Granit Xhaka’s departure from Arsenal in the summer of 2023 didn’t sit well with many fans. The Swiss midfielder really changed things up in the Arsenal engine room at LCM during the 2022-23 season. His work rate – helping out in defense and being awesome in link-up play in attack – really had Arsenal’s left-hand side soaring.
Arsenal has struggled to find a replacement for him since his departure. No one has played the LCM for Arsenal quite like he did. During the 2023-24 season, the Gunners had to figure out how to manage without him. However, they had to find a replacement for him in the summer so they brought in Mikel Merino to fill that Xhaka spot.
Merino’s journey at Arsenal began with a setback when he sustained an injury just days after joining, leading to a month-long absence.
When he was coming back, the Gunners’ midfield wasn’t really at its peak; they were feeling the impact of Martin Ødegaard not being there.
When Odegaard returned to RCM, Merino found himself in a competition with Declan Rice for a starting position, particularly since Partey had surprisingly solidified his position at #6.
Merino has had opportunities to shine, but he hasn’t quite matched the expectations that surrounded his arrival. Some people are calling him a flop already, but are we being too quick to judge him? How can we label Merino as a flop after only about 10 games, especially considering that we had to endure years of Xhaka being average before he finally gave us one outstanding season and moved on?
We shouldn’t let our quick judgements about Xhaka make us overlook Merino; he just needs a bit of time. Jakub Kiwior has really shown his quality in recent games, and we’ve been singing his praises. It’s hard to believe that not long ago, many fans viewed him as a weak link in defense and wanted him out during the winter transfer window.
It seems like Mikel Arteta was hoping to count on a midfield trio of Merino, Odegaard, and Rice. The trio really shone when they played against Monaco, and even Arteta mentioned that it’s a midfield setup he wants to develop further.
Thomas Partey’s talent and injuries have made it tough for this midfield trio to play consistently, but what if they could? With a good stretch of games, Merino could really shine for this Arsenal team, so let’s not count him out just yet.
Sam P
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Merino can be good only if he has Partey behind him not Declan Rice. Rice is not good at number 6. When he plays at number 6 this affects not only Merino but also Odegaard. Here I see the failure of Arteta in the bid to sign Declan Rice. It seems he is not satisfied with what he brings at the LCM. He is tying him at CDM where he is a misfit. People should question the transfer of Declan Rice instead of Merino. A trio of Partey, Merino and Odegaard can be very good.
A Santi type player in midfield would help our style of play and buildup.
Break a press by himself, turn from defending to attacking in the blink of an eye, and creative and able to spot and make that killer pass.
Perhaps Merino will come good, but have not seen any of the above from him with any consistency.
He looks more like a hybrid DM type player, lacks pace and flair, but physical and good in the air and retain possession.
Perhaps that’s the point, perhaps Arteta wants control and possession, not flair and creativity, only Arteta can say.
He reminds me a lot of Edu – mostly unspectacular but well rounded and has a presence. I think people had inflated expectations because he did so well off the bench in the Euros. Merino is a good player for squad depth imo – I thought he might be able to break in but never thought he would *significantly* improve our first team (which tbf looked pretty solid for another title run at the start of the season).
@Durand
Real Talk. Please post this again, this time in all CAPS, for those in the cheap seats…👍🏾
Xhaka was always a good player, played out of position by Wenger. He excelled for his country in advanced role, something he was held back all those years. Sadly in today’s game, a good player has to take blame for the manager’s selections/tactics. Regarding Merino, at 28 he will not improve, definitely an upgrade over Elneny, for bench strength/rotation 35M+ is a waste of funds. If this is phase 5 , then we can wait for phase 6 for him to improve. There’s always a phase to come. Maybe we could win the tile at phase 22 of the project! Arsenal fans need to be patient.
Who’s writing him off, he’s played well ?
Far too many negative articles on here recently.
Way too early to judge Merino.
So many players that played in the Euros have been struggling to get going, and he had no pre-season because of injury.
He’s also getting used to the team when there is no consistency of personal due to injuries, and the left side of our team is a huge problem.
Merino has been ok so far. Nothing special, but nothing bad like Vieira so far. I can definitely see potential though.