Mikel Merino came to Arsenal’s rescue on Saturday as the Gunners secured a hard-fought victory over Leicester City despite being without a recognised striker.
It was their first match since losing Kai Havertz to a long-term injury, a setback that has left them without a striker for the remainder of the season. Rather than turning to the free agency market to reinforce their attacking options, Arsenal have instead decided to rely on their existing squad to provide the necessary goals.
The Gunners have several talented players capable of stepping up in front of goal, and Merino demonstrated that with his decisive performance in the fixture. His contribution proved vital, ensuring Arsenal took all three points against struggling opposition.
However, can any team realistically expect to win a league title without a proper striker? Arsenal appears to believe they can, but this assumption could prove to be a significant miscalculation. The team laboured through the game against Leicester, a side battling relegation, and while their supporters will be relieved by the result, the performance itself was far from convincing.
Many clubs have dispatched Leicester with far greater ease this season, which is why Arsenal must remain cautious and not get carried away by this victory. The lack of a recognised striker is already proving problematic, and the difficulty they faced against a weaker opponent should be a warning sign.
Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard endured a frustrating game, failing to make any meaningful impact in the final third. Meanwhile, Merino’s match-winning display, while impressive, may not be something Arsenal can count on regularly for the rest of the season.
Arsenal is playing a dangerous game by assuming they have enough attacking options to consistently find goals when needed. Relying on midfielders and wingers to provide the firepower is not a sustainable strategy for a title-challenging side. If they continue down this path, they may soon discover that their reluctance to strengthen their attacking options was a costly mistake.
ADMIN COMMENT
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It is not sustainable. Not just because we have no striker, but that we have zero attackers on the bench as well.
And considering how awful Sterling has been, we essentially have only two attackers for the foreseeable future.
Given the lack of options, and the fact we cannot afford any more injuries (given our luck this season, that’s very unlikely), we’ll do very well to finish in the top 4.
That’s overly negative to put it mildly. The worst we will finish is second. After the next three games it’s not inconceivable we’ll only be a point behind Liverpool.
Second is no cakewalk from here. We needed 87 minutes and a sub to break a painfully average Leicester side. There is not an easy game left on our schedule considering how toothless our starting forwards are.
I think it will work as long as the central midfielders only play the tall false-nine role in the second half of the games, if we are losing or can’t score
Let our diminutive strikers tire the opposing CBs out with their high-press in the first half of the games, then surprise the opposition with our target man
You don’t fancy Merino and Rice both playing a false 9 together with Trossard LW and Nwaneri RW? Two big men up front in a kind of 4-6…
Declan has the legs to work the press and run into channels and Merino has the timing to be in the right place at the right time and is a pretty efficient finisher.
It’s an opportunity for Arteta to demonstrate he has some tactical flexibility and not just try to keep smashing the controller in the hope it does what he wants.
Arteta’s high-ball-possession tactics need more midfielders to dominate the opposition, hence only one CF
Well, good news! We have midfielders… I genuinely think using both Merino and Rice further forward to occupy the opposition’s defence with Partey and Odegaard pulling the strings from behind them will offer us some real opportunities but it relies on the wide men getting the ball into the box.
Rice and Merino are both tall and good in the air, so it has to go in. Basically Merino replaces Havertz positionally but Rice picks up the work rate that Havertz provided. There’s no reason at all while this can’t work, it just needs time to gel. We will see what the manager decides to do, but ultimately Trossard is not good enough to be the CF, so we have to try something else.
The high press actually tires the presser more than the pressee. We run a ton and they pass the ball, we run and chase/press it. Sadly our first choice forwards have broken down. Saka tracks like few others. Havertz presses like crazy. With no depth left we can’t expect the remaining forwards to press every game without tiring or breaking down. I think we’ll need to not press at times during the game to conserve energy.
We didn’t press too hard during Wenger’s tenure, because we relied on our offside-trap
Our current defense is better and more consistent since we’ve been forcing the opposition to play long ball, thanks to our relentless high-press
We’ve still got young forwards like Butler-Oyedeji and Edwards to do the tiring job
@Gai, I think you are right.
Imo, it’s not about “How sustainable” it’s about what other choice does the coach have? The free agents available are agreeing plays that can hardly compete in Epl. Arsenal fans will have to cope with nervy games and slim victories
I think Merino can work as our front man for the remainder of the season but not it we try to use him the same way we use Havertz. He doesn’t have Kai’s pace or stamina, so the best thing we can do is give him some support.
Ideally, if he played alongside someone like Trossard in a good old fashioned big man, little man front 2 it would take some reliance off him to do all the running. Or even better, push Declan Rice further forward and ask him to form a makeshift front 2 with Merino. Rice can run all day and fancies himself as a 20 goal man, so let him prove it.
