Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, through sheer effort, turning form around

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is in the best form of his short Arsenal tenure. And it is his because of his sheer effort, through industrious work and dogged defending.

I have been highly critical of Henrikh Mkhitaryan since he arrived in north London a little over a year ago. I was quite excited to see what a player who tallied 55 goals and assists in 52 games for Borussia Dortmund prior to his move to Manchester United could do in a more attacking system. Sadly, the Arsenal attacker has not delivered on my hopes.

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Nevertheless, since a return from a foot injury three weeks ago, his performances have been markedly improved, with his reinstatement into the starting XI having a major impact on the fluency of the attacking play of the team.

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This recent run of prosperous form culminated in his best display of the season on Sunday versus Southampton — oddly enough, his other shining performance this year also came against Southampton. He scored and assisted in the 2-0 victory and put together a complete showing on the right flank.

After the match, he spoke with great humility and understanding about his role in the team:

"“I have scored and assisted it doesn’t meant it was my best performance. I had better games but I didn’t score, I think the only difference was that I was more lucky to score and assist today and that is why some people think I have played better than in the last few games. It doesn’t matter where I play. The most important is to be in the starting line-up and to help the team win games, that is the most important thing. I don’t care if I play from the left, the right or the middle – the most important is to do something good for the team.”"

I would quibble with his suggestion that his level of performance has not improved. It has. But his understanding that his value to the team is not defined by the numbers of goals he scores or creates is important. On Sunday, it was his dogged defensive work, his intelligent, timely pressing, his harassing athleticism, off the ball that helped the team more than his goal or assist.

What I have always admired about Mkhitaryan, even after some of his worst performances in an Arsenal shirt, is that he is always willing to work. He enjoys playing in Unai Emery’s high-energy system, he is disciplined in tracking the overlapping runs of an opposing full-back, and he recognises that his work off the ball is as impactful as his work on the ball.

He has turned his form around almost through sheer effort. His assist on Sunday, for instance, was because he mishit a shot. To credit that to him because of quality in the final third seems a little ambitious. But he knows how to get into the right positions, as evidenced by his goal, he works hard for his team, and he is a testament to the Emery way.

I am still unsure of Mkhitaryan’s complete quality. And I question the wisdom in paying him north of £200,000-a-week. But credit should be given to him for his turn around in form. He never stops trying, and that is important. Mesut Ozil could learn a few things.