Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan was worse than invisible against Tottenham - he was detrimental

MKHITARYAN IS WORSE THAN INVISIBLE 

Actions speak louder than words and this week Henrikh Mkhitaryan should have kept quiet because his performance against Spurs screamed average.

“Jose Mourinho required a lot from the players. A lot, he was very hard. Arsene Wenger is friendlier, he understands, can think about players’ situations, is calmer. That’s the difference,” the Armenian told SFR Sport this week.

Shame for Arsenal there is no difference in his displays from those in a Manchester United shirt.

The playmaker was ostracised for his anonymity in the big games but he was worse than invisible against Spurs – he was detrimental for Arsenal.

Indeed, Mkhitaryan may be one of the few deserving of a negative player rating because he was negligible in a set-up which required flair and ingenuity.

Compacting the midfield and defending deep, Arsenal had to counter-attack with craft and speed but Mkhitaryan’s 80 per cent pass success rate was the second worst of any in their starting XI.

The proverbial balloon blown up by his three-assist performance against Everton was acutely popped on Saturday, leaving a flatulent mess in its wake.

Aimless passes under no pressure combined with little work rate hallmarked a dire display, the damaged goods shipped off by United in exchange for Alexis Sanchez appears to be the deal of the century.

BUT AUBA IS THE TRUE INVISIBLE MAN 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang touched the ball 23 times against Spurs – the least of any player in Arsenal’s starting XI – and managed zero shots during 90 minutes.

And yet those damning statistics have precious little to do with Arsenal’s record buy.

Indeed, while Mkhitaryan was the one labelled anonymous, Aubameyang was actually the one who must have been invisible to his teammates.

This is no exaggeration, countless times the 28-year-old was completely free in space to the left, and on almost every occasion the players in behind failed to see him despite other options being cut off.

Ultimately, he was let down by the inability of the playmakers behind him – Mesut Ozil and Mkhitaryan – to have any discernible impact on the game.

We all know his style, piercing pace on the shoulder of the last man to break in behind and considering how high Spurs’ line was, you would have expected Ozil and Mkhitaryan to have been capable of creating chances for him.

But the Gunners didn’t play to his strengths and when they eventually did and sprayed longer balls, Alexandre Lacazette was brought on in the spearhead with Aubameyang forced out wide.

Arsenal ended up looking incredibly imbalanced and the Gabon international looked dejected in a position which was clearly an uncomfortable one for him.

ARSENAL’S WEAKNESS IS THEY ARE WEAK

In every area of the pitch Wenger’s side lost the physical battle. It’s not the first time this has been said, and for this group of players, it won’t be the last time either.

Defensively solid in the first half, the Gunners lost their discipline after the break.

The chasm between Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny for Kane’s header was indicative of the wide gap between the quality of the two sides.

In possession there was no ownership and at times no communication. Midfield was arguably even worse with Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny a dire duo.

Mousa Dembele was superb and he practically dominated Arsenal’s midfield three by himself with only Jack Wilshere coming out of the game with any credit.

The Belgian used his physicality to eliminate any pressure, then displayed great footwork and ball retention skills to set Tottenham’s attacks in the opposite direction.

Granted, he is a unique footballer in the sense he bulldozes and pirouettes around the pitch like beauty and the beast infused but Arsenal had no answer.

They were simply second best and in the end the 1-0 scoreline flattered to deceive.