Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s secret ingredient remains missing

Arsenal are still waiting for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to find the one key missing part of his game, but it doesn’t look to be coming any time soon.

Arsenal‘s attack is a self-sustaining machine (I saw, after being held scoreless against Sporting CP at the Emirates). But they are. When the full crew is out there, there isn’t much an opposing defense can do.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was supposed to be one of those guys, one of the Fab Four that could contribute to breaking down any and every defense, but, given the reigns in side competitions, he hasn’t been able to.

Against Sporting CP, he had a positive match, but at the end of the day, the 0-0 scoreline said it all. The Gunners’ attack was lacking it’s key, cutting edge.

Maybe it’s a matter of Mkhitaryan not having enough quality around him. It was clear against Sporting CP that he was working his arse off to make something happen.

And against Liverpool, he really did work his way into some positive form, it just didn’t come around to stay. All year we have been waiting to see the best of Mkhitaryan, and all year we have been left wanting.

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So what gives?

Well, I have an idea.

Mkhitaryan did a lot of things well back at Borussia Dortmund, but one thing that he did especially well was dribble. The man completed near three dribbles a match, on average. Being able to dribble like that, as Alex Iwobi has shown, can be a huge, huge boost in matches like we saw against Sporting CP, when an opposing defender needs a good breaking down.

Mkhitaryan is completing 0.6 dribbles per 90 minutes this season, which is down from the already-down 1.5 dribbles completed last season (well, half-season).

But he also just isn’t trying as many dribbles this seasons. He is losing possession far less because he is taking less risks. For Dortmund, he was dispossessed a good amount, but he was dribbling effectively and it made a huge difference towards his overall gameplay.

That’s what this is all boiling down to. Mkhitaryan isn’t taking enough risks. Iwobi is. That’s why Iwobi has leapfrogged Mkhitarya, because he is taking chances, he is driving at defenses and he is completing Bundesliga-Mkhitaryan-like dibbles.

Take more risks, Micky! We want the real you back. Or rather, we just want the real you, because it feels like we haven’t really had it yet.