I swear he's even easier to get knocked off the ball than say, Mata
22
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 7
- Yellow cards
- 2
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Criticising his defensive game is ridiculous. He's made 4x as many tackles and made more interceptions than Mata, won a higher % of those tackles, he presses from the front constantly and he's regularly the one sweeping up clearances on the edge of the opposition box. He's a huge part of our game off the ball, both in winning the ball back in key areas and in sparking counter-attacks. That was one of his main strengths at Dortmund and this season, in a new setup, he's helped transform how we play.
In terms of creativity, beyond just assists, he ranks in the top 5 alongside Silva, Ozil, Fabregas and de Bruyne for "key passes". They're a bit of a blunt metric because they only record the number of passes that lead to a shot, so don't directly qualify how good the chances are, but the group of players suggests it's a pretty good indicator. Many of those "key passes" have been ones like putting Lukaku through on goal yesterday around the hour mark. Good, sometimes very good chances.
Nani was indeed left out of our cruch games that season. The league decider against Chelsea at home, both legs of the quarter final against Chelsea, the first leg of the CL semi away to Schalke, the CL final.
The only game of real importance he played after the Liverpool game where he got injured was the FA Cup semi when Scholes got sent off. He and Berbatov were responsible for our leage position most of the way but by the end of the season they found themselves playing 2nd string to Chicharito, Park/Valencia.
Not sure why you're telling me how many games he played that year. I've not argued otherwise. I simply said he got dropped towards the end. Dropped for the away legs of the quarter final, semi final and final of the Champions League. Dropped for the league decider with Chelsea. This having been first choice all season during his best year for us. So not my perception...he did get dropped for some massive games. You simply don't drop the best players for games like that.
His form bombed from there, he was sold, spent the rest of his career bouncing around much smaller clubs.
I suppose we'll see but I predict Mkhi's career will follow a similar path. Patchy before United, patchy with United with periods of brilliance, an early departure and played out a tier below once he does leave.
I'd play him right now but there's something about his game that tells me his isn't cut out for the very biggest stage.
Yeah, you're probably right. I reckon Sir Alex just stuck him in the team in those other 13 games at the end of the season by accident. Including games against Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Marseille and Schalke, and including every round of the CL. He probably thought the Champions League and FA Cup semis weren't really that important after all. He definitely must've forgotten that he put him in the team for the Champions League quarter final against Chelsea, much like you did.
I guess someone should've told his team-mates that, given they voted him their player of the year and all. What do they know eh?
He started the majority of our league games but the case remained that Park and Valencia were preferred in our biggest games of the season. He played the return leg for the semi when we already had a 2-0 lead away, we also started with Anderson, O'Shea and Gibson that game. I did forget that he started the 2nd leg at home against Chelsea though, so that makes 2 games of importance during our run in that he started.
And Fergie dropped him for the biggest league and European game of the season. What does he know eh?
This
"Criticising his defensive game is ridiculous".... most of my comments were not about defence and personally, I disagree with the bold bit... everyone has/is allowed an opinion?
You're a Mkhi fan, I'm not (each to their own eh?) BUT I hope he does well because it benefits United. Club first, players second.
That is only the case if you twist the facts to suit your own belief. To you it makes sense to say that Chelsea is the only league game of importance, all others are irrelevant. To me it makes no sense to suggest the league game a week earlier, against Arsenal, wasn't remotely important. If we wont that game we would've won the league. Generally speaking people would consider games against Chelsea, Liverpool, City and Arsenal important. He played against Liverpool in the league and FA cup. He played against City in the league and FA cup. He played against Chelsea in the league and Champions League. He played against Arsenal in the league. All in the 2nd half of the season. That doesn't fit too well with the narrative that he was unimportant, in any way.
He started the majority of our league games but the case remained that Park and Valencia were preferred in our biggest games of the season. He played the return leg for the semi when we already had a 2-0 lead away, we also started with Anderson, O'Shea and Gibson that game. I did forget that he started the 2nd leg at home against Chelsea though, so that makes 2 games of importance during our run in that he started.
