Mik Merino: Page 12 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Mik Merino

USArsenal

Well, luckily for us, its already been more than a week, and the international break is upon us, which takes up 2 weeks, so really he will only be missing 3-4 weeks of "Arsenal time". That said, i've been looking forward to seeing what he can do. He's already familiar with the league, so the settling in period (outside of the injury) should not be as long.

Burnwinter

Clrnc Hope we don't rush him back and let his bone heals otherwise it will be long term complications for him

Yep, we should let it go a bit longer if it protects Merino over the season. He's a physical player so he needs to be whole on his return. Get him on a regime that will safely preserve his physical condition, and keep his arm in cotton wool till the Christmas rush.

Claudius

Don Pacifico emo is the right word. First international break and cats have called it a day.

JazzG

Made some good tackles but looked a bit rusty. Thankfully Partey has found form again so he can be eased back in.

goon

You could see why he's a duel monster, won the ball 5 or 6 times in the short time he was on.

Did look a bit Xhakaesque in terms of mobility.

USArsenal

goon Did look a bit Xhakaesque in terms of mobility.

Yes, but i also put that down to 1 training session with the team after being out for a month, so he is not really up to speed yet. I guess in another month or so, we will start seeing much more.

Bernard Woolley

I wouldn't entirely put it down to that. His one big challenge is his mobility and press resistance - he does move quite awkwardly at times. The big offset to that of course is his physicality.

lorddulaarsenal

He’s actually very good at retaining the ball. He’s unorthodox but has certain moves in his locker. Outside of the foot turn escapes, double taps and He also uses his upper body so well

samthegooner

It's definitely going to take some time to get him match fit and also integrated into the team but I thought his cameo was promising - he is great at sliding tackles and is another big body to clog the middle while still having some good technical ability, which is becoming the hallmark of Arteta's recruitment for the most part.

Qwiss

I really hope he can get up to speed soon because he wasn't good enough at all