Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan hits back at harsh critics

Arsenal have suffered a poor start to the season, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan feels like critics are being too tough on the North London club.

Arsenal lost both of their opening games. They lost to Manchester City 2-0 and again to Chelsea 3-2. While both of these scorelines are not impressive, Henrikh Mkhitaryan feels like the Gunners are ‘moving in the right way’, as reported by BBC Sport.

"“We don’t feel any pressure. We are not thinking that something is going wrong because we are moving in the right way even if we lost two games.I don’t know why people are criticizing so much. I’m not paying attention because I know if I’ve played bad or well.” – Henrikh Mkhitaryan"

Mkhitaryan doesn’t need reminding.

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As was shown by his time at Manchester United, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a very good assessor of what’s going wrong. He can often be his own harshest critic, but that can work in his favor during times of need.

For example, he was dreadful against Manchester City. But he recognized this, and aimed to move forward in training. The benefits showed off, as he got the assist and the goal against Chelsea in the following week.

Now he comes up against West Ham United, and I’ve predicted the Armenian to start the match. I feel like he deserves the start, despite many wanting to start Aubameyang and Lacazette together. That will come in due time.

I’m sure that Mkhi has been hard at training, with tailored drills to suit his needs for the second London derby. He will look to provide balls through to Aubameyang, who will look to stretch the defense with his immense speed.

Style of play.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a creator, but he is slightly unorthodox. Where most creators rely on precision, Mkhitaryan relies on quick thinking. This could be seen against Chelsea, as he fizzed the ball in towards Alex Iwobi at first glance.

Obviously, this can have it’s downsides. Manchester United fans grew tired of this, as the strikers at their disposal didn’t match the thinking of the Armenian at times. This is why signing Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan looks impressive, as those two share a similar mindset when it comes to attacking movements.

I think it will be great if Mkhitaryan can get himself on the score sheet again versus West Ham. This will be two consecutive games, and he will surely be full of confidence after this.

Do you think this London derby will be fruitful for Henrikh Mkhitaryan?