Although it had been "known" for days / weeks now, good to see this finally announced. Hope he lives up to all my shilling 
Mik Merino
We'll have to see, I'm not sure benching Partey for someone thats not Jorginho is the silver bullet people think it is. Merino is better than Rice in that regard but I still think he's below those other 2 in ball playing.
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Mirth
Bro swapping an injury prone and depreciating Partey for Merino is not going backwards. Merino on form is prob top 3 number 8 in European football and the stats back it up.
It’s not like we are buying a new number 9 and putting him in that position. Merino is a dedicated 8 and can play there - good players don’t need tons of mins to adapt.
We signed Reyes (rip) in Jan 04 and a week later he was scoring rockets v Chelsea in the fa cup.
If Partey was in amazing form and crucial to our set up in 2024 you may have a point but Merino is a clear up grade so let the guy play. 30 mins off the bench this Sat and a few days training/making tactical adjustments after the international break is more than enough time for him to start his second game from the get go.
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Sicario2 - Tier 1 Bro swapping an injury prone and depreciating Partey for Merino is not going backwards. Merino on form is prob top 3 number 8 in European football and the stats back it up.
Everything that's wrong is in here. You're not swapping Merino for Partey. You're swapping Rice for Merino and then Rice moves back to the base of midfield. The last time he played there, we struggled. Now this time will hopefully be different but it doesn't happen without some work on the training ground.
By your logic we should probably just reintroduce Jorginho back in the team.
As for good players don't need tons of mins to adapt - aren't you Xhaka's number one fan? How many seasons did it take before it 'clicked'?
The bigger problem of Rice at 6 was Havertz at 8. We would have bee fine if it was Rice at 6 and Xhaka at 8.
Basically Rice was not the issue in that configuration, Havertz was. Merino should (hopefully) solve that.
That said, agree that there's no need to rush Merino. We have a good thing going and we can take our time integrating him.
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It's going to be a "horses for courses" and load-balancing situation with Partey. His progressive and accurate passing ability in the final third plus his press resistance still gives him the edge as over Rice as the deepest sitting midfielder in our team. Too many games this season to be trying to phase out a player of his quality, despite the obvious dropoff in physical attributes.
Edit: Basically Merino makes us more robust and gives us additional insurance against the inevitable Partey injury. Like has been noted a few times, MM23's primary advantage is that he raises our floor, not necessarily our ceiling. Arteta consistently states that he wants a team which, on its worst days, still manages to be better than the opponent on their best days. We joke about the 114 points thing, but that is the stretch goal for this team in his mind I'm sure.
Qwiss a bit like what happened with Havertz and Rice last year, we are probably going to go through some adjustment. It will be frustrating. We will have some uneven games. And then it should click into action. We also have to integrate Calafiori, and possibly teach Rice to be more right-biased than he typically is so he can do the Partey role. There are so many little adjustments, so it won’t all happen overnight.
Claudius I do think we'll see Rice improve this season in a lot of his passing. People tend to think very rosily on Xhaka now but he was largely a disaster for us until his last 18 months, Arteta made a huge difference to him. Expect the same will happen with Rice who starts at a higher base level.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the midfield shape change a bit this season with Rice and Merino both deeper and Ode given a bit more attacking freedom. I do think you should be constantly evolving tactically anyway. The games far too tactical now to stand still. You'll be figured out and once one team does it everyone will try.
Qwiss 100%. There were times last season when teams found us out tactically. So you do need to keep evolving and also creating different approaches. Which is why it’s key we get the left wing firing, so we can do more switches and create more space for Saka.
And you’re right about Xhaka. There is a bit of a rose-tinted view. Merino cannot pass at the same frequency and accuracy as Xhaka, but he can do so many other things including link-up play, runs into the box, and all the running, tackling, and aerial threats he brings.
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Claudius and don't forget Timber. Whether he's playing on the left or right, he needs time to develop and get in sync with his midfield (and wing) link up partners.
I don't think both Rice and Merino play deep unless we are going ultra defensive for some reason. Our 8 moves up and wide into spaces which open up based on positioning of the left winger, and to accommodate full back inversion
TambourineMan after seeing Rice for England I’m not too sure about that
I think people are assuming both Rice and Merino will play set roles and stick to them. I think we will see "whoever needs to be a 6 or 8 at any particular moment in the game" will slide into that role. I think they will both share the 6 and 8 role during games.
Mirth I get uncomfortable with these England takeaways. Trent didn’t look good at right back. Rice didn’t look good at DM. Bellingham and Kane got in each others’ ways. Foden constantly looked lost. I really don’t believe this monstrous England team should be the barometer for what any player can do. Rice is a very good passer and ball progressor.
