Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Roma player

[FujiVice]

Yeah, Welbeck didn't want to leave. He just wanted LvG to be as clueless as Moyes and give him starts he never deserved. He wanted promises that could not be kept. Let us not act as if he was insulted and thrown away.

Yeah, feck him for believing in himself.

 

[Ducklegs]

Where did you get that from? My grievance was that if he'd of actually tried half as much as he tried yesterday, he would have made it at United but he only does it when it suits him. He purposely worked his bollocks off yesterday so he could score, which is obviously out of character for him and pretending like he didn't enjoy it annoyed me immensely.

This.

He was a bone idle cowardly waste of space that simply did not try.

Anyone doubting this needs to watch his disgraceful performance when we played Chelsea away.

 

[iKnowNothing]

Mkhi wasn't someone who spent a long time with us anyway. We're spending more time on this whole "non-celebration celebration" then we are talking about his performances for Arsenal. Guess that tells a lot about the player.

Yeah, feck him for believing in himself.

Well, there's a difference in believing in yourself and demanding stuff when you haven't produced enough. If I remember this correctly, Welbeck wanted a guarantee that he would play up top instead of the left. LvG got many things wrong be he was right on this one.

 

[crossy1686]

I don't think he was way too good yesterday. He had such moments with us too, when things went his way. And I don't think he can flip his form as and when he likes.
In short I can agree that he could not play well in whatever we were trying to play and sort of gave up by the end. But it was not like he always intended to be half-arsed about everything.

I hear what you're saying but he's infuriating. Sanchez hasn't played well on occasion since switching to United but he runs himself into the ground if he's having a bad game in an attempt to force the issue, Mkhitaryan disappears.

Yesterday was not the usual disappearing act, he was up for it. You can't have players that do that week in, week out. Mkhitaryan's biggest regret as a player will be that if he only tried harder, he'd of won everything in the game at a major club.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Yeah, feck him for believing in himself.

Ya. And we should have kept Memphis too as our no 7, because hey he kept saying he has the hunger to be the best in the world

 

[FujiVice]

Ya. And we should have kept Memphis too as our no 7, because hey he kept saying he has the hunger to be the best in the world

Never said we should have kept Welbeck. That's not the issue at all.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Should they be sold on account of their 'crap' finishing?

The problem is chances missed and not the once he scored. I don't know how the stats are, but when a chance is created I would believe Rashford or Martial to put it away. Danny boy would probably make a mess of it.

 

[prath92]

He was both insulted and thrown away, as anyone who actually knew about the situation was well aware. He just wanted to keep being a regular part of the club he'd played for since he was 8. Instead he was told he wasn't as good as James Wilson and was kicked out, and was then immediately snapped up by an (at that stage) better team. This rewriting of his history as if he was some mediocre wantaway because he's scored a few goals against us is nonsense.

It’s a stretch to call that an insult though. James Wilson was a top talent based on his performances for the reserves and especially after scoring 2 on his debut. Welbeck on the other hand was never better than 4th choice

The only rewriting the history is by you claiming that he was at the time a better option than Wilson. It made more sense to invest time into 18 year old Wilson with great potential than 24 year old welbeck which is what we did

 

[Dundrummer]

The only rewriting the history is by you claiming that he was at the time a better option than Wilson.

I'm not keen to derail this thread any further, but this is certifiable. Wilson looked a potential talent, nothing more. At that stage he hadn't done anything more than Chris Eagles ever managed (and still hasn't). Welbeck, on the other hand, had made 115 appearances in the previous 3 seasons. Unfavourably comparing the latter to the former was very definitely an insult from a manager who seems to have specialised in them.

I'm not going to go bat for his injury-ravaged career since he left us, but I honestly cannot comprehend how the suggestion 'he wasn't good enough so he was let go' can be squared with the fact that the second he was made surplus to requirements he was then immediately snapped up by a team who'd finished 15 points ahead of us. The simple truth is that Welbeck was told, out of nowhere, to leave his boyhood club so we could sign a more commercially attractive foreign mercenary on loan. We've all moved on, especially now we're finally back near the level we were at when he played for us, but the facts of what happened shouldn't be forgotten.

