Has the recent criticism of Mikel Merino been merited?
Off the back of Wednesday’s 3-0 success over Monaco in the Champions League, some gooners were quick to flood the internet with criticism for a particular player’s performance. Mikel Merino was one of four changes made by Arteta from the draw against Fulham.
It seems he failed to put in a convincing performance, which eventually led to some discontent among some gooners. He is a serial dual winner, as we have come to know since his arrival but other areas are what is becoming frustrating for us. His turning radius could be a bit quicker as well as his efficiency with the ball at his feet. He was responsible for giving the ball away on a couple of occasions in midweek either through sloppy passes or getting dispossessed easily.
He wasn’t at his best on the night, but you do have to wonder if the criticism did go overboard. As well as being involved in some sloppy play, he also showed glimpses of what he can offer as our long term left 8. He provided good support for Martinelli with some lovely underlapping runs, which also led to him cutting back on a few occasions when he was picked out. This was kind of Xhaka-esque, in his final season anyway when we got to see him reborn in that position. Along with this, he also wasn’t as bad as his extreme critics would have him to be after the game.
With that said however, there is still a lot of things he has to improve on. Granit Xhaka prior to his outstanding 2022/23 season could be compared to Merino now to some degree. Both versions of the players are slow and lack the intensity to make any significant impact on our midfield in defense and attack, but perhaps more coaching in that role specifically will see Merino replicate the stellar campaign Xhaka had before his departure.
Doing this will also require a little more continuity in the player’s minutes on the pitch so that he can gain familiarity with the system, he has only started seven games in all competitions this season, and even though his injury earlier on was partially to blame for that, it’s just not enough for a new player trying to grasp the role.
Speaking on the left 8 role itself, it’s a very demanding position to play under this Arteta system, considering it shoulders more defensive as well as attacking responsibility than the other two midfield positions. This just further highlights the reasons why he shouldn’t have been brutally scrutinised after the game.
This article is not in defence of him or anything like that, but instead to give a little bit of perspective on the player’s performance. Most have labelled him ‘bang average’ after his first few games for us and I agree to an extent, but at the same time, every player deserves the benefit of a doubt.
Just look at Granit Xhaka in his last season with us, years of mediocrity and stagnation eventually led a season of class. I don’t expect Merino to take that long to improve, but at the same time recognize it will take a little bit longer for him to completely thrive in that role.
Looking ahead, would it be wise to give him a long run in the starting eleven?
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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I was looking forwards to Merino coming to Arsenal. I read that he was the photo fit player for an Arteta type set up. He would slot in seamlessly because of his attributes. I have been disappointed so far. He has to improve significantly. I don’t know his best position but he definitely isn’t a Partey replacement. He doesn’t look like a player who can create yet either. Early days but I would want more.
Agreed Reggie ,seems miles off the pace from what I’ve seen of him ,should have just keeped ESR .
Kept .*
Definitely not a partey replacement – he’s a combative box to box midfielder with decent touch play and is quite useful from crosses, not a specialist CDM. That was zubimendi at sociedad, and Spain always ensured they had either rodri or zubimendi (partey-like players) on the field during the euros, regardless of whether merino was playing.
I always thought he was bought to play at LCM, either to give Rice a breather or to play there if we wanted to drop rice into CDM.
@Reggie Just like you my expectations were very high of Merino than what I have seen so far. But then, this can happen when a player comes to a new set up, league and club. From flashes I have seen of him so far he will be very good with the team with time. It took longer time for Xhaka to understand his role, same with Odegard who needed extra seaskon to fully adapt
Imo, Merino will do better for Arsenal next season. He is like a box to box player NO8.
You may be right but at the moment, he is below whats needed.
“Just look at Granit Xhaka in his last season with us, years of mediocrity and stagnation eventually led a season of class. I don’t expect Merino to take that long to improve, ”
I don’t think Merino has been bad and I don’t expect years of mediocrity and stagnation, but the example given here is a poor one – we don’t want to wait years for anyone to show their class, that would be a terrible situation. New players deserve a decent amount of time to bed in, but realistically, it should be apparent within a year if they’ve got what it takes – imo merino has shown he’s certainly not out of his depth or anything like that, but hasn’t played enough to say if he’s good enough to be a regular starter or if he’ll remain a squad player. Either option is fine by me as long as he’s reliable. He seems to play his best in the bigger games, from what little I’ve seen.
He should be good enough to be a regular starter. I am not confident he is.
What do you mean by regular starter? If you mean he should be good enough to come in and play a stretch of games without the first team dropping off significantly, I agree. If you mean he should be good enough to be No1 in his position, I don’t think we *need* him to be that – Rice proved he’s good enough for that last season.
Arteta’s system is very meticulous and organized hence some new players take time to adapt to it. There were some new players like Rice, white who said that since coming to Arsenal showed them a new side to football. Add to that getting injured in his 1st training session.
We’ll see next season if Merino at his best is good enough or not.
His deficiencies are showing more than his benefits at the moment. Merino isn’t a DM, but he isn’t exactly convincing as a LCM either. The creativity, moving the ball up himself in build up, and late runs we have not really seen with any consistency.
I agree we would have been better off keeping ESR IMHO. Merino has not shown that type of “spark” Nwaneri has when he gets on the pitch, and we still have not come close to filling the hole Xhaka left.
Havertz was never the answer as LCM, and Merino hasn’t shown the ability to ping long passes like Xhaka, or the intellect or ingenuity we saw from Granit his last year with us.
Merino seems an adequate back up or cover option, but I question whether he will ever show the required consistency to start in midfield.
What’s ESR got to do with Merino? ESR cannot play that position effectively. That’s not his position…..
@Chronicle
I agree. I think ESR was good going forward. The defensive side of his game was hugely lacking.
Merino’s performance is part of the issue. He has certainly not slotted in seamlessly. But the other issue is that he was prioritized along with Calafiori over a new forward. With the left side of the offense sputtering and not performing, it just elevates the frustration level when a guy like Merino is relatively slow out of the gates. No one would even be noticing this if we were in 1st place abd the offense waa humming. But it isnt. So the entire left side is under the microscope. Forwards and mids included
Not surprised so far. Still hoping (as some of you may remember I was during the transfer window as well) for better.