Morning all.
Let’s start with some interesting stuff from Mikel Merino who made his Arsenal debut, at last, in the 2-0 win over PSG on Tuesday evening. As we know, his late arrival in the summer window was compounded by picking up a shoulder injury (broken scapula) in his first training session. That meant a spell on sidelines when he was looking to settle in quickly and contribute on the pitch.
Mikel Arteta tried to look on the bright side when that news broke, saying it would allow the Spanish international some time to settle in, and to understand the the way things worked at Arsenal. To me it felt just a little like trying to find a silver lining when there really wasn’t one, because signing a 28 year old who has experience in Spain, Germany, England and at international level usually means they’ve experienced most of what the game has to offer.
Well, it turns out Arteta was right. Merino is a quick study it seems, suggesting that even though he didn’t play until the other night, he’s a better player than he was four weeks ago. Which is quite the thing to say. He continued:
Arsenal do some things that I’ve never seen in my career. The methods they use are completely new to me. So obviously it takes some time to adapt. But at the same time, I think when you get it, you are in a different level because they challenge you every single day, not only physically, but mentally.
I thought it was interesting, if fairly obvious, that when he came on he tucked in alongside Declan Rice who moved to the space that Thomas Partey vacated. They basically shielded the back four as PSG tried (and failed) to break us down, which makes sense in the context of that game. I’m more curious to see what his role might be in a fixture like this weekend’s game, for example.
I don’t necessarily expect him to start against Southampton, but in that kind of game where we’re expected to win, I think we’ll see him deployed further forward. Perhaps in a more ‘Xhaka’…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/10/merinos-debut-artetas-losing-faith-in-jesus/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-10-03 06:28:03
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