He's a fantastic footballer. Despite his great start to the season, I still believe the best is yet to come.
22
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 7
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
He was our most productive player in pre-season, he's started the PL in the same way, yet you have people crying for him to be subbed from the first minute of the games. For some people it's more important to not lose possession then it is to create chances and goals. Some of you really deserved LVG...
He can spot a pass. When the game is stretched, he can make that pass count. But when it's congested, he's yet to show it.
For the time being, he's first choice. He needs to take advantage of his time in the XI to be the one who makes the breakthrough when it's 0-0. I'd really like to see him do that regularly.
For the time being, he's first choice. He needs to take advantage of his time in the XI to be the one who makes the breakthrough when it's 0-0. I'd really like to see him do that regularly.
He is very erratic, but he's also extremely productive(for now at least).
Can't complain.
Can't complain.
He might be having a quite game, but he can certainly create magic in an instant. Those 2 passes to set up Lukaku and Pogba were delicious. Not many other players have this kind of vision of passing ability on these situations. He has created 4 goals in 2 games. Long may this continue.
I think he can definitely do more but he's really contributing in a positive way for us right now.
Absolutely. A real feel / instinct player that can make a good decision in the split second or throw a defender off balance at the crucial second.
Another very productive performance if you look at the stats. But good for him, he showed his real quality once the game opened up
I'd say we'd probably need to push him out wide for another midfielder against better opposition which is a pity as hes been great imo.
But we gave both Swansea and West Ham a fair bit of the ball in midfield and as well as pogba and matic have played they've looked a bit swamped at times.
But we gave both Swansea and West Ham a fair bit of the ball in midfield and as well as pogba and matic have played they've looked a bit swamped at times.
On the counter he is an absolutely devastating player, any scenario where he and our attack are isolated man for man in a 3v3 or 4v4 and the defense is chasing back toward their own goal he is brutal. Apart from that he's a pretty average technician all round. Very easily pushed off the ball. Those two assists were magnificent and when he's allowed the time and space he can be a very dangerous player. Most opposition teams must know this.
To be fair a better team than Swansea would probably have not sat back with 9 players behind the ball most of the time, which would then have created more spaces for Mhki to exploit.
He seems to sit on the ball a touch or two too long. He gets crowded out and pushed off the ball because he doesn't release it quickly enough. In Germany he probably had the time/space/strength to do that but not here. Still, with the strength of our current defence and midfield we should be allowing him to play to his preferred game because we are seeing how devastating he can be when he gets in full flow.
...And ?
He was my MOTM too
That's not really what happened in the Super Cup final though is it? Our forwards (not only Mhki in fairness to him) couldn't make the ball stick, we got boxed in, and Madrid made us pay for it. When you turnover possession too easily against the best sides that's what happens. Against the likes of Swansea you can usually ride out that pressure and wait for the spaces to open up, which is what happened yesterday. It might be different when we have to play City etc.
The silver lining for me is Jose knows the strengths and weakness of our team intimately, which means against tougher opposition we will probably compensate for that with a reactive gameplan. As long as our forwards have issues holding the ball up under pressure we won't be able to outplay our opponents in the big games.
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Mkhitaryan is 3 assists away from equalling Coutinho's best ever league tally
He can be our Eden Hazard. I see some similarities.
I think for him to shine even more , mata must do better. I am a huge fan of mata but in both the games he hasn't done wonders. If mata starts producing wonder balls then we will have two creative monsters in our team. The one thing mata does and mkhi doesn't is keep the ball and the movement , I feel.mata is more.comfortable with the ball and keeps on moving, mkhi needs to do that more, freeing lukaku up.
He's playing as bad as last season, except some of his passes are now leading to goals. Let's not pretend the assists have been anything special. He needs to improve his play because i guarantee he won't keep up this rate of assisting.
You are being too harsh. He has definitely improved from last year. He works harder and his linkup with our players has improved. Also, I wouldn't call his assists special but they were of good quality.
1. Good set-piece for Lukaku goal
2. Brilliant first time pass for Martial
3. Clever little ball into Lukaku
4. Nice run and through ball for Pogba
I don't know know what kind of assists you are expecting from him. There is a mix of everything there.
That assist to Lukaku for the second goal was very good. Not many can do that in our team, probably bar Mata
Mkhi struggles to shield the ball unless he's running. I find sometimes he receives the ball standing still and while he's thinking he just leaves it wide open, then his lack of strength they just nick it off him.
When he's running or moving with the ball though his balance helps him keep it better like with pogbas assist
Good point. I don't think mkhi will ever have a game where he is effective for 90 mins, I think he can produce a magic for 10 mins and then have a quite game. I don't mind that if he keeps on getting the end result while we are winning. I feel he is our KDB or en effective ozil like player. Players like them won't be great for 90 mins but will produce a game changing moment or a crucial assist.
Yeah he's a moment of magic player, but you need that in a team. No point having a team or runners like last year, which is why many don't like lingard. He huffs and puffs but rarely has that moment. Mkhi and ozil are very similar in that regard.
It's why he's best as a 10, closer to goal then better and less running suits him.
He's better than both darting forward between the lines...
