Jose Mourinho’s attempts to balance his Manchester United matchday squad have left Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the odd man out, the manager has explained.
United returned to winning ways as Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal against Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Wednesday, three days on from their 2-1 derby defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Armenia international Mkhitaryan was left on the sidelines for those two matches, having also sat out games versus Newcastle United, Basel, Watford, Arsenal and CSKA Moscow over the past month.
Mkhitaryan was a fixture in the first team earlier this season but Mourinho accused the former Borussia Dortmund star of “disappearing” during games at the start of his spell out in the cold.
“I can only have six [outfield] players on the bench and I try to have some balance on the bench,” Mourinho offered in a more measured assessment after the Bournemouth match.
“I had two defenders and [Daley] Blind who can play in different areas.
Mourinho Explains Why He Dropped Mkhitaryan
