Arsenal suffered a shock defeat to Rennes in the Europa League and everyone is bewildered about Unai Emery’s use of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Gunners lost the first leg 3-1 and Henrikh Mkhitaryan played most of the game as a right-back.
Sokratis was sent off in the 41st minute and then Unai Emery surprisingly chose to push Henrikh Mkhitaryan in defence instead of bringing on Maitland-Niles.
The Arsenal manager has received a lot of criticism but now Unai Emery has come out to explain why he chose to play Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a right-back.
Emery said: ‘Well, first and mostly, because we were coming after the last match in Southampton with a very big performance like this full-back.
‘And after this red card, first I wanted to keep the positioning with the players because in the second half we needed fresh players to help more in offensive moments, to take chances, to take options.
‘We really didn’t create a lot of chances to score the second goal, but I think Micki worked very well and with a good performance. I think there is no problem with Micki, and for example, his 40 or 50 minutes playing like a right-back, he played well.
‘We only had three changes and we needed to decide what were these changes. Micki, I think, is playing well. If he was not playing well then maybe we could think to do this change.’
Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal in January of 2018 and this season, the Armenian has seen consistent game time under new manager Unai Emery. So far the midfielder has played in 18 Premier League games for the Gunners – scoring six goals and providing four assists.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been an influential figure for Arsenal during the past few games and next up he will face his former club when Manchester United visit Emirates on Sunday.
Read: Man United receive a triple injury boost just days before they take on Arsenal in the EPL.
Read: Unlike Maurizio Sarri, Unai Emery is not ready to hide behind ‘this’ age-old excuse.
