‘He is so bad’, ‘non-existent’, some Arsenal fans slam attacker’s display vs Barcelona

A selection of Arsenal supporters have slammed the performance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan during the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to Barcelona for the Joan Gamper trophy on Sunday.

In the absence of summer signing Nicolas Pepe, Mkhitaryan was offered another pre-season start for the Gunners on the right-wing, but his performance was largely average with no final outcome.

The Armenian was guilty of losing possession on numerous occasions over the course of the game amid the pressure exerted from the opposition, and the fans were far from pleased with his display.

Here are some of the reactions on Twitter…………

Sorry i cant do this anymore. Mkhitaryan is so bad.

— William (fan account) (@OzilThings) August 4, 2019

FT #Barca 2-1 #AFC

•Ceballos looks like a really quality player.
•Nelson, Saka and Martinelli all looked really good.
•Willock should be a starter.
•Mkhitaryan not good enough at all.
•Auba looks sharp.
•Defence is a shambles. pic.twitter.com/s2AU4emsMD

— Arsenal News HQ (@ArsenalNews_HQ) August 4, 2019

Mkhitaryan seems to have slightly forgotten how to football.

— YankeeGunner (@YankeeGunner) August 4, 2019

Mkhitaryan should be behind Pepe, Aubameyang, Nelson, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah and Ozil in the pecking order. No reason for him to stay other than money.

— Paddy (@PaddyArsenal) August 4, 2019

Is there anyway we could leave Mkhitaryan in Spain? He's been atrocious so far. #GamperTrophy

— Naibi (@abubakar_naibee) August 4, 2019

Takeaways from today’s match v Barcelona.

• Aubameyang is still lighting sh*t up!
• The young players on the squad are certainly not afraid to step up!
• Ceballos has a few spontaneous moves that shows his natural ability taking players on.
• Mkhitaryan is non existent pic.twitter.com/qucJIv3cr1

— Arsenal Long Island ? (@Arsenal_LINY) August 4, 2019

Arsenal managed just one shot on target during the Blaugrana friendly and that resulted in the opening strike where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the better of Jordi Alba before unleashing his shot on goal.

Besides that, there were a few close chances for Aubameyang but the Spanish champions eventually prevailed following an unfortunate own goal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and a late winner from Luis Suarez.

With the Premier League opener at Newcastle United in one week’s time, manager Unai Emery should have a clear idea on the starting XI, and it would be surprising if Mkhitaryan features from the beginning.

Alexandre Lacazette should return to the lineup after a minor ankle sprain and he could be accompanied by Pepe in the three-man attack alongside Aubameyang, provided the Ivorian has got up to regular speed.

Elsewhere, the central defensive combination seems sorted in the form of Calum Chambers and Sokratis Papastathopoulos and the duo should kick off the season opener ahead of Shkodran Mustafi, who has been culpable to regular mistakes during pre-season.