In February 2025, Arsenal were rocked by an injury crisis in the forward line. Successive injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz left an already thin squad on its knees. With Arsenal in dire straits, however, Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff turned to a left-field option. Mikel Merino had built a decent reputation for scoring mostly headed goals at the time, but he did not immediately possess the profile of a centre forward. Cutting the story we all know short, he went on to enjoy a fruitful spell as our main striker for the rest of the season. Blending a natural instinct for scoring goals with his simple gameplay, Merino is arguably the best false nine at the club. He does the simple things well in attack, and simple is what we need right now.
Merino and the numbers that matter
To date, his run of ten goal contributions in 18 games is the best any Arsenal centre forward has mustered over a similar stretch. That is an astonishing statistic, considering a certain Swedish number nine was brought in to do exactly that on a regular basis. I will be very blunt in sharing my opinion. Viktor Gyökeres just is not good enough to lead the Arsenal attack. Call it harsh or negative, but the former Sporting man has done little to justify his fairly hefty price tag. The fact there were calls for Merino to be picked ahead of him prior to Havertz’s return reflects his time at the club so far. His goal and assist in the recent UCL outing may have eased the mounting pressure on his shoulders, but I remain unconvinced. The Swede lacks aerial presence and the instinct of a predatory finisher, while his technical limitations are glaring.
Assessing the other options
Gabriel Jesus is another option at Mikel Arteta’s disposal. After missing ten months of action through injury, the Brazilian is now back up to speed. His recent brace against Inter Milan highlighted the value he can still offer. Chaos, flair and an intense work rate at the tip of the attacking trident. However, there is no denying the team has moved past him. As his performance against United showed, he is not physically suited to making a consistent impact on this Arsenal side.
Kai Havertz, on the other hand, is currently our best option at centre forward moving ahead. In his first start of the season in midweek, the German needed only 45 minutes to remind us what a valuable asset he is. A superb assist for Viktor Gyökeres was followed by an excellent finish to give Arsenal the lead before the break. Operating as an attacking midfielder and second striker hybrid, he created three big chances and supplied four key passes in the first period. He was taken off at half time, but this appeared to be careful management rather than concern.
This is my opinion, and I would love to hear yours. Mikel Merino or Kai Havertz, who should lead the line against Leeds? The irony of them both being midfielders is not lost on me..
Benjamin Kenneth
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It’s quite alarming and sad situation for us to be considering a midfielder to be our best striker when we have 3 strikers, although 2 are just coming back from injuries and are not 100% fit yet, so let’s see how the rest of the season goes when Jesus and Havertz get 100% fit.
I am thinking that Arteta should play Gyokeres and Havertz together as Odegaard is not performing well.
SJ, I’m with you; Gyokeres CF and Havertz CAM.
Gyokeres.
Trossard. Havertz. Saka.
Rice. Zubimendi.
Calafiori. Gabriel. Saliba. Timber.
Raya.
Agree with the line-up except for MF. I would like either Merino or Norgaard instead of Zubimendi in a physical encounter. Norgaard offers greater protection for the back 4 whilst Rice bombs forward. Merino offers an extra aerial threat in the boxes.
Although the other nights game isn’t really anything to go by, I will say that Havertz looks more on Gyokeres wavelength than any of the other players have.
He showed in one pass what Gyokeres thrives on, in just one game. Maybe the other players should take notes. And the manager should to.🤔
Yes the difference in playstyle is evident compared to Odegaard and Saka who prefer a slower approach. I do believe Havertz injury wrecked both Arteta plan of how to use our forwards and Gyokeres season to some degree. He was never supposed to play all the time and the full 90 min especially at the start of the season when unfit. I imagine the initial plan would have to use Gyokeres/Havertz like we do with Trossard/Martinelli. Choosing on form and depending on opponent.
Agree. Gyokeres is a running forward, not a poacher. He thrives on being released and taking one or two touches before shooting. To play to his strengths, we ought to transition faster when there’s still space ahead and release him early.