If you really believe that his manager or team-mates would describe any of those games as unimportant, then fair enough. To me that's utterly ridiculous. I reckon the players probably would too, given they didn't seem to think of him as anything other than a crucial cog in the team.
Evidently he's able to look at each game in isolation, which seems to be a struggle for others.
Nani is criminally underrated on this board. If Mkhitaryan reaches the level Nani showed at the club, I'd consider his time here as a definite success.
Well he isolated the league decider and the European Cup final and decided to drop Nani.
I posted Nani and Mkhi have similar issues with their game. You want to discuss the finer points of Nani's 2011 season. There's probably a better thread for that.
He needs to watch back videos and observe the arrogant swagger that the likes of Cantona and Ronaldo showed.
Guys that knew they were fecking great and would take the game by the scruff of the neck EVERY game.
I've been so disappointed with him. I honestly thought that we were getting a world class playmaker when we signed him. What we actually got was a mentally fragile player that retreats into his shell as soon as the going gets tough. His decision making in the final third is horrendous and it needs to improve immediately.
As things stand I wouldn't bat an eyelid if he was sold.
Guys that knew they were fecking great and would take the game by the scruff of the neck EVERY game.
I've been so disappointed with him. I honestly thought that we were getting a world class playmaker when we signed him. What we actually got was a mentally fragile player that retreats into his shell as soon as the going gets tough. His decision making in the final third is horrendous and it needs to improve immediately.
As things stand I wouldn't bat an eyelid if he was sold.
There are degrees of importance. I perhaps phrased it poorly but the fact is Nani missed out on our toughest games. We wouldnt have won the league if we beat Arsenal on matchday 35 since it only became mathematically impossible for Chelsea to overtake us if they fail to get any points of us at OT the following week. Who played that game? Park and Valencia. In the CL, the same pair were deployed for Chelsea away, Schalke away and the final. They also started on the flanks in that FAC semi while Nani was deployed as a sort of SS.
He wasn't unimportant, just as Berbatov wasn't unimportant. The pair of them and their first half season form were responsible for keeping our title chase alive and well while Rooney was throwing a strop with his contract renewal, but it was clear by the beginning of April that they would be playing 2nd fiddle to Valencia and Hernandez respectively.
I wish I was Ozil's agent i'd have a lot more money that I currently do! Obviously Greizmann would be better than both but if we can't get Griezmann i'd have Ozil over Mkhi just because I trust Ozil to make that killer through ball more than I trust Mkhi.
Also I don't quite see how Ozil has failed. He was a key part in a WC winning team. If you think he's a failure because he's never won the league at Arsenal..then is Alexis a failure? Personally i'd take them both.
Agree with that.
Very harsh on him. He is in difficult position to play.
He has the talent. He just seems to lack self belief.
Yep. It's the way it is at huge clubs. Player or manager you need massive amounts of self belief. It has to border on arrogance. You've either got that or you haven't.
This all feels harsh given his recent contribution but personally I've always got in mind how good the players needed to be to win the last two European Cups. They were awesome and we still only just did it. Is Mkhi at that level? Don't think so.
In other words he was an important player in one of the best seasons in United's long history and produced some spectacular pieces of play in the process. If Mkhitaryan can do the same, and ends up being replaced by Lingard for some specific tactical reason in a couple of key games, I'll be pretty happy myself. This idea that he has to be Cantona reincarnated or he's a failure is pretty silly, in my view. He's a very good player who has started to settle in this season and can go up another level if the conditions are right.
I loved Nani, what I disagreed with your original post is the idea that his exclusion from the team during that run in was tactical or he wasn't 2nd fiddle to Valencia. The following season Young was brought in and Nani after starting the season well found himself more and more on the bench before being completely frozen out the next season, until the Madrid return leg and that red card.
I don't think the comparison between the two players quite work here so I've made no comment on that front. Mkhitaryan would do well to reach the level Nani displayed from the 2nd half of 09/10 to the first few games of 11/12. He's racked up the number while being averaged in his allround play in a Rooney-esque fashion the way Shrek played circa 13-14 onwards in patches and it's only a matter of time until luck stops working in his favour if he doesnt step up.
