The Middle Man: Why Mkhitaryan is better off deployed as a No. 10

After a tough first half of his maiden season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan eventually hit the ground running in the latter stages and carried his good form into the new season. We look at how his deployment as a central attacking midfielder has given him a platform to flourish.

It wouldn’t go amiss to describe Mkhitaryan’s first season in a Manchester United shirt as topsy-turvy. From being taken off at half-time in the Manchester derby, in which he was admittedly horrible, to scoring in the Europa League final to wrap up United’s victory, Mkhitaryan has taken the long route towards convincing Jose Mourinho and United supporters of his quality.

Although it is easy to put it down to the difficulty of making the jump from Bundesliga to the Premier League, one might argue that Mourinho didn’t make life easy for the player either. The manager shifted Mkhitaryan all over the frontline and even deployed him at left-back on more than one occasion.

This season so far, though, Mkhitaryan has played mainly as the advanced playmaker just behind the striker and judging by the numbers, it seems like the No. 10 role suits him to a T.

On the middle vs. on the right

The statistics from Squawka shows that Mkhitaryan was at his creative best over United’s first three games where he was deployed through the middle, averaging 3 key passes per game and recording 5 assists in total, which rack up to just over 4.5 chances created per game.

The numbers make an even more impressive read bearing in mind that he just recorded a solitary assist and made 27 key passes over 24 appearances in the Premier League last season.

Meanwhile in United’s last game against Stoke, Mourinho shunted Mkhitaryan to the right wing and it ultimately limited his influence on the proceedings, only creating 2 chances over the course of 83 minutes.

Although one of his 2 key passes might have become an assist had Lukaku put away the chance he created at the first time of asking, it doesn’t change the fact that he was much less effective on the right. This ‘almost an assist’ also came after a tactical shift put Mkhitaryan back in the no. 10 position, so it further reinforces the notion that he is better through the middle.

Counter-attacking specialist

In his final year with Borussia Dortmund, Mkhitaryan assisted 15 goals in addition to scoring 11 himself in the Bundesliga, eventually winning the Bundesliga Players’ Player of the Season. Dortmund’s aggressive pressing and counter-attacking style is well-known and Mkhitaryan was a crucial part in the attacking midfield position.

Although it is bizarre to suggest that United are coming close to matching Dortmund’s style of play, Mourinho’s adherence to keeping things tight at the back and hit opponents on the counter may well work in Mkhitaryan’s favour.

All too often last season, United weren’t able to catch oppositions on the break due to a lack of pace in the central striking position. Lukaku’s arrival has allowed United to break forward with pace and as a result, Mkhitaryan has been able to pick apart defences by providing the telling passes with a clear target.

There is still a long way to go before this United side could be classified as a deadly counter-attacking outfit but in Mkhitaryan, they have a ready-made No. 10 perfectly suited for the particular style of play.

Next: Herrera: Manchester United have great squad depth

Conclusion

All signs point to the wisdom of deploying Mkhitaryan in a central role just behind the strikers. Despite the obvious appeal of playing him on the wings due to his versatility, his unique talent and experience of playing on the counter should provide Mourinho with a world-class No. 10 whom he could build a team around.