UNITED Mkhi is now out of favour - but is he out for good?
THE luxurious coach with the tinted windows pulled into Birmingham Road as the rain lashed down at around 12.30pm. Stepping off the bus, Jose Mourinho looked visibly disgusted after braving the conditions in just his trusted fleece.
The usual names followed him in single file as United looked to escape treacherous conditions at the Hawthorns with three points. Jesse Lingard, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Matic, Marcus Rashford, Victor Lindelof, Marcos Rojo and Romelu Lukaku were all there.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, though, was nowhere to be seen - and it has hardly been a surprise that the Armenian has now been left out of eight of the last nine match day squads.
You have to go back to November 5 for Mkhitaryan’s last start and November 25 for his last appearance in red, a late 20-minute cameo against Brighton.
The once undroppable untouchable now faces a real fight just to get in a travelling squad - let alone make the bench or start a game. As much as that is to Juan Mata and, particularly, Jesse Lingard’s credit, it also shows how far Mkhitaryan’s stock has fallen with his manager and, indeed, some fans.
What made Mkhitaryan’s impressive start to the season so eye-catching was his ability to find that extra gear against a tired defence, to pull out an assist late on. That more than compensated for the fact that it is just not the 28-yearold’s style to aimlessly chase or harry a goalkeeper; everything Mkhitaryan does tends to have a purpose to it. And while his off the ball sprints may be down, with no assists to back it up since his last impressive performance against CSKA Moscow in September, no one quite expected an exile like this. Particularly after Mkhitaryan, one of the harshest of self-critics and sensible of trainers, won Mourinho around more than a year ago.
While it may seem a long way back, Luke Shaw is a perfect example of how quickly fortunes can change. And change again. And Shaw kept on working hard, waiting for his opportunity.
At open training recently, you could tell Mkhitaryan is doing just that and he remains a popular figure at Carrington. But the reality is a convenient narrative is emerging: Mesut Ozil, one of Mourinho’s favourite luxury players, is hitting form just as Mkhitaryan’s future appears to be in real jeopardy.
Barely 24 hours before Mkhitaryan’s snub at West Brom, Ozil scored a sumptuous volley against Newcastle and the Arsenal playmaker is showing the kind of workrate and desire that Mourinho demands of his No.10.
Big-game criticism of Ozil will never go away - but that just might not be enough for Mkhitaryan. A decision may have already been made.