During better-weather times at Borussia Dortmund, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the type of wriggling winger whose niftiness became so nagging it warranted a hearty hack.
A keen and confident dribbler, the Armenian forged a prolific partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marco Reus and Shinji Kagawa at the Westfalenstadion – the quartet within which the 29-year-old was ordained Bundesliga Player of the Year in the 2015/16 season.
And for a short stint, it seemed as though Mkhitaryan might bring that same yellow vibrancy to England as he notched five assists in three Premier League games after joining Manchester United.
But to most purveyors of the Premier League, those days, when it was fathomable that Mkhitaryan was one of the world’s best midfielders, are a matter of mythology compared to the off-colour flaxen with which we have been treated in the following years.
Slowly and systematically, his confidence was bled by Jose Mourinho – withdrawn in the FA Cup third-round, left out of seven out of eight matchday squads entirely, until the Special One enacted the last sweep of his sword upon the Armenian's exit: “He realised he was not ready for this reality – physical, mental, competitiveness."
And while many pointed to Mourinho’s peculiar propensity to neuter rather than nurture, what most unsettled Mkhitaryan at Manchester United was that he was never given time to settle and establish a bond with his teammates, crucially, on the pitch.
In his time up north, the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and on the oft occasion Marouane Fellaini were all auctioned around like vintage clobber.
And in his first season at Arsenal, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Iwobi, Alexandre Lacazette, Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck too were all interchanging – a far cry from that fabled season in North Rhine-Westphalia when Dortmund’s aforementioned foursome bedded in to claim 177 appearances between them.
Perhaps that is why, when asked whether this front-four is the most exciting he has ever played in, the Armenian diplomatically sidestepped such a query.
“I think it makes your job easier [having world class strikers]," he said. "From the left side you have Auba, from the right side you have Lacazette, you can play in the middle where Mesut is taking position so it makes things more easy. It’s a [dream] for me and I think for the others as well."
After being afforded an unlikely start alongside those three against Liverpool, Mkhitaryan was a rare streak of light in an otherwise drear draw against Sporting on Thursday night.
So is it this new atmosphere, the stable buoyancy, surrounding Arsenal one in which Mkhitaryan can finally find the comfort which both supports and stirs him?
“I can say, ‘Yes’," he grinned in regard to the upbeat atmosphere.
"The culture has changed a bit in the club. Now people are believing more in ourselves because we are playing a bit differently, we’re giving them confidence and playing the way they want us to play. We’re scoring goals and we’re winning games.”
And it's that imperative, yet so temperamental trait – confidence – which Unai Emery repeated in no less than four successive sentences during his post-match interview on Thursday.
“The confidence can come,” the Arsenal boss said. “Firstly from winning matches, and then also from when you feel it on the pitch you have a capacity to battle against teams with the potential of a Liverpool.”
Perhaps now that self-belief can manifest in Mkhitaryan too. The harsh stint among the moods of Manchester over, the cruel thrust into Arsene Wenger's turbulent pasture aside, instead finally faced with the prospect of becoming party to a new quartet. On the brink of embarking on a last serenade, Mkhitaryan might have his opportunity for English football to bring out, and witness, the best of him.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/henrikh-mkhitaryan-interview-arsenal-unai-emery-manchester-united-jose-mourinho-borussia-dortmund-a8628276.html