[Kush]

People focus on negatives far too much on this forum, it's reflected in average rating of nearly every player.

He is doing everything I expected from him in 2nd season, taking the responsibility and trying to create an attacking situation whenever he has the ball. His ball carrying is also underappreciated especially when you take into account Pogba isn't playing. If he did the little side ways passes to keep the possession and not drive forward with the ball, we'll look static like under LVG. We don't need to look further than Juan Mata who was an absolute monstrous creator for Chelsea, yet his game has evolved of a player who is completely risk-averse. He refuses to put a through ball in fear of losing possession and generally keeps it safe and tidy. Mkhi needs to be allowed to do his thing and take risks in final third.

 

[11101]

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.

If he was scoring consistently Jose would find a way to get him on in his preferred position. Playing out wide and leaving the ball behind (he did this yesterday) isn't going to get him in that position any quicker.

We can make allowances for Miki's often horrible play because he's making goals every game. Playing in the 10 position he is afforded the luxury of losing the ball.

 

[sincher]

I thought he was our best player yesterday.

 

[Acole9]

He was frustrating at times yesterday, he took too long to pass and kept losing the ball. I thought first of all he should've been taken off earlier than he was but correct decision keeping him on.

 

[VanGaalEra]

We need the end product more than anything, especially considering how wasteful we were last season.

Keep it up where it matters Mkhi.

 

[Cheesy]

Weird one to an extent. Most times I've watched him he's been mostly underwhelming, but can't dispute that he's effective and contributing exactly where we need him to be.

 

[RedCurry]

Mkhitaryan was being productive in Europa last season. He's now brought that form into the league which is nice to see. He now needs to absolutely step it up a notch and release that pass a few seconds earlier. Rashford and Lukaku will continuously get into great positions when he's on the ball but the moment passes if he doesn't release the ball on time.

 

[Donsangre]

Watched the first half again critically. He played absolutely superb. Many interceptions, recoveries. Great control and passing. The only time he screwed up was the late pass to Lukaku, which was very weird knowing Mkhi. You all have to step down a notch criticizing players. We played a great game, par a couple of moments, we controlled the game very well.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He's gonna be a player who will float in and out of games but can impact them with moments of magic, similar to Ozil. I can deal with that because of our ability to control games and how solid we are at the back, even if it gets infuriating seeing him miss sitters every game.

 

[Can7onA]

What frustrates me about him is.........he can be a world beater in some games and then others he looks like Kagawa.

Sometimes it's in the same game!

 

[El Zoido]

Had a hand in six(?) goals this season without looking particularly impressive in any game. I still think he's got a lot more to offer and while often he's not an outstanding player, he generally isn't poor. His bottom level is quite decent and that's really important.

 

[ROFLUTION]

At least Mou has found a good place for him in which he can use his eye for a pass and good runs.

If he loses the ball in his current position (as he unavoidedly does each game), it's less damaging and the ball can even sometimes be regained quick to spur off something amidst the chaos.

 

[Jean claude van hire]

Anyone else think he has a resemblance to Cantona? Obviously not footballing ability wise but something about his movement/head reminds me a bit of Eric.

 

[Santoryo]

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.

Spot on.

This also happen with our strikers. See in different threads people hyping up the Aguero and Kane, talking up their clinical finishing while whining about Lukaku wasting chances when in truth the former 2 have their fair share of missed sitters, difference being is that Lukaku's performances are watched in their wholesome while most Caftards only watch highlight reels of Aguero and Kane.

Heck just opening game for City Aguero missed a worse sitter than Lukaku's one against Everton and Aguero sent his shot even wider than Lukaku but no one will mention that because they don't see those in Aguero good highlight reels.

Same things happening with Miki, people see his performances in their entirety, good and bad plays while they only watch assists and key passes from KDB, Silva etc and think that's how they play for 90 minutes of most matches.

It's come down to ignorance which lead to these scenarios on the Caf.

 

[Dante]

Anyone else think he has a resemblance to Cantona? Obviously not footballing ability wise but something about his movement/head reminds me a bit of Eric.

It's the massive conk.

 

[Santoryo]

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.

Stats so far have shown Neymar has been the most dispossessed player all across the top 6 or so leagues in Europe this year but if you go along with Caf narratives you'd hear how the our players are dogshits and average for losing the ball trying things while the likes of Neymar show how it's done.

This is the problem with this place, too many people only hear from other great players in other teams or simply watch highlights them thinks those players have some sort of perfect games without any faults or sloppy plays.

