Bharath Rammr
Manchester United managed to put behind the criticism from the goalless draw against Liverpool to get a comfortable 4-1 win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League last night. It was an extremely comfortable victory for the Red Devils with Paul Pogba managing to score two goals and answer some of his critics. However, there was some bad news for the English outfit in the form of Chris Smalling and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Both players appear to have come out with minor injuries from the game, according to manager José Mourinho.
Chris Smalling has been featuring in the United team once again after a short period on the sidelines. He was quite impressive in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Monday night. After starting alongside Eric Bailley, Smalling did not reappear in the second half and was replaced by Marcos Rojo. His performances did not seem to be the reason for the substitution and Mourinho later confirmed that the player had suffered a small muscular issue. The Portuguese remain hopeful that he will feature in the weekend’s game against Chelsea. Speaking to the club’s official site, Mourinho said:
“He had a bad muscular feeling. We were 3-0 up so we decided to change. Hopefully he can recover for the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Mourinho also provided an update regarding Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has not featured for the club since the Manchester derby at the start of September. The summer signing played the first 45 minutes against City, and fans have not seen him since then. It was rumoured that the manager was unhappy with the performances offered by the former Borussia Dortmund star. The rumours were intensified as Mkhitaryan was not even in the squad against Fenerbahce. As a captain of the Armenian national team, it may not be long before Mkhitaryan demands answers from the manager.
Mourinho, though, claimed that Mkhitaryan has to work more in order to get the same kind of intensity as the first-team regulars. He also hinted that the 27-year-old may not have the necessary fitness to play ahead of Juan Mata or other first-team names. He continued:
“The situation is that we played with Lingard, with Mata and Martial. I am not an Einstein, I don’t know a tactical system to play with four wingers at the same time. He has to work more to get the intensity and the real fitness to play at the high level.”
In the past, Mourinho has never shied away from dropping a player completely from the squad in order to bring him to his requirements. There have also been occasions when the tactics have completely worked against the Portuguese. One of the famous situations would be Mourinho’s criticism of Kevin De Bruyne, which led to his sale from Chelsea. The Belgian then became a £55 million signing for Manchester City and continues to be one of their best players.
Mourinho quoting the situation with regard to Memphis Depay gives potential warning signs to the career of Mkhitaryan at Old Trafford. Mkhitaryan has managed to appear in just 107 minutes of league football this season.