What does he have to work on? It’s his shape when he receives the ball so he can release quickly. Basically what am I doing next, and how do I evade my marker? I think you just have to learn that over time. Other than Fabregas, I’ve rarely seen a young DM do it extremely well.
Claudius I get uncomfortable with these England takeaways
I'm not just citing England though - he was neutered playing for Arsenal as a 6 as well. Still very good overall but his best form has been in an advanced role.
Also Rice isn't exactly young - he's 25 and a lot of his traits are now established. The way forward is likely some kind re-configuration of our midfield where the weaknesses are less apparent.
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you guys are preaching to the choir about the misgivings of moving rice back to 6, but I think it's inevitable. the dynamic will be different though. he will be surrounded by superior players to alleviate too much buildup responsibility. calafiori and timber will offer lots of dynamism, and merino often drops into the 6 zone to pick the ball up off the back four as well. rice at 6 has been a source of consternation for me, but I can see a path where it's not as big of an issue as it was previously.
Maybe I'm being naive but I think this whole 6 and 8 debate is a bit overblown. Think the way we set up is less about positional/responsibility rigidity as opposed to filling our midfield with the right kind of attributes.
Imagine Rice will interchange quite fluidly in-game as needed between roles.
Don Pacifico Exactly how I've read this signing too.
RocktheCasbah to be fair, it might just be that my brain has melted after having so much discussion about two single digit numbers this summer!
After watching Rice play as high as he ever has this past weekend, I think getting him deeper and closer to the defense so he's more involved and can snuff out counter attacks and transition opportunities is where I want to see him this year. I agree with the belief that a lot of our struggles when Rice was playing deeper last year were mostly due to who we would then have to play in the 8. I may be wrong but I seem to remember Rice played deeper against Liverpool in the second league game, with Jorginho playing the left 8 role and we looked great in that game. Put Merino in the left 8 and I think we will look even better. When he is on form, Partey's progressive passing is great which we saw in the first half of the Villa game but he still has lapses where he misplaces simple passes and he is absolutely a statue defending transition opportunities these days. I'd be much more willing to bet on small improvements in Rice's progressive passing with Merino in the fold than I would bet on Partey regaining any athleticism that would help him defend large spaces in transition so that's what I would like to see us developing this year. I also think Rice has more potential to be a world class destroyer 6 than he does being an all action 8 and I'd rather us look for a real superstar in the 8 (Wirtz/Musiala/Vitinha/etc) in the next two summers as we replace Jorginho and Partey.
When has Arteta allowed fluid in game role changes?
We never saw Xhaka and Partey swap, so why are we now expecting that for Merino and Rice?
MistaT watch the pre-season games. There was actually a lot of movement there. Across the front, within the midfield. From the fullbacks to midfield. You could see the team were comfortable in their basic structure and were allowed to jazz it up a bit more.
The thing with freedom of movement in these systems though is it has an impact on defensive assignments should you lose the ball. If everyone is scattered, you will be easy to cut through. A lot of offensive positioning is driven by the ability to quickly recover possession should we lose it
He seems like a great personality.
CPM yep, I watched this earlier too. Thought he came across really well, what he said and how he said it. Think we're gonna be an even tougher nut to crack once he gets settled in.
Injured and doubt for the Brighton game
Yep Arteta confirmed he has injured his shoulder and is out for weeks...great.
Clrnc
Doesn't seem like it's just a doubt, unfortunately.
Arteta confirmed it then. Annoying but at least the injury coincides with an international break.
Very disappointing but as long as the other mids are fit its not a big issue.
Shoulder fracture means 2-3 months minimally. Hope to have him back before year end
Can't make it up.
Now I'm getting grumpy.
Bloody annoying. I was pretty hyped to see him.
he'll be like a new signing next summer
His injury history the past few seasons are
23/24 -13 days
22/23 - 25 days
21/22 - 21 days
20/21 - 6 days
So 24/25 will probably beat that before he's even played a single minute for us.
mdgoonah41 the key thing now is we only have 4 midfielders + Nwaneri for the mammoth stretch of games going into winter.
Havertz might need to play as LCM.
But if Jesus is injured again who plays up top? Do we have any youth strikers?
goon would even try Timber as 6 before moving Havertz back.
I can't lie, I burst out laughing when I saw this news. And of course it had to be Gabriel. Welcoming him to the club I bet. You get a feeling our training sessions are going to be pretty rough from time to time. Oh well, get better asap Miki