The start of the season felt like an awakening for Manchester United. Their club record signing was at last delivering the all-action displays expected of him; a swashbuckling air of attacking adventure had returned to a side that looked laboured and dull under Louis van Gaal, as well as in the transitional season that followed; and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was finally flourishing.

The Armenian started the season in genuinely record-breaking form, assisting five goals in his first three Premier League appearances of the season – something that had not been achieved since Ruel Fox for Newcastle in the 1994/95 season.  As United sparkled, it was Mkhitaryan pulling the strings, constantly searching for the ball and penetrating defences when he received it.

Mkhitaryan started the season on fire, but his form – and that of his club – have fallen away recently (Picture: Getty)
Mkhitaryan started the season on fire, but his form – and that of his club – have fallen away recently (Picture: Getty)

But it is now two months – and six matches – since he last assisted a league goal, while he has scored just once, in United’s rout of Everton. Against Huddersfield he was omitted from the starting XI entirely, and the same doubts that caused Jose Mourinho to integrate him so slowly after he first arrived in England are surfacing again.

All the while, the whispers linking Mesut Ozil with a move to Old Trafford grow louder. The German enjoyed such a fruitful relationship with Mourinho at Real Madrid, even if at times their dynamic risked boiling over. He was transformed into a £40m superstar, but now he is set to leave Arsenal for nothing when his contract expires in the summer.

Ozil is set to leave Arsenal when his contract expires, reportedly telling teammates he will join Man Utd (Picture: Getty)
Ozil is set to leave Arsenal when his contract expires, reportedly telling teammates he will join Man Utd (Picture: Getty)

Part of the reason for that is Ozil’s tendency to occupy only the periphery of matches, especially those against rivals. It is an affliction that Mkhitaryan, though wonderfully gifted, is also victim too. He can fall into spells of passivity, not just within matches but across weeks and months. That was particularly noticeable against Liverpool.

He made just 29 passes at Anfield, only three of which found Romelu Lukaku up front while he did not complete a single pass to left winger Anthony Martial, the main, pacey counter-attacking outlet. In a role where he should have profited from Liverpool’s shambolic defence, he created just one chance. In total he gained possession only once but lost it 14 times – the most of any outfield player when he was withdrawn after an hour.

However, Mourinho’s approach did not exactly play to his strengths. United sacrificed possession and sat incredibly deep, rarely venturing forward. The Special One went to Anfield looking for a draw, and that is what he got.

But then that is the paradox that surrounds Mkhitaryan. There are still massive question marks over the extent to which he really suits Mourinho’s system, or indeed his management style. The Portuguese coach tends to play two ways: either his side are the aggressor, dominating possession and controlling matches against lesser sides, or they are reactive, sitting deep and hoping for a rare chance on the counter.

Mkhitaryan is a hard player to categorise, and does not fit the same mould as other playmakers (Picture: Getty)

Neither really suits Mkhitaryan. He was bred on counter-pressing football, first at Shakhtar and then, more so, at Borussia Dortmund. There, the attitude was that ‘no playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation’. It is those situations in which Mkhitaryan thrives – robbing possession high up the pitch, breaking on a disorganised defence, creating overloads and firing off shots within just a few passes, and seconds, of winning the ball.

United generally apply pressure much deeper when playing on the back foot, with their counter-attacks considerably less swift and rather more sporadic. Mourinho favours, perhaps even needs, leggy athletes who can cover more ground than Mkhitaryan.

Firing blanks

Although Mkhitaryan has created five ‘big’ chances this seasons, they all came in his first four appearances. He has not laid on a clear-cut chance for a teammate since a 2-2 draw against Stoke City in September!

And then when United are on top and dictating play, the Armenian lacks some of the authority and confidence to take a match and control it. He is certainly a long way short of the Premier League’s best playmakers – like Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Christian Eriksen and, occasionally, Ozil – when it comes to unlocking a defence. Even within the United squad, Juan Mata feels better suited.

Interestingly, Dortmund’s style changed under Thomas Tuchel, who took Klopp’s ‘heavy metal football’ down a couple of dials. Mkhitaryan’s form improved, thanks largely to the time the new manager invested in rebuilding his playmaker’s confidence. ‘He understood what he had to do to make things better for me,’ said Mkhitaryan. That included prescribing a book he should read, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance. ‘It was like it was written especially for me.’

What Mourinho has said about Ozil in the past

Mourinho on Ozil after he joined Arsenal: ‘Ozil is unique. There is no copy of him, not even a bad copy. He is the best No.10 in the world. He makes things very easy for me and for his team-mates with his football vision and the decisions he makes. Everyone loves him and sees a bit of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in him.’

Mourinho on Ozil after a disappointing first season at Arsenal: ‘If you are expecting Ozil to be super aggressive and running miles and miles side to side and to show great enthusiasm and aggressivity – this is not Mesut. If you are waiting for somebody who every time he touches the ball, the ball smiles and every time he makes the pass the ball goes in the right direction with the right speed and intensity – this is Mesut.’

But Mourinho notoriously likes to keep his players on edge and create a sense of unease. It’s something Mkhitaryan feels a little too sensitive for, but it is an environment that many others have thrived in – if only for a few seasons before getting burnt out.

Ozil was one such player, with Mourinho’s almost physiological warfare igniting something within him. The World Cup winner will be free to speak to foreign clubs come January, though it is a reunion with Mourinho that is most intriguing. He is a player who needs to be constantly fired up, but Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger, have indulged him; it has been a comfortable home where a certain level of mediocrity is accepted – celebrated, even, with dressing-room selfies taken upon finishing fourth – and that has stopped Ozil from ever really imposing himself like he should.

You suspect United would get a very different version of Ozil, one that feels like a perfect fit for the team Mourinho is building. He is a devastating force when counter-attacking, something he has not been able to showcase quite so much at Arsenal compared to both Real Madrid before that and the early days of the German national team’s evolution into one of the world’s most dominant teams.

What Ozil has said about Mourinho in the past

In his autobiography, Die Magie des Spiels (The Magic of the Game), Ozil recalls an exchange with Mourinho. The Portuguese said: ‘You think two beautiful passes are enough… You think you’re so good that fifty per cent is enough.’ Ozil continues: ‘He pauses. Stares at me with his dark brown eyes. I stare back. Like two boxers at the stare-down before the first round. He shows no emotion. Just waits for a response from me. How much I hate him right now. And I love Mourinho actually.’ Ozil then threw his shirt on the floor, and Mourinho responded again: ‘Oh, are you giving up now? You’re such a coward. What do you want? To creep under the beautiful, warm shower? Shampoo your hair? To be alone? Or do you want to prove to your fellow players, the fans out there, and me, what you can do.’

But he is equally adept as a pure playmaker and orchestrator in a team looking to pay more measured football, something honed under Arsene Wenger’s tutelage. This season he has created 25 chances in the Premier League, just a handful less than De Bruyne, despite playing almost 300 minutes less football. Only David Silva has created more ‘big’ chances.

Although Ozil gets a lot of often unmerited criticism, he remains an exquisite footballer – and one who could be even more dangerous under Mourinho. The Portuguese will know that better than anyone. It’s why the rumours make so much sense. With a player of that quality lurking, on a free transfer, the pressure is on Mkhitaryan to start delivering. His current malaise cannot continue, otherwise Mourinho will start to look elsewhere. And he need not look very far.