Arsenal: I really don’t care what Henrikh Mkhitaryan has to say

Arsenal and Henrikh Mkhitaryan already broke up, but I’m having trouble caring about all the negative things the Armenian is now bringing to light.

I guess, given the lengthy break in between fixtures, it’s just time to get out there and criticize Arsenal. Unai Emery and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are spearheading that front. But while I do find some credence in what Emery is saying, I can’t say the same for Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan has been bemoaning the lack of appreciation he had while at the club. And some other nonsense about broken promises, but it’s the lack of appreciation bit that’s making it really hard for me to care about what he has to say.

Here’s all that matters—Arsenal and Mkhitaryan did not work out. We tried, he tried, it failed. He’s at Roma, we’re fine without. Fine. Done. Over. But no, apparently not. And maybe this has to do with the fact that his loan is going to come to an end if no permanent arrangement can be met. Maybe it’s just because he’s still bitter and can’t get over his own failure, I don’t know.

Here’s one thing I do know—Mkhitaryan didn’t get any less respect than guys like Granit Xhaka or Mesut Ozil. Xhaka is the king of getting disrespected, yet he’s weathered the criticism and become a better player.

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And while I am one of the masses criticizing Mesut Ozil, he still doesn’t whine about it like Mkhitaryan is. I respect that.

I don’t want this to turn into a “let’s poke fun at Mkhitaryan” post, but I do want to say some things about his time here at the club. He was a bottler. Big time. He had confidence problems not unlike Alexandre Lacazette, but he didn’t just miss opportunities, he completely screwed them. I’ve never seen some wide open misses like Mkhitaryan made.

Of course he had his moments. He’s a talented player. But for as inconsistent as Ozil was, Mkhitaryan was even more so. He would go a couple weeks as our best player and then three months as our worst. It was impossible to sustain a player like that, and Unai Emery eventually gave up trying.

That doesn’t mean a lack of appreciation, it just means it was a poor fit. Mkhitaryan wasn’t his usual self at Arsenal and Arsenal couldn’t figure out how to get the best out of him. End of story. Stop talking about it.