Agree, he only needs a moment to affect the game but he's been great for 90 mins many times, particularly at the beginning of last season.
I don't think a team can be build around players like KDB or mkhi or ozil. They are your players who need to play without pressure. I can easily see mkhi notching up 15 odd assists in pl and another 7 to 10 in all other competitions. It's very important other players around do their job. It's when other also are having a bad day , mkhi will look useless.
Not undermining him but the reason I made that point is people want him to play like kaka or hazard when his game is not that. He is our link man whose job is to produce his magic and help his teammates in scoring goals. I rate him more than the present ozil, but I find kbd is a tad better.
Won't be surprised if mkhi is our player of the season come may. He is that damn good.
Yea he is well able to see a pass.
Largely quiet throughout until the last 10 minutes but then so was the rest of the team really. He's probably the best #10 we have and I think he has a good workrate for a #10. Not everyone can have an A+ game every game, so i'm not going to jump all over him for being quiet for 80 minutes. He offers a lot to the team in general, I like his style of play, and he is contributing well over 90 minutes. To me, it doesn't matter when the assists come in the game, as long as they do come.
Mikhi plays direct and with much of risk in his gameplay. And because of that people are divided on him. He will lose ball often because he goes in dribble and looks forward instead playing easy short passes. But because of his risky play, when he creates space for him his last pass is deadly.
I think this team is still stuck in a weird tactical headspace of not wanting to concede to much possession, but at the same time wanting to ravenously counter attack. A few of the top teams in the league are going through this sort of thing at the moment as well imo. In the West Ham game, we had a lot more space to do as we pleased, but Swansea were very tight and tactical and when they had the ball they were very good at passing it out which left very little room to turn the ball over and set the attack free until our second goal went in. In my opinion they were a much better drilled side than West Ham.
There are a few players in our set up where you say "gee they do this well" but in the tactical structure they aren't all-round good enough to carry themselves without that "thing they do well". Mkhi is kind of one of them with that counter-attacking ability. We lack that right sided player to stretch play and I don't think he works very well with Mata as it has been noted, they tend to get in each others way.
Spot on. He gets dispossessed way to often, but his vision and passing in crowded areas and around the box is just brilliant
He's playing as good as last season. The difference is now we have some actual movement and pace for him to play passes to.
Of course he won't keep up 2 assists per game.
Yes he does have some problem with receiving a ball while the opponent is pressing from the back, but when he's running forward it's different story, it's like he become totally different player, that Pogba goal really sums it up
Just comparing the two games so far, I thought he was actually much better in the first half vs Swansea than the first half vs West Ham. This is in spite of The swans being tighter (less mkhi-friendly). We didn't produce too much, but I think thats more down to Mata and Lukaku didn't quite make the best of their movement in Wales.
I hope there's something in that, as that is the part of the game we most need to improve to make way in the league.
Yes he loses the ball often but I have no problem with that. He isn't a percentage player and it's role within the side to take risks. He's the type of player who should be judged by his highlights and so far he's provided when needed.
Reading some of the comments regarding miki and I am a bit shocked to be fair.
Miki is a top class #10 who showed last season that he will work hard to prove himself and get in the team, after Jose didn't fancy him at the beginning of the season. He showed glimpses last year, but they way we played didn't suit him, we were too defensive and cautious last year and miki is best suited centrally than out on the right. The way the team was so static up front didnt help, we we're our own worst enemy up front last season with no movement.
A brilliant pre-season, 2 starts centrally and we are seeing what we can do.
Instead of moaning he lost the ball a few times and demanding more, we should be heaping praise on one of our best attacking threats and get behind him. He'll only get better the more confidence he has. I cannot believe the negativity for one of our in-form players. Really baffles me how hard to please some are on here. 4 assists in 2 games, but that's not good enough cos he lost the ball a few times (like every other player does on occasion)
What has become clear is we need more width on the right. Mata should be used centrally also, but not ahead of Miki. Miki offers more than Mata right now.
Miki is a top class #10 who showed last season that he will work hard to prove himself and get in the team, after Jose didn't fancy him at the beginning of the season. He showed glimpses last year, but they way we played didn't suit him, we were too defensive and cautious last year and miki is best suited centrally than out on the right. The way the team was so static up front didnt help, we we're our own worst enemy up front last season with no movement.
A brilliant pre-season, 2 starts centrally and we are seeing what we can do.
Instead of moaning he lost the ball a few times and demanding more, we should be heaping praise on one of our best attacking threats and get behind him. He'll only get better the more confidence he has. I cannot believe the negativity for one of our in-form players. Really baffles me how hard to please some are on here. 4 assists in 2 games, but that's not good enough cos he lost the ball a few times (like every other player does on occasion)
What has become clear is we need more width on the right. Mata should be used centrally also, but not ahead of Miki. Miki offers more than Mata right now.
I would rather watch player losing possession trying to create chances than player who won't play any risky passes and keep the ball all the time.
Mkhitaryan is bit frustrating player but he will create plenty of chances which is his role in the team. He isn't Silva type player who can control the game, he is KdB type with good final passes.
Mkhitaryan is bit frustrating player but he will create plenty of chances which is his role in the team. He isn't Silva type player who can control the game, he is KdB type with good final passes.
- Status