Merino, on the other hand, is more a poacher and thrives on getting to the right place at the right time to apply a one touch finish. He would do well with crosses into the box that Gyokeres lack the anticipation to connect with. That’s why when we play slow moving football, Merino is more likely to score than Gyokeres
You also have to consider the opposition. Kairat are levels below Premier League teams which wouldn’t have given us that much space. Both Eze and Havertz had all the time in the world to pick their passes in the build up to Gyokeres goal. In the Prem, they’d be fouled or closed down before that even happens.
Secondly, Gyokeres had all the space to run into. We don’t get that kind of space in the Prem- they’d be 11 men in front of that goal ready to block the shot or intercept the pass. Gyokeres found himself in an almost similar situation against Forest and Murillo made a block.
It’s not that the players can’t make that pass. It has to do with opponents not giving us the space to thread that kind of ball as well. Spamming through ball after through ball in the hope of finding Gyokeres will only make us vulnerable to counter attacks.
Mikel Merino came in as a makeshift option and has shown to be reliable in most big matches. So id have him second only to Kai Havertz who has shown to be composed [mostly] for Chelsi in their champions league final. Unfortunately G. Jesus is omitted for the simple fact injuries make him an unreliable option. The jury is still out on VG14. For all this speculation there will be more games for our strikers to improve stats.
I will be happy if we bring in Alverez who would likely outshine all our strikers – except for SAKA who is our best ever present strike/assist option.
Many new VG would not live up to expectations. He was in the league before and was not very good.
I see a few have mentioned it, I think playing Havertz and Gyokeres together will be amazing.
Not only does i seem they have an understanding, but Havertz also offers goal himself.
Problem is I don’t see Arteta putting Odegaard on the benth.
*Bench
I think that might happen any time soon (Ødegaard on the bench). If not, he’ll start, soon to be subbed off if he doesn’t manage to get the ball forward.
I agree Jax.
Maybe play with combinations, like Odegaard and Jesus starting, then Havertz and Gyokeres come on to replace them.
I would have it the other way around, however as mentioned I don’t see Arteta dropping Odegaard to the bench.
Just off topic, I see that Dowman has just signed his first Scholarship contract, and in December when he turns 17 he will then sign his first professional contract. 👍
Harvetz hold up play is impressive as well. He definitely seems to have a better connection with Gyo, with the little we have seen. Might need a bit more games to be certain but so far the signs look encouraging.
In the man u game Saka moved to the left after Madueke came on and he pinged some crosses which I think if harvetz were in could have been interesting to see cause his of aerial ability.
Has M. Merino ever let the side down when called on to lead the line? I don’t believe so. His name is there amongst our more winning cocktail ie best performances especially when fans doubted the team. If my memory serves he came as a bargain, he came round about £30M because he was out of contract. He could easily be a world cup winner later this year – I wouldn’t doubt it.
IF we’re to find a maverick amongst our current striker (options) id include Merino. If we win any honors his football instinct and savvy will likely be instrumental provided he is fit to play.
At the moment, I would say Havertz is our best option at CF. He might not be clinical in front of goal but his movement and intelligence create chaos for defences. His movement also opens up spaces for his teammates to score or pick a pass. Saka will thrive with him back.
With Odegaard struggling, we might also have to use Eze or Merino in the right attacking midfield.
Gyokeres would benefit coming in as a sub against tired legs. As the game gets stretched in the second half of a game,he’s more likely to get space to run into- he’s a bit like Martinelli in that regard.
Merino has never gone 3 games in a row without scoring a goal. It is wrong not to play him in a role where others are not able to thrive
No, it’s Kai.
We seems to have forgotten all what we have been saying for the past few seasons concerning getting a traditional no 9. We have slacked Havertz, Jesus in the past. We complained that they are not the striker Arsenal need to get to the finishing line. We got Gyokeres who is a traditional center forward, yet we are complaining again even when the season has not ended. We should also note that with Gyokeres starting we have won most of our games except Liverpool loss. Whatever that is happening to the team should solely be the responsibility of the Coaches. I’m not blaming Gyokeres for now until the end of the season. Arteta style should also be blamed for our lack of goals from the strikers