We also have Tierney until the end of the season, so why not make use of him by getting him to do what he does best, after getting injured, and get to the byline and get crosses into the box. This could actually be extremely effective.
I would be tempted to go with something like this:
GK – Raya
RB – Timber/White
CB – Saliba
CB – Gabriel
LB – Lewis-Kelly/Calafiori
RM – Nwaneri
CM – Odegaard
CM – Partey
LM – Tierney
ST – Rice/Trossard
ST – Merino
Or…
GK – Raya
RWB – Timber
CB – Saliba
CB – Gabriel
CB – Calafiori
LWB – Lewis-Skelly
CDM – Partey
RAM – Odegaard
LAM – Nwaneri
ST – Rice
ST – Merino
I would be less inclined to mess with the back 4, which is one of the few things that has worked. Best defence, at least statistically, in the league, so don’t fiddle with it if it ain’t broken.
Of course, there is 0% chance of Arteta adjusting tactics just because we have no attackers, so it’s all a moot point anyway.
It isn’t sustainable but can be an option among others we should try. It is something to use in variation with other players and systems.
As we have not had a natural central striker all season,any tweaks to our set up will not represent a huge change in a tactical sense.Sterling has proved to be yet another poor recruit made by our Manager and in fairness to other members of our squad, he should not be given preferential treatment ,but should be used, if at all, from the bench.
My only concern is that the Arsenal hierarchy is quiet, when Refs fail to protect our players leading to injuries. That is not sustainable. Please call out these Refs and put pressure on them to be impartial. We witnessed yesterday how the Refs were biased in favour of Liverpool, the Refs won the match for them and as long as we keep mum the injustice will continue and our players will keep getting injured. Please do something.
Mr S,
Please name the player’s who are out injured because the ref didn’t protect them. As far as I know there’s not one player you can name to substantiate your claim. 🤷♂️
WOW!!!
None of our injured players have impact injuries caused by fouls in PL games. All are pulls, strains & ACLs. Ødegaard was injured in an international and Merino in training. Not the referees doing at all, but more likely due to poor fitness training & exercising.
Havertz in training also
These are valid suggestions. With a light schedule, Arteta needs to employ different strategies and players to make us harder to plan against. But he may need to make changes earlier.
Merino coming in centrally really changed the game. He drew 2 defenders unlike Leo which opened space for Ethan, and Trossard on the wing also drew 2 defenders being trickier than Sterling, leaving Merino open
The starting lineup vs Leicester was boring and predictable, need to be better and be able to employ changes mid-game
Forget the league title. That ship has sailed thanks to the board sitting on their hands in January and Arteta’s dreadfully misplaced priorities in the xfer market. The best this team can hope for now is getting enough points to maintain champions league qualification so that maybe, FINALLY, we go get a proper center forward. Knowing Arteta, we will probably buy another 8 and a Lb, to replace Merino after Arteta decides he is a suitable backup for Havertz’ backup at CF.
Our only hope was Liverpool getting some injuries as well but they are healthy as can be. My worry is Arteta continues full throttle and risks longterm health of Saka by pushing him too hard too soon. Hammies are tricky once they’ve required surgery. Look at Mickey vandeven. We don’t need a Saka with hammies that pop 2 times a year.
I agree 100%. Hamstrings can be devilish, years-long injury problems. Tbh I think it’s better if Saka sits out the full year and has a whole summer to rehab. Looking at his workload for such a young player, it’s what he need. I wouldn’t risk him to save this season. Arteta and the board made this dreadful mess. Let them wallow in the filth and clean it up.
Likely, Saka will be back in April and also likely we’d have dropped points again and maybe out the title race. If thats the situation I doubt we’ll see our attackers rushed back to any degree. Bukayo is still slated to be fit again this season. I just think it’s incredibly unlikely Merino as striker will be enough to keep winning week-in-week-out AND see Liverpool drop. We’d need a lot of things to go our way.
Whether its sustainable or not we haven’t got much choice for the rest of the season. Unless Arteta want’s to be bold and promote another academy player, regardless of experience.
Which for the record, I hope he does. Surely they can’t do any worse that Sterling, can they?. 🤷♂️
“Can any team realistically expect to win a league title without a proper striker?” I think the answer to this question is yes. City did it and from the look of things,whoever wins it this season will do so without relying on what many consider a proper striker. Liverpool rely on false nines like Jota and Gakpo to play as centre forwards. The striker they have,Nunez,hardly plays because he’s worse than the false nines.