In other words petty point scoring about pointless, subjective details. An internet specialty.
People discussing what they found to be not factual. Shocker.
I feel Mourinho is making us better, not in spite of Mkhi, but not because of him either. I reckon you could put a lot of players in his position and get similar returns.
He's a tidy player, but I don't think he's done anything particularly special since he arrived. I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the summer to be honest - I think Jose will go for an upgrade, regardless of how the season goes.
He's a tidy player, but I don't think he's done anything particularly special since he arrived. I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the summer to be honest - I think Jose will go for an upgrade, regardless of how the season goes.
mkhi just runs into players with his head down
the thing is with ozil he can get away with average games at gunners becuase the fans will always lay the blame at wenger when things go bad, but playing for germany you wont get to hide behind the manager
Agree entirely. I would just say he's suffered a bit from the absence of Pogba. He's become the focus of our attacking moves from deep, and he misses having that chop out. I still think he was decent enough though, all things considered.
I agree. I think he needs to take more responsibility in some moments in the final third and do what players of Neymar, Modric, Isco calibre do. They rarely hestitate even if they feck up. Mkhi takes to long to decide what to do. The Jose factor could be important here. We dont know how much freedom Mkhi gets from the coach and thus it is hard to say. He might be instructed to act simple in the final third and not to take to much on himself. Who knows. When he has less time to think, he does great instinctively. Thinking hurts many athletes. The moment when he was alone against two defenders with Lukaku and Rashford attacking and Herrera catching up shouldve been a goal.
Id say the best option would have been to pass to Lukaku, get the ball back and pass it to Rash. I know it is easy to say than do. But look at it from another perspective. These players are professionals, they make millions and need to do it right every time. Make the correct decisions every time. There is no other way.
My opinion of Mkhitaryan remains the same as it has. He's got a lot of 'something', there's the odd game he explodes with the ball, takes on a few players and we all know he has an assist in his pocket at any time. But it's not often enough. He goes missing for huge spells of games, he's inconsistent with his output and considering where he plays in general on the pitch, some of our rivals have much better versions of him. He's also pushing 30 meaning this is the best Mkhi we're gonna get. If things play out as perfectly as they should for a team like ours, by next season he'd be a substitute with a lot to offer. If we're truly aiming to become a major player at home and abroad, he isn't good enough I'm afraid. I like him a lot, but then I also liked Javier Hernandez a lot but I was never convinced he was a top player either.
Neither Pele, Maradona, Beckenbauer are/were good coaches, nor I am. I think criticism is critical to life, however, it has to be reasonable. What you are expecting from Mkhi is just not possible at this point. Its all very relative. Lets say he had Isco, Modric or Cross attacking, the last attack wouldve been a goal somehow. I do not want to undermine our players quality. There are very few players in the world that are able to sustain that level of quality over the 90+ minutes of game time. You also need similar-minded players in the team, not exactly what we have at United. The last thing I want to say is that your disrespect to others opinion is making me sick.
Moscow 1:4 Man Utd
Another assist right?
Yes he won the penalty, but he really needs to stop giving the ball away so much and stop overrunning the ball. It's fine in games like this, but better teams will hurt us.
He's a flair player, they will always lose the ball once in a while.
Been involved in alot in the attack, created a penalty, think he's had a good game so far.
He could/should have scored, but hard one, since it's really hard to see the ball when it's coming through 2 players.
Flair player or not, you can't give the ball away 3 times in less than 10 minutes while running in a straight line. It's not like he tried a piece of skill or anything fancy, it's simply sloppy passes and overrunning. It won't be accepted v the likes of City and Liverpool.
Jomo will probably play with more defensive and "safe" wingers vs those.
Not surprised if Lingard starts vs City.
Mkhi might work vs Liverpool's shit defense though
A lot of his work gets overlooked. His turn just outside the box to keep the ball, before passing it to Marital there was brilliant.
Playing well. Constantly finds space. Anyone else think he looks more aggressive this season?
Nope.
Think Matic lost the ball more than him this first half.
Noone complained
Noone complained
Himself and Matic are running it. He is so good at finding space.
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