has the confidence and the ability to go for the killer ball and decide games, hell, let's criticise him for losing possession a couple of times as if he's the fecking CB who gives away direct goal scoring opportunities as a result. It's tiresome really. These very people will hype other #10s to the stars btw as the highlight reels just show the balls that clicked and not the ones that didn't.
See Mata's thread
Its amazing how he has such end product whilst being at 60% of form. Imagine how good he will be when he hits it in December?
Aye, the perfect example.
I just want consistency from him. If he can do it once in a match then there's no reason he can't do it consistently throughout. He's so frustrating because you know hes capable. With Pogba out he needs to be our main creative spark and against the big boys and in the Champions League he needs to step it up a notch and prove he's on the level of the Silvas and Iscos.
He rightly deserves criticism, just like Rooney did even when he would sneak a goal or assist late on.
It's just frustrating as if he played to his usual high level he could be getting 2/3 assists a game, but he's just slightly off at the moment.
It's only little things, but he's definitely holding onto the ball far too long and getting caught. Just needs to sharpen that side.
I have no problem with him trying the hard passes and losing the ball, that's all part of risk/reward. It's just losing it in places/moments that the safer option would have been better.
Anyway his stats are great so far, so let's hope that continues. No way is Lingard giving us the same effect anyway.
It's just frustrating as if he played to his usual high level he could be getting 2/3 assists a game, but he's just slightly off at the moment.
It's only little things, but he's definitely holding onto the ball far too long and getting caught. Just needs to sharpen that side.
I have no problem with him trying the hard passes and losing the ball, that's all part of risk/reward. It's just losing it in places/moments that the safer option would have been better.
Anyway his stats are great so far, so let's hope that continues. No way is Lingard giving us the same effect anyway.
He's not at his top level yet at united, but trying. Frustrating in parts , very good in parts. But there is room for improvement in his game.
Against top level Posession based sides your mistakes gets punished and this is where he needs improvement and consistancy.
Against top level Posession based sides your mistakes gets punished and this is where he needs improvement and consistancy.
Thank God he's slotted into the CAM position because now Pogba is out we need that driving force through the middle to run with the ball and take us up the pitch.
He does waste some chances but it doesn't matter because he makes enough opportunities to waste some, that's encouraging. Good finish yesterday to kill the game off he's had a very good season so far. We need to keep him fit now with the absence of Pogba.
He does waste some chances but it doesn't matter because he makes enough opportunities to waste some, that's encouraging. Good finish yesterday to kill the game off he's had a very good season so far. We need to keep him fit now with the absence of Pogba.
Yeah because united expect high standards, and rightly so.
He's so weird... I think the concept of "form" must be a mystery to him, as well as the idea of "losing confidence"... like, he just goes around doing his thing and whether it's great or shit, he's perfectly fine with it all. Did I just do something really really crap? Meh, who cares, have this pin-point perfect assist Romelu, and after you're finished i'll randomly start running into people....
Spot on. He will always be the same player and won't be looking for safe passes.
United seem perfectly happy with him given his starts this season. Let's not confuse some idiots here with United.
And even Messi loses the ball at times.
Really people are going way over the top regarding players' performances. Players like Mkhi lose the ball, because they try and force to open the game up. I think he has been United's top 3 player so far this season. Assist king and an occasional goal too.
That does not mean there is no room for improvement.. There is, and some people point it out, Because the same mistakes becomes catalyst for mistakes and eventually result in Conceeding a goal or loosing a game or halding the opposition the Posession advantages to dominate when the stakes are high.
Jose Mourinho himself has gone on to say he expects more from him.
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It's not easy to be a n.10, especially when you play for Manchester United.
Yesterday he struggled a little bit, maybe he should give the ball before and don't try to nutmeg anyone in our own box, but overall I am really happy with him, he scored one goal and he has already given 5 assist this year.
Last year we were complaining we couldn't score, now we are complaining cause he should do better..
Yesterday he struggled a little bit, maybe he should give the ball before and don't try to nutmeg anyone in our own box, but overall I am really happy with him, he scored one goal and he has already given 5 assist this year.
Last year we were complaining we couldn't score, now we are complaining cause he should do better..
My criticism wouldn't be him trying a pass and it not coming off. It would be when he inevitably runs it into a defender when trying to nut meg him when he's got a simple pass on that would achieve the same thing. Which he probably does about 3 or 4 times a game.
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Thing is we are very conservative side in general and can be pretty boring, he's one of the few risk takers we have.. and I would rather have someone like him than Mata if it had to be one or the other.
Ideally we would have a playmaker who can do it all, and there are plenty out there but very few with the speed and directness of Mkhi.
It doesn't help that in general all our attackers bar Mata and Martial on song, are poor at ball retention which makes it look like a game of pinball at times and Mkhi can be one of the worst at choosing the right pass consistently which makes him look like the main culprit.
In a team like Dortmund, his passing and ball retention didn't look that bad as they're a very classy ball retaining type of side but in a side like ours with there is 2 or 3 players at the same time with flawed decision making in terms of passing, it can make them all look clueless when in reality each individual in the right type of team could be the game breaker.
Ideally we would have a playmaker who can do it all, and there are plenty out there but very few with the speed and directness of Mkhi.
It doesn't help that in general all our attackers bar Mata and Martial on song, are poor at ball retention which makes it look like a game of pinball at times and Mkhi can be one of the worst at choosing the right pass consistently which makes him look like the main culprit.
In a team like Dortmund, his passing and ball retention didn't look that bad as they're a very classy ball retaining type of side but in a side like ours with there is 2 or 3 players at the same time with flawed decision making in terms of passing, it can make them all look clueless when in reality each individual in the right type of team could be the game breaker.
It's okay for now that he is playing poorly but still being productive with assists. But when we play the better teams, Chelsea and City or any of the better teams in the Champions League then he will get found out. He won't be able to get away with it against them.
Ofcourse there's room for improvement, there pretty much always is unless you're Messi. My point is very simple, I'd much rather our #10 tries the tough pass, the tough dribble etc which can unlock the opposition defence than play it safe and pass the buck to the next guy. I'm happy that Mkhi doesn't seem to let the unsuccessful passes or dribble affect his confidence and goes for it again with the same aplomb. I do not want him to play the safe game because more often than not, we'll be up against teams packing 9 guys behind the ball and we need our creative players to take risks and deliver.
I dont buy the stuff in bold at all. He's our 10, not the DM or the CB. If he loses the ball while trying to open the game for us, guys plenty of guys behind him to recover it. Play it safe so that you don't lose the ball isn't what I'd tell to our 10.
Yeah, that's fair as he does seem to run into bodies a tad too much. It stems from the desire to beat the man and create an opening but yes, it's certainly something he can improve upon. I don't mind that criticism tbh, it's the complains re his passing that irk me because I love the fact that he tries to open the game up himself rather than pass the onus to the next guy who does it again rinse repeat.
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