We should give the attack that started against Leicester the benefit of the doubt because it was their first time playing together;it also included a rusty(or past his best depending on your point of view) Sterling. It was also the first time in a long time we played without Havertz who is key in how we play. Basically the team had a couple of days to prepare for Leicester so I wouldn’t read much into the attacking performance.
I think the game against West Ham will provide us with a better insight into Arteta’s game plan going forward, as we await the return of Martinelli and Saka.
100%
We have no choice but to see off this season somehow.
Am glad Nwaneri is making us miss Saka less and long may it continue.
Atleast against Leicester we learnt a lesson and I hope we won’t be seeing Trossard in position 9 again, likewise Sterling should always come off the bench.
Hopefully one day we will know the real reason why we had to allow ourselves be in this situation because it is just unreal for a big club like us to behave this way.
My advice to Arteta is that he should stop over thinking and just get some basics right. We have less flashy players who are attainable and could add great value to this team instead of wasting time on unattainable targets.
If we went in for players like Liam Delap and Semenyo we would have gotten them.They may look like low grades but for me they are built for the Premier league and we would be better off than making silly bids like the Watkins one.
Cliff,
I’m with you on this one. I’ve said on another post that we should look in the Premier League for a striker, the advantage is obvious.
They’re all ready used to the rigors of the League. And lets face it, doesn’t always have to be so called star names does it.
There are some good strikers in the Premier League. The two you mention, and then there’s the two at Brentford. And there’s some more I could mention.
Although I strongly suspect that the club will do their usual thing, and bring in one major signing amongst some bizarre signings like another left back. Don’t the club love a left back.
Very sustainable if the gaffer can rekindle the Odegaard/ Merino combination of Real Sociedad.
End of story
Gunsmoke,
Rekindle what exactly. Merino wasn’t a striker at Real Sociedad. And both of Merino’s goals against Leicester didn’t involve Odegaard at all.
Rekindle the Odegaard/ Merino partnership in the final third not necessarily playing the Spaniard as an out and out striker but the combination of these two was lethal against opposition teams.
Did you know why Odegaard loan was abruptly ended at Real Sociedad,? the lad was on fire there, and the Bernabeu giant was scared of strengthening a rival, that’s how I was made to understand it.
It is true Odegaard was not involved in either of the Spaniard goal, It is for this reason Merino must start against West Ham and build team chemistry.
Think you mentioned MO’s Sociedad loan in another article and someone corrected you that it was not abruptly ended. MO finished a full season on loan to Sociedad. Real did not recall him midseason. They chose not to exercise the option to extend the loan for another season. Nothing abrupt there.
Sociedad finished 6th that season. Real was 1st. Despite MO being at Sociedad for a full season, they finished more than 30 points behind Real. It’s highly unlikely that Real would be scared of strengthening a team 30 points behind them or even considered Sociedad a rival
Sorry, I didn’t see that response mate, so Real Madrid choose only not to extend his loan spell.
Seems the Norwegian was rooting up trees on his loan spell, he was fourth for the most successful dribble in la lega, while keeping company’s with Madrid’s own Toni Kroos as joint highest numbers of key passes, at one point.
Well if that didn’t alert the Bernabeu giant not sure what else would
I may stand to be corrected again, when it was time for the Arsenal now captain time leave Real Madrid and Real Sociedad came calling the Bernabeu giant was more than happy for Odegaard to go to Arsenal as opposed to staying back in Spain.
I’ll have no complaints if Merino keeps delivering :). I do wonder why Odegaard wasn’t considered though? Surely, he’s a more natural replacement for no. 9 than Merino or Calafiori?
Moving Odegaard is unwise because then who will do what he usually does? Ethan would be his natural replacement but he has to play Right Wing. Moving Odegaard weakens two positions.
Fair point. I was thinking to use Rice in a more advanced position which I’m sure he can do.
In case it hadn’t also been noticed, Odegaard is an ordinary finisher. It is what will hold him back from being one of the greats. Limited power and accuracy when it comes to striking for goal.
He cant finish, and I can imagine he’d function similar to Trossard, who can.
Liverpool won it with Firmino too.
He scored nine goals the year they won the title
We have no other choice, so within the next three or four games we’ll find out the answer to that question. It could be the story of the season or it could fizzle out in disappointed. We live in hope.
Let’s be real—Havertz isn’t a true No. 9, and neither is Merino However, in the last game, we didn’t necessarily miss Havertz’s work rate. Instead, Merino’s superior finishing over Havertz made a difference which could be a real asset, whether he starts or comes off the bench.
The amount of chances we create every game, if this Merino has got a hidden finishing talent, he could end up Premier league top scorer by the end of the season.
If Merino transforms into a 40 goal a season striker, this move by Arteta would be like when Wenger transformed Henry, from winger to striker, genius!