Henrikh Mkhitaryan has done it before but doubts remain over his ability to convince Jose Mourinho that he deserves a regular place in his team.
Mourinho has dropped Mkhitaryan from his matchday squad for the seventh time in the last eight games and it looks like an uphill task for the Armenia international if he is to play his way back into his manager’s plans.
Again, there was no place on the bench for Mkhitaryan on Wednesday night, when Manchester United claimed a 1-0 victory at home to Bournemouth.
Romelu Lukaku’s first-half goal was enough to earn United a desperately-needed win after Sunday’s defeat in the Manchester derby but, following an undeniably flat game, Mkhitaryan’s conspicuous absence was one of the bigger talking points.
“I can only have six players on the bench and I try to have some balance on the bench,” Mourinho explained.
“I had two defenders that can play in different areas, I have Ashley Young to cover the wing and wing backs position.
“[Ander] Herrera is a midfield player, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] is a striker, [Marcus] Rashford is a second striker and a winger.
“To have Mkhitaryan means I don’t have one of them and I believe the others deserve.”
