Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has explained that new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not start against Leicester City in the Community Shield or Bournemouth in last Sunday’s Premier League opener because there were better options available for those particular opponents.
Jesse Lingard started on the right flank—Mkhitaryan’s likely position—against Leicester, while Juan Mata took the role vs. Bournemouth, and both got on the scoresheet. There has been some confusion as to why the £26.3 million Mkhitaryan has been left on the bench, per Rob Dawson in the Manchester Evening News.
Mourinho insisted the 27-year-old Armenian will get his chance eventually but explained that he saw Lingard and Mata as better options in the last two matches. The Portuguese added that he, unlike other managers, did not feel the need to protect himself by immediately starting a big signing, per M.E.N.‘s Samuel Luckhurst:
Some managers when they buy players, when it is their decision to buy players, the first thing they think is to protect themselves and to protect their choices. The players they buy have to play all the time. I am not like this. Before me comes the team, and what I think is the best for the team.
In those two matches, Mata and Lingard were the best options for the team, adapted to the reality of the Premier League so I made that decision.
But Mkhitaryan is a super football player and he will be given a lot of opportunities this season.
The former Borussia Dortmund star may get his first competitive United start on Friday when the Red Devils host Southampton at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
Should Mkhitaryan start against Southampton?
Indeed, in United’s first home game of the 2016-17 season, the Old Trafford faithful could see all four of the Red Devils’ new men on show, as Paul Pogba is now eligible after being suspended for the Bournemouth game following his £89 million transfer from Juventus.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly had their first Premier League starts against the Cherries, and both impressed.
Given Sunday’s 3-1 victory against Bournemouth, Mourinho may be tempted to stick with the same team.
But in his explanation for why Mkhitaryan has yet to start a competitive game—he came on as a substitute against the Foxes and Bournemouth—Mourinho illustrated how carefully he thinks about his lineups depending on the opponents, per Luckhurst:
I went to the game against Leicester and I was reading the game and I thought we needed the speed of Jesse Lingard.
And against Bournemouth, I thought they wanted to press really high, and a player like Mata coming inside could reach some spaces behind the lines of pressure and it could be very useful for us. And I decided to play [Wayne] Rooney both games in that position close to Zlatan and I didn’t start with Mikhy.
Given Mkhitaryan’s immense versatility, there is the possibility he could start in the No. 10 role rather than on the right against Saints, while he can also play on the left.
In the long term, Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe believes Mkhitaryan will be part of Mourinho’s strongest side, playing on the right of a front line along with Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial and sometimes Rooney:
There is little doubt that he will have a key role to play as United look to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse of European football under Mourinho.
The last two seasons have seen United sapped of their creativity under former manager Louis van Gaal, who installed a restrictive style of play at Old Trafford.
Mourinho’s three key attacking signings should go a long way to solving that problem, with Mkhitaryan, Pogba and Ibrahimovic all having proved prolific at their former clubs, per BT Sport’s Max Bentley:
United have not beaten Southampton at Old Trafford since the 2012-13 season, losing 1-0 in both their last home meetings with the south-coast club.
However, with the new personnel set to be introduced on Friday and a renewed confidence at the club following a good opening win against Bournemouth, the Red Devils are well-placed to break that run as they aim for a second win on the bounce in the 2016-17 campaign.