People will harp on about how WC Neymar is and bla without even knowing that he gets dispossessed a lot(the most) and would crucify any of our player for losing the ball after attempting things.

This is simply due to ignorance from people and some sort of fifa like fantaisie concept about football they have imbedded in their heads.

 

[Donsangre]

Stats so far have shown Neymar has been the most dispossessed player all across the top 6 or so leagues in Europe this year but if you go along with Caf narratives you'd hear how the our players are dogshits and average for losing the ball trying things while the likes of Neymar show how it's done.

This is the problem with this place, too many people only hear from other great players in other teams or simply watch highlights them thinks those players have some sort of perfect games without any faults or sloppy plays.

People will harp on about how WC Neymar is and bla without even knowing that he gets dispossessed a lot(the most) and would crucify any of our player for losing the ball after attempting things.

This is simply due to ignorance from people and some sort of fifa like fantaisie concept about football they have imbedded in their heads.

totally agree. Thou, I was still pissed when Mikhi waited out to pass to Lukaku which looked the obvious one. He mustve looked for a better moment and lost it.

 

[Donsangre]

Stats so far have shown Neymar has been the most dispossessed player all across the top 6 or so leagues in Europe this year but if you go along with Caf narratives you'd hear how the our players are dogshits and average for losing the ball trying things while the likes of Neymar show how it's done.

This is the problem with this place, too many people only hear from other great players in other teams or simply watch highlights them thinks those players have some sort of perfect games without any faults or sloppy plays.

People will harp on about how WC Neymar is and bla without even knowing that he gets dispossessed a lot(the most) and would crucify any of our player for losing the ball after attempting things.

This is simply due to ignorance from people and some sort of fifa like fantaisie concept about football they have imbedded in their heads.

Yeah, watched it like 20 times. I think he paused for a second to decide whether to pass it to Rash or to Lukaku and lost the moment. It was pretty quick. Neither of the strikers were in a perfect position I have to tell. It wasnt as an easy pass as everyone thinks. Watch it again on slow motion.

 

[dasty]

This forum seems to be filled with lunatics these days. I guess they played too much FIFA and expect the players to play the perfect through pass everytime they get the ball. What the actual feck. Mkhitaryan plays more risky and therefore will misplace passes more than your pass sideways number 10. His end product speaks for himself. Despite that, he still maintained a highly respectable 87% passing accuracy last game. Mata only has 81%, yet people are here slaughtering Mkhi for misplacing too many passes and Mata for playing too safe? Do you idiots even watch the game and see what happened or just simply talking out of your asses?

Mkhitaryan has 1 goal and 5 assists in 5 games and people here are calling him horrible and asking him to be dropped. The discussion here at are on facebook comment level at times - simply atrociouis. Jesus fecking christ. Can Mkhitaryan play better? Yes of course he can, but does he warrant to be shit on and dropped like people in this thread claiming? No fecking way.

 

[KM]

He is very important for our style this season. Very important for our pressing style, he works a lot!

 

[Roosney]

I know his stats are great but truthfully they could be a lot higher. Often he makes so stupid and frustrating decisions (or tries too difficult ones) and runs into a wall of defenders and loses the ball when could have just made an easy through ball down the wing.
If he can stop doing that he'll become unplayable in the league I think.

 

[Escobar]

5 assists and 1 goals is a great return.He still is some way off his best form but he's productive, which is crucial. Unfortunately, that cant be said of other attackers so I'm happy with his improvement to last season. He'll get better as the season goes on and hopefully will hit top form soon

 

[Epicurean]

Stats so far have shown Neymar has been the most dispossessed player all across the top 6 or so leagues in Europe this year but if you go along with Caf narratives you'd hear how the our players are dogshits and average for losing the ball trying things while the likes of Neymar show how it's done.

This is the problem with this place, too many people only hear from other great players in other teams or simply watch highlights them thinks those players have some sort of perfect games without any faults or sloppy plays.

People will harp on about how WC Neymar is and bla without even knowing that he gets dispossessed a lot(the most) and would crucify any of our player for losing the ball after attempting things.

This is simply due to ignorance from people and some sort of fifa like fantaisie concept about football they have imbedded in their heads.

Completely agree with you.

 

[MThomas]

 

[MThomas]

Personally, i've never liked this obsession with stats. There's several ways of looking at this.

Is his overall play good enough, does playing Mkhi hinder us as a team even though he's delivering assists (and even a goal). Would playing someone else improve our overall game and potentially result in more goals scored, but worse stats for that player ? Or to simplify it, a Ruud vs Saha debate as to what does the team benefit the most from.

