Henrikh Mkhitaryan tries to explain away his poor performances – blames the manager.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was hardly one of the most successful Arsenal players prior to his loan to Serie A side Roma.
In fact, he was probably one of the most criticised, certainly on this site and he has been speaking exclusively to Four Four Two magazine about his experiences playing under the Spaniard.
According to the 30-year-old is was unable to contribute more because he was played out of position.
Mkhitaryan told the magazine “He paid more attention to tactics, so my role changed.
“I was starting as a winger, but had to build play with the defensive midfielder.
“It’s why I couldn’t contribute as many goals or assists.
“I like to play more freely and move wherever there’s space, but you have to do the job that the manager asks.”
It has to be said that Mkhitaryan comments do make sense to some degree, he was clearly played out of position and he has not been the only Arsenal player suffering from the manager’s tactics and formations.
But at the same time, he was not an Emery signing and therefore probably not the type of player he would have wanted.
It does feel like a bit of excuse-making if I am honest, even out of position the Armenian international should have done a better job.
It should also be noted that Mkhitaryan is only out on loan so, in theory, he could return to the Emirates. Criticising Emery like this is hardly the most constructive thing to do, is it?