Rice is the important thing ingredient

The good Arsenal striker disaster of 2025 has introduced quite a lot of focus onto Mikel Merino, who has been foisted into the limelight as an emergency striker. I can not recall a interval of my Arsenal supporting life that left the squad with out an out there striker. In January 2000, I recall going to Previous Trafford and having to make use of Freddie Ljungberg as a second striker.

Kanu was at AFCON, Suker was suspended and Bergkamp was injured. Thierry Henry was nonetheless match for that sport, the query was merely who would line up because the second striker in a 442. Equally, in January 2004, Arsene Wenger gave Thierry Henry a few weeks off because the Gunners negotiated a trio of cup video games in opposition to Middlesbrough.

Wiltord and Kanu have been injured so, once more, the query was who would line up forward of Dennis Bergkamp upfront. Because it turned out, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires performed as alternating false 9s. I feel that is the type of mannequin I might favour with the return of Gabriel Martinelli to the squad.

Arsenal’s striker disaster has been completely compounded by accidents to Saka and Martinelli, the concept that this workforce would line up with a entrance three of Sterling, Merino and Tierney for a Champions League knockout sport was completely infeasible even a couple of brief weeks in the past. I feel now I would favor for some flavour of Martinelli and Trossard rotating between left-wing and centre-forward.

Merino has performed upfront as a result of, firstly, he has an identical body to Kai Havertz and an identical propensity to win duels. He’s lower out for the bodily aspect of being a centre-forward. Secondly, he doesn’t but have a hard and fast place elsewhere within the workforce, so enjoying him as a centre-forward has not concerned eradicating a key piece from elsewhere within the workforce.

The issue is, completely understandably, Merino simply doesn’t have the on-ball choreography, the sixth sense for when to maneuver into the channels and join with the broad gamers or make himself a sounding board as Havertz does. Merino helped create Zinchenko’s objective in opposition to PSV on Wednesday night by successful a flick on from a Raya lengthy cross and that’s the type of work that Mikel Arteta will respect.

Since his two-goal cameo from the bench at Leicester, Merino has provided little direct objective menace. His objective menace from midfield depends on late arrival into the penalty space, working from behind the ball. In reality, each his objectives in opposition to Leicester type of appear like they have been scored by an attacking midfielder.

The primary one is the sort of objective I very a lot envisage him scoring in his pure left eight place. The second that afternoon got here from a run from deep on the counter. Merino’s common XG per 90 this season is 0.24. In his final 5 appearances, all of which have been upfront, that has dropped to a mean of 0.14 per 90. He’s producing much less particular person objective menace.

However clearly, quite a lot of his job is making a presence that helps others to supply objective menace. Arsenal have been extra aggressive with their full-backs in current weeks and when Riccardo Calafiori performs, he has a really freeform jazz interpretation of the left-back function and Arteta has unmoored him to have the ability to noodle away within the opposition half.

Calafiori’s final 5 performances have yielded a shot each 48 minutes on common. Merino is averaging a shot each 69 minutes throughout the identical 5 sport subset. However it isn’t simply Calafiori who has an elevated license to invade the opponent’s penalty space and to get round and past Merino.

Declan Rice has scored in his final two video games and that’s not a coincidence. After final week’s 7-1 demolition of PSV within the Netherlands, I used to be struck watching the highlights at how usually Rice was mainly within the centre-forward place for a lot of of Arsenal’s objectives. I took some display caps.

Watching the objectives again from Tuesday and Rice’s superior place in lots of them actually struck me.

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— Tim Stillman (@tim-stillman.bsky.social) March 7, 2025 at 7:14 AM

You’ll be able to see that Rice has been given a much more attacking transient throughout the nice Arsenal striker famine. Final season, Declan managed seven objectives and eight assists within the Premier League that are very robust attacking numbers for a participant extra famend for his out of possession qualities.

At Previous Trafford he made a powerful assist run and lashed residence cutback from contained in the field. On Wednesday in opposition to PSV, he as soon as once more made a late supporting run to move residence a Raheem Sterling cross. He’s at the moment fulfilling the Lampard / Gerrard / David Platt / Bryan Robson (delete as age dictates) transient very properly.

This piece from Ali Tweedale at Opta actually units it out. Of Rice’s efficiency at Previous Trafford, Ali writes, ‘Solely Martin Ødegaard (38) accomplished extra passes within the closing third than him (36), whereas Rice additionally led the best way for touches within the opposition field (six). His complete of 16 progressive carries – transferring with the ball at the very least 5 metres in direction of the opposition’s objective – was additionally the very best of each participant on the pitch.’

Later within the piece, Ali writes, ‘He made extra off-the-ball runs into the opposition’s field (9) than every other participant.’ Long run, it does make me suppose that the ‘left eight’ function may simply be the very best one for Rice within the long-term because it extra absolutely makes use of his broad skillset. I feel he may / can play as a six however I concern it’s a limiting function for a real box-to-box participant who carries a lot field crashing menace.

That may be a query that may look forward to the summer season, nevertheless. For now, Arsenal have a mannequin the place Merino’s transient is to occupy defenders, come brief now and again and permit runners to go previous him. Rice and Calafiori are typically the 2 on the moped rushing to Merino’s aspect, whereas Odegaard and Nwaneri are a bit extra thought-about on the precise.

The irritating factor about analysing this incarnation of the Arsenal assault is that none of it has a long-term future. We’re very a lot in make do and mend territory. Merino will virtually actually by no means play on this function once more for the membership after Could, Tierney and Sterling shall be gone, Zinchenko will doubtless go and due to this fact deploying him in midfield not too long ago appears to be extra about filling in blanks than real experimentation.

Nevertheless, within the debate about what Declan Rice is, or what he ultimately seems to be on this Arsenal workforce, this spell has some use for the supervisor past fielding heat our bodies. Rice seems to be increasingly more, to my eyes anyway, like a real field to field midfielder (for all of the predictable grief he acquired for celebrating his objective at Previous Trafford final week, he celebrated his final ditch sort out much more vociferously).

Necessity has proved to be the mom of invention for Mikel Arteta in current weeks however everyone knows that gaffer tape isn’t a long-term development answer. Declan Rice’s renaissance, nevertheless, may need long term ramifications as Arteta designs the following section of his Arsenal workforce.