In terms of assists, he's doing great, just what we hoped for when we signed him, though I think his overall gameplay is pretty much the opposite of what i expected. Again and again he finds himself in a great position, only to waste it by trying something absurd when a simple pass would put a teammate in a great position to score.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I've been critical of him in the past but so long as he keeps producing these numbers in goals and assists I have no issue with him.

 

[Epicurean]

Personally, i've never liked this obsession with stats. There's several ways of looking at this.

Is his overall play good enough, does playing Mkhi hinder us as a team even though he's delivering assists (and even a goal). Would playing someone else improve our overall game and potentially result in more goals scored, but worse stats for that player ? Or to simplify it, a Ruud vs Saha debate as to what does the team benefit the most from.

In terms of assists, he's doing great, just what we hoped for when we signed him, though I think his overall gameplay is pretty much the opposite of what i expected. Again and again he finds himself in a great position, only to waste it by trying something absurd when a simple pass would put a teammate in a great position to score.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fact is that the stats, which you seem to find unimportant - unless I am sure they would validate your argument, show that he has been contributing greatly to our wins and great start to the season. Can he do better? He can. But, those of us defending him on here are simply doing so because the ones like you are making ridiculous assertions.

The example of Neymar is a good counter-example. We only see highlight reels of opposition players and that makes them seem godlike, but the fact is they too lose possession and make stupid mistakes.

As long as Henrikh is putting in those assists, occasional goal and continues improving his game, there is no one we currently have who would do better and I dare say not many other players out there either.

 

[Kostur]

I've been critical of him in the past but so long as he keeps producing these numbers in goals and assists I have no issue with him.

Yup, he's productive, can be annoying as feck but you cannot take it away from him really, we lacked somebody to hit the assist numbers he's hitting now.

 

[Schneckerl]

The example of Neymar is a good counter-example. We only see highlight reels of opposition players and that makes them seem godlike, but the fact is they too lose possession and make stupid mistakes.
.

That's also a stats and Neymar seems to be the worst in Europe at that. Mind you he tries to go past players a lot, so percentage might be more meaningful.

Not allowed to post links. For a source look at whoscored twitter.

 

[MThomas]

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fact is that the stats, which you seem to find unimportant - unless I am sure they would validate your argument, show that he has been contributing greatly to our wins and great start to the season. Can he do better? He can. But, those of us defending him on here are simply doing so because the ones like you are making ridiculous assertions.

The example of Neymar is a good counter-example. We only see highlight reels of opposition players and that makes them seem godlike, but the fact is they too lose possession and make stupid mistakes.

As long as Henrikh is putting in those assists, occasional goal and continues improving his game, there is no one we currently have who would do better and I dare say not many other players out there either.

I'm not entirely sure where i wrote that stats are unimportant, but do feel free to actually quote me on it since my memory isn't quite what it used to be. Otherwise, i would strongly advise you to stop making shit up.

As i said, it's a similar debate to Ruud vs Saha and what the team benefits the most from.

 

[Icemav]

Personally, i've never liked this obsession with stats. There's several ways of looking at this.

Is his overall play good enough, does playing Mkhi hinder us as a team even though he's delivering assists (and even a goal). Would playing someone else improve our overall game and potentially result in more goals scored, but worse stats for that player ? Or to simplify it, a Ruud vs Saha debate as to what does the team benefit the most from.

In terms of assists, he's doing great, just what we hoped for when we signed him, though I think his overall gameplay is pretty much the opposite of what i expected. Again and again he finds himself in a great position, only to waste it by trying something absurd when a simple pass would put a teammate in a great position to score.

I totally get your point. And yes he contributes to team play.

Rooney is a classic example of what you describe. Even at his worst his stats were ok. But the truth was he fouled up the total team performance all match with bad control, misplaced passes, slow play and poor attempts on goal. Then he chips in with an assist. Problem is you draw 1-1 instead of winning 4-0.

Miki has room to improve but he is doing his job pretty well so far.

 

[Jeffthered]

This forum seems to be filled with lunatics these days. I guess they played too much FIFA and expect the players to play the perfect through pass everytime they get the ball. What the actual feck. Mkhitaryan plays more risky and therefore will misplace passes more than your pass sideways number 10. His end product speaks for himself. Despite that, he still maintained a highly respectable 87% passing accuracy last game. Mata only has 81%, yet people are here slaughtering Mkhi for misplacing too many passes and Mata for playing too safe? Do you idiots even watch the game and see what happened or just simply talking out of your asses?

