Arsenal did not secure a victory against Chelsea, as many had anticipated; the two North London teams ended in a 1-1 draw on Sunday night.
There isn’t much to be cheerful about from that game, but a few of our Gunners truly stood out. Mikel Merino is one player who truly made an impression.
Merino has performed well since he arrived once he recovered from his initial injury, but his partnership in midfield with Thomas Partey and Declan Rice has faced criticism for its perceived imbalance, which some believe is stifling the creativity of this Arsenal team. Coach Mikel Arteta chose to “sacrifice” Merino in order to bring back Martin Odegaard, aiming to enhance creativity in his midfield. The move had the desired effect; Arsenal appeared more impressive than they have in some recent games.
In the 71st minute of that match, Merino came on to replace Declan Rice. And don’t be misled; the Spaniard delivered a remarkable cameo on Sunday night. With the introduction of Merino, Arsenal’s midfield truly found its rhythm. He is a formidable duel monster, having triumphed in the majority of the duels he participated in while on the pitch.
He displayed remarkable poise while keeping the ball away from Chelsea’s pressure. He advanced the ball swiftly, delivering passes with speed and aggressively entering the Chelsea box to connect with crosses. With him on the field, Arsenal generated two to three clear opportunities that were difficult to come by earlier in the game.
Mikel Merino’s cameo appearance against Chelsea demonstrated that it was premature to form a judgement about him. He deserves time to acclimate to Arsenal and the Premier League, as there is a talented player in there who will bring significant value to the team once he settles in.
What did you think of Merino’s performance?
Daniel O
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His first three passes he gave the ball away and looked lost but picked up as the game wore on. He has got to improve though.
he has to and be consistent. maybe he is not a good as a starter. I want to be positive though
The best so far but with room for improvement.
Even though Partey had a decent game, he was guilty of two misplaced passes and was caught flat footed a couple of times, but all players make mistakes. Marino appears to be improving and will in my opinion be a great asset.
For me rice isn’t doing enough we paid big money for him he needs to step up more
not just you, since the start of the season he has been underwhelming. the mid has not been good lately. I doubt players rated 100M
Rice is becoming a big disappointment. Flat footed, not good at progressing the ball forward cleverly so we can threaten and not even a decent goal threat himself. The misplaced headers yards away from goals speaks volume.
We need to make up grounds. Arteta should go with Party, Rice and Merino and not be afraid to bench Rice.
Rice looks drained – I don’t think anyone doubts his ability, but he’s played a lot of games at high intensity over the past year. Merino should be used to give him a rest imo
At £100 million I would more be looking at Rice to be distinguishing himself in most matches and weighing in with a midfield masterclass more often than not. When we are playing at our optimum he has been a feature. And in the absence of Rodri quite simply he needs to find consistency. Instead we now find others like Caicedo and Gravenberch grabbing all the plaudits rather than (or instead of) our player. Mikel Merino I agree is doing well – i agree with Daniel O for his encouraging write up here.
Waal2Waal
had Arsenal won the premier league and England won the European cup: do you think Declan Rice would have won the Balon d’or?
* In Relation To Last Season’s Performances *
. . . and how much did Caicedo cost Chelsea? £2m , maybe?
Had Declan Rice made the challenges Caicedo made in the last Chelsea vs Arsenal game – the former would not have completed the first half.
Merino as a cameo was better in the Chelsea game than the previous one against the Italians where he started. Hope he continues to improve.
What many fans seem to forget is that Odegard makes other midfielders better. Odegard and Merino played for few years in Socciedal with good chemistry between them. Merino is better as a NO8 but Arteta’s tinkering of formation affects his players performance at times in some games.
Now that the “captain creative” is back we shall see a better Rice/Merino in No8. I can’t wait for the int break to be over.
The good news today from Metro News is that Norway has released Odegard from their next international matches.
But with the good form of Thomas partey, I doubt arteta dropping him to the bench. He is arsenal best midfield player this season. Rice on the other hand has been inconsistent and need to pick himself up.
On a scale of 0-5, I’d rate him a strong 3.0
Not a game changer, but an upgrade over Elneny. Good for squad depth, but not someone to change the game ( I mean winning the match of course).
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While I would rate this a nice write-up, and could easily be of the opinion Merino was the best player for the period he was on; I would opine: Merino wasn’t sacrificed for Ødegaard – Nwaneri was.