 

[RedDevil@84]

The simple truth is that Welbeck was told, out of nowhere, to leave his boyhood club so we could sign a more commercially attractive foreign mercenary on loan

This is not the truth. This is something you deduced from your point of view.

My point of view was Welbeck was told he is falling behind in the picking order because of his lack of consistency in the box. And incoming of Falcao made it worse. He was told there won't be any more guarantees on his playtime. Welbeck realized his time was up as he couldn't compete anymore and jumped the ship at his first chance.
Luckily for him it was still 2014 and English talents were still hyped to no limits, thus getting him for 16M was a steal and Wenger took the punt.

 

[Jacko21]

The simple truth is that Welbeck was told, out of nowhere, to leave his boyhood club so we could sign a more commercially attractive foreign mercenary on loan. We've all moved on, especially now we're finally back near the level we were at when he played for us, but the facts of what happened shouldn't be forgotten.

Probably more to do with the fact that Arsenal offered £16m for a player who is a hilariously poor finisher and whose ceiling isn't particularly high.

 

[MadDogg]

Where did you get that from? My grievance was that if he'd of actually tried half as much as he tried yesterday, he would have made it at United but he only does it when it suits him. He purposely worked his bollocks off yesterday so he could score, which is obviously out of character for him and pretending like he didn't enjoy it annoyed me immensely.

He started the match well for the first 20 or so minutes, but otherwise he really didn't do anything different than what he normally was for us. Indeed, starting well when Arsenal were competitive and then drifting out of the match as we got more and more on top is pretty much exactly what he always did with us. Other than the goal I barely remember him doing anything in the second half.

 

[prath92]

I'm not keen to derail this thread any further, but this is certifiable. Wilson looked a potential talent, nothing more. At that stage he hadn't done anything more than Chris Eagles ever managed (and still hasn't). Welbeck, on the other hand, had made 115 appearances in the previous 3 seasons. Unfavourably comparing the latter to the former was very definitely an insult from a manager who seems to have specialised in them.

I'm not going to go bat for his injury-ravaged career since he left us, but I honestly cannot comprehend how the suggestion 'he wasn't good enough so he was let go' can be squared with the fact that the second he was made surplus to requirements he was then immediately snapped up by a team who'd finished 15 points ahead of us. The simple truth is that Welbeck was told, out of nowhere, to leave his boyhood club so we could sign a more commercially attractive foreign mercenary on loan. We've all moved on, especially now we're finally back near the level we were at when he played for us, but the facts of what happened shouldn't be forgotten.

He was a potentially good striker who could have ended up as a top PL striker. Welbeck wAs someone who barely scored 30 goals in 5 or 6 years at united. We clearly felt that any minutes after the big strikers should rightly go to Wilson towards his development rather than welbeck. Nothing insulting about that. A choice between falcao and welbeck is like choosing Ronaldo or Januzaj. It’s a risk you take.

Arsenal at the time had no strikers beside giroud and sanogo. Wenger probably thought he can get another sturridge type deal. This is the man who signed silvestre after we released him. Tried to pull off a gem. Too bad he was crap.

 

[cyberman]

He was a potentially good striker who could have ended up as a top PL striker. Welbeck wAs someone who barely scored 30 goals in 5 or 6 years at united. We clearly felt that any minutes after the big strikers should rightly go to Wilson towards his development rather than welbeck. Nothing insulting about that.

Arsenal at the time had no strikers beside giroud and sanogo. Wenger probably thought he can get another sturridge type deal. This is the man who signed silvestre after we released him. Tried to pull off a gem. Too bad he was crap

Wenger only wanted him on loan. Arsene said he was only signed because he was out of the office that day.

