Patrick Rees
The month of November started as it ended in October for Manchester United – with no reason to cheer. With many growing concerns about the potential title challenge this season, if there is any, Manchester United’s new £26million signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been left in the middle of nowhere.
Signed on the back of a blockbuster season in Bundesliga, the 27-year-old surprised the footballing spectators when he chose Manchester United, when he could easily have gone on to a better “Champions League” club. The Armenian has nothing to prove, as his stats in Bundesliga does all the work, but we know Premier League can be a bitter witch for any top-notch wizard.
Newly appointed manager – Jose Mourinho – clearly indicated his credentials that Premier League title would be his primary aim and to achieve that, he would be needing four players. Eric Bailly was the first one to arrive followed by Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, and Pogba. Expectations were flying high especially from the latter three names, but right at this very moment, go and ask any United supporter that who has been the most influential signing?
The answer would be, without a slightest of doubt, Eric Bailly.
Bailly, Ibrahimovic, and Pogba were slotted into the first team right away and the manager decided to provide a well-deserved specific training to the Armenian so that he could fit in the Premier League. So after missing the first three starts of the Premier League games, the Portuguese decided to launch him on the big stage and that was the Manchester Derby.
Amidst all the hype and expectation, the Armenian failed to deliver at the centre stage as he only completed 14 passes during his 45 minutes and after his terrible performance, he was withdrawn from the pitch and later it was revealed by the manager that he picked up an injury, and this was the first and final start for the 27-year-old in United’s shirt (up until now).
Since then, there have been many excuses and the fans have been ranting for his inclusion in the squad, but Jose Mourinho has stayed intact in his decision. Even when the Armenian was declared 100% fit, the Portuguese decided not to include him in the 18-man squad that faced Fenerbahce at Old Trafford.
“One thing is fit and not injured, another is match fitness, match intensity and ready to play this game,” Mourinho told BT Sport after the game.
“I play with Lingard and Martial, I have on the bench Rashford and Memphis Depay, I cannot play with everyone at the same time.
“Micky hasn’t played in a long time, this team is a good team with a good intensity.”
This is what the manager said after their 4-1 victory over the Turks. Well, there is no doubting the fact that United do have a lot of competition for different positions. Let us take the defensive midfield spot for an instance; Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera have been the competitors and then for the flanks, they have Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata (yes, he was deployed there for some time), Marcus Rashford and Memphis Depay.
Even though we are considering the fact that Marcus Rashford is a sure starter for the side, any footballing “Einstein” would choose Mkhitaryan over Lingard, Martial or Depay. Yes, he may struggle initially in the Premier League but who would not? Even the player like Mesut Ozil took his time in the League and is now firing his cylinders with his heart out. After a long, the manager finally decided to name Mkhitaryan on the bench against Fenerbahce and he did use him in the final half an hour of the game and many would agree over the fact that he performed much better than how his teammates were faring.
Ibrahimovic was a complete anonymous figure, Rooney lacked his touch as always, Rashford was having an off-day. When Pogba was injured, a majority of the crowd believed that Mkhitaryan would make his way on to the field but the manager had his own thoughts.
But that was not it, the Armenian, despite being a much better player than his mates were, had to face a criticism from the manager.
“He has to do more, it is as simple as that,” said Mourinho.
“We have big expectations in the club. We have lots of players for these positions and he has to play better than [Juan] Mata, he has to play better than [Jesse] Lingard, he has to play better than [Anthony] Martial.
“He has to play better than them. It is as simple as that.”
It was not at all expected in the beginning that Manchester United would struggle, and that too in the final third as these proven names were brought, but with now the unexpected happening, it really is the time to unleash the Armenian.
Enough of excuses now, if he can make his mark in the Europa League, he can surely do the same against Swansea, and maybe better than Lingard – who is expected to start as he missed the continental fixture last night.
