One of the big talking points after Thursday’s defeat to Rennes was why Unai Emery chose to play Henrikh Mkhitaryan at right back in the second half.
Our Armenian playmaker had started the game in his usual advanced role but was moved into a more defensive role following Sokratis’ red card.
Emery had Ainsley Maitland-Niles as an option from the bench, but opted to continue with Mkhitaryan for the remainder of the game. Our head coach explained his decision in his post-match press conference:
on why Mkhitaryan played at right back…
Well, first and mostly, because we were coming after the last match in Southampton with a very big performance like this full back.