Edit I meant loan

 

[SATA]

I wonder would Sanchez have celebrated if he had scored from that header before Pogba knocked the rebound in. Not really a big deal though these kind of things

 

[crossy1686]

I wonder would Sanchez have celebrated if he had scored from that header before Pogba knocked the rebound in. Not really a big deal though these kind of things

Of course he would, but that's the difference between the two players. One is a winner and the other one just doesn't have enough cutting edge to be a truly great player.

 

[devilish]

I remember when we signed Veron. Jeez I was over the moon. I was so excited that I cut my date short, went straight at an internet cafe, and checked the news about it because I couldn't believe it. I've been following Veron for years. He's been the second best playmaker in the world, the closest thing there was to Zidane. A CM made up of Keane, Scholes and Veron would eat any midfield for breakfast. On paper it makes the Barcelona invincibles look shabby. Yet.....this was real football. Veron struggled at United. I still had hopes he'll make it up until he returned to Italy for a holiday to clear his head's up. When interviewed he said he was shocked that United expects him to track back and tackle. That's not the playmaker's job. At that moment I understood that Veron would fail big time. Years after we had a similar script with Berbatov, yet another extremely talented players who simply didn't carry his weight.

United is the most accommodating club I can think off. We idolise water carriers (Phil Nev, Fortune, Oshea), we play failed wingers as full backs to provide them with a career's lifeline and we feel sorry for letting players go despite they can barely run on the pitch anymore. Yet there's one thing this club won't accommodate and this is for players not carrying their weight. Laziness is frowned up not just by the fans but by our own players as well. Its a no no for United.

I haven't followed Mkhitaryan at Dortmund long enough to build a definite profile but I did followed Berbatov and Veron. Both struggled in terms of workrate long before they came to United. Which makes me wonder. Why do we insist in buying Bentleys when we need tractors? Don't take me wrong, I am not suggesting a team made up of Phil Nevilles. That would drive me nuts. All I am saying is that when we spend the dosh we need to make sure that the top player we're getting does pull his weight too.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

Really like how he has settled in. He is direct and isn't afraid of taking shots.

 

[.Rossi]

Not sure of the hashtag...

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[Sassy Colin]

According to Jose, he wasn't up to playing at United:

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan “was struggling to deal with the pace at Man Utd,” Daily Star reports.

Speaking to Gary Lineker on the Premier League Show, the Portuguese said “Micki realised he was not ready for this reality.”

When asked if it is hard to keep players in the side when they are not starting, he said: “It is not hard, it is impossible.

“It depends on the nature of the player.

“The way Micki dealt with it, is different to other players.

“He realized he was not ready for this reality – physical, mental, competitiveness.

“Also his body, to adapt to that intensity with little time to recover from match to match, is hard.”

http://www.armradio.am/en/2018/06/04/mourinho-says-mkhitaryan-was-not-ready-for-man-utd-reality/

 

[King_Cantona07]

According to Jose, he wasn't up to playing at United:



http://www.armradio.am/en/2018/06/04/mourinho-says-mkhitaryan-was-not-ready-for-man-utd-reality/

wasnt he used to Klopp's famous gegenpress and high press system, doesnt make much sense of comments on recovery unless has had physical decline in how quick/agile he can be as it is huge factor in his game and dribbling.

 

[breakout67]

wasnt he used to Klopp's famous gegenpress and high press system, doesnt make much sense of comments on recovery unless has had physical decline in how quick/agile he can be as it is huge factor in his game and dribbling.

He was crap under Klopp. He found form under Tuchel.

 

[King_Cantona07]

He was crap under Klopp. He found form under Tuchel.

Yes then probably it make sense

 

[sunama]

I remember when we signed Veron. Jeez I was over the moon. I was so excited that I cut my date short, went straight at an internet cafe, and checked the news about it because I couldn't believe it. I've been following Veron for years. He's been the second best playmaker in the world, the closest thing there was to Zidane. A CM made up of Keane, Scholes and Veron would eat any midfield for breakfast. On paper it makes the Barcelona invincibles look shabby. Yet.....this was real football. Veron struggled at United.