Mkhitaryan has 1 goal and 5 assists in 5 games and people here are calling him horrible and asking him to be dropped. The discussion here at are on facebook comment level at times - simply atrociouis. Jesus fecking christ. Can Mkhitaryan play better? Yes of course he can, but does he warrant to be shit on and dropped like people in this thread claiming? No fecking way.

Let's not worry about calling people lunatics etc.. these forums, in fact, football media and punditry in general is slightly alarmist and in my opinion, completely exaggerated. It's a frustrating reality really. Re Mikithayrian.. my view is that yes, he is a decent player... but I think he should be doing more. He fails to excel more than he does excel, and his general play needs to improve. His role is absolutely key to United, and I think he has to play with more responsibility, power, penetration. He has talent, but is too often on the margins, and doesn't play that responsible game you need in that role. he gets caught in possession too often, holds on to the ball far, far, far too long and goes missing for long periods in a game. Compare the impact of David Silva, or Couthino, Modric, even Erickkson at Spurs (who I also feel is a little over-rated).. Miki is 27, with hundreds of games under his belt in Bundesliga.. he should be looking to tear-up teams all over Europe now.. but he doesn't. He is wasteful in front of goal, and I wouldn't mind if he missed some to score a few.. his Prem goalscoring 'stats' (which many here seem to depend upon...) are woeful. It isn't that he can do better (and I am beginning to question whether he can actually play better...), it is more of a case that he HAS to do better. He is an average performer, with some above average moments, and if that is what constitutes a United player then we have problems. He has to improve what his average performance is. I have seen far, far, far too many 'good players' at United, who don't elevate to the next level. Well, at United, you have to. Look at Rashford... he has a better all-round approach to the game in my opinion.. has personality, confidence, makes things happen and is absolutely and constantly having an impact on the game.

I say it again, and again. Lindgaard, Mikithariyan, Juan Mata and Martial have to step up a level. Consistently. Look at Pogs. Bailly. Matic. Ibra. Rashford. All players who clearly adopt a more positive, confident, and dominant approach to their game. They play like winners.

Miki, Mata, Martial, Lindgaard??? Sorry, no, not in my opinion. Nice guys etc.. but I expect more.

 

[mark_a]

As others have said, he's important for our pressing. He does lose possession and isn't as productive as he should be, but that seems to be down to his decision making. He'll make a great positive run, but then hang onto the ball too long or run into a dead end or make a pass too late or the wrong pass (that weird chip at the weekend where there were good passes on left and right!).

I feel that he's some confidence/experience away from getting those decisions right more often. Hopefully that will come with more game time, and the team gelling more generally

 

[Jean claude van hire]

It's the massive conk.

That's it, you've got it

 

[Dante]

That's it, you've got it

If someone told you they were brothers, it wouldn't stretch the imagination.

 

[Dante]

Here's my issue with Mkhitaryan so far: he doesn't kills teams, he beats them when they're already dead. The rest of the time, his influence on our play is too peripheral for a player in his position. He has the potential to improve in both scenarios, but there's not enough evidence up till now to conclude that he will.

 

[Epicurean]

I'm not entirely sure where i wrote that stats are unimportant, but do feel free to actually quote me on it since my memory isn't quite what it used to be. Otherwise, i would strongly advise you to stop making shit up.

As i said, it's a similar debate to Ruud vs Saha and what the team benefits the most from.

Well you write that you don't understand the obsession with stats and that there are several ways looking at it, hinting at that stats to you aren't that important?
You use the other ways of looking at it to justify your stance on Henrikh.

As for Ruud vs. Saha, I am not aware of that debate as I am not a United fan. I am also not particularly fond of Van Nistelrooy since he played for PSV, but I do remember that the guy was a beast for United and banged in 95 goals in 150 games for United. Saha, I don't remember anything about. Not that it matters, but it's statistically I believe in Ruud's advantage and also emotionally, since Saha doesn't ring a bell at all for me and Ruud's presence at United even I can remember as a non-United fan.

 

[sugar_kane]

Anyone else think he has a resemblance to Cantona? Obviously not footballing ability wise but something about his movement/head reminds me a bit of Eric.

Thought that the very first time I saw him play in the flesh at the Wigan friendly.

It's something with the arm movement/running style... hard to put my finger on but maybe also his fairly upright posture when he runs

 

[horsechoker]

Left: You
Right: The guy she tells you not to worry about

 

[parkthebuslads]

People focus on negatives far too much on this forum, it's reflected in average rating of nearly every player.

I suspect people are seeing the scoring system differently. For me, a 5 is OK/did what was asked but others probably would consider 5 a criticism.