I do remember when Veron signed for us.
He basically made Lazio tick. No Veron = No Lazio.
We paid big money, because we wanted him to run the matches in the CL, especially. Remember, we were already dominating the EPL and winning comfortably, but the CL was tough.
Like you, I was super excited.
I wouldn't say that he struggled or was bad at MUFC. He just wasn't at the Zidane level, which is what we wanted.
While he was with us though, in some of the CL games, he would do things that no other player on the pitch was even capable of.

 

[sunama]

wasnt he used to Klopp's famous gegenpress and high press system, doesnt make much sense of comments on recovery unless has had physical decline in how quick/agile he can be as it is huge factor in his game and dribbling.

Mate, pressing hard, in the German league is not the same as pressing hard in the EPL.
The EPL is completely different animal. If you are up against a player like Vardy for example, you know that you are in a serious dogfight. And if your manager asks you to tackle, chase and be physical with Vardy, when you are not a physical player, you will struggle and most likely fail to execute your manager's instructions successfully.

In Lindelof's early games for us, I do remember him getting dispossessed quite easily. And many people commented that he was playing like he was an teenager - just not physical enough...physically weak.
The physicality of the EPL is something that most players/fans, do not appreciate or recognise.

If I was an opposing team, in the opening minutes, I'd put in a very hard tackle on Miki (and hope to not get carded). From that point onwards, AFC will effectively be down to 10 men. Miki simply cannot handle a physical battle.

 

[FootyGirl88]

He was crap under Klopp. He found form under Tuchel.

Yep and Tuchel had to give him books to read to help with his self esteem issues or some other problem he was having.

 

[VorZakone]

Shocking performance today.

 

[Zoo]

I hope he had fun playing beautiful football today.

 

[el3mel]

His usual big games performance. Nothing to see here.

Previously Arsenal had one player goes missing in big occasions ( Ozil ). Now they brought on another friend who can go missing with Ozil too.

 

[Don Alfredo]

If any player ever deserves the tag of "passenger", it has to be this guy

 

[Ducklegs]

Glad to see him being used in the correct way and delivering another stunning performance.

 

[::sonny::]

Average as usual, but this Sanchez is not much better

 

[K2K]

Average as usual, but this Sanchez is not much better

It vindicates the decision that sell him though.

Maybe not necessarily the decision to buy Alexis.

But for me, Mkhi probably should not have been bought in the first place.

 

[charlenefan]

I'm sure we only bought him in the first place because he was offered to us on a plate while we were wrapping up the Zlatan and Pogba signings

 

[goin4glory]

Even now that he's playing like trash for another team/manager the anti Mourinho cult will still blame Jose.

He's just not good enough and getting rid of him was a great move.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Average as usual, but this Sanchez is not much better

Sanchez got slaughtered on Friday night but his contribution was absolutely streets ahead of what Mkhitaryan produced today.

 

[ThatsGreat]

Should've taken the 30m for Sanchez

 

[-Supreme-]

It vindicates the decision that sell him though.

Maybe not necessarily the decision to buy Alexis.

But for me, Mkhi probably should not have been bought in the first place.

It's always easy to judge and say stuff in hindsight, I'd doubt any of us were against signing him back then

 

[Canagel]

He just isn't suited to the PL. The game is too quick for him. Too many times he gets robbed because he hasn't decided what to do. Perhaps Serie A or the Bundesliga suit him better. Sanchez hasn't done any better here either. So far it's been a bad move for both clubs.

 

[11101]

Sanchez got slaughtered on Friday night but his contribution was absolutely streets ahead of what Mkhitaryan produced today.

Defensively maybe aka he works harder. Neither have done much in attack with wonderful passes every 1 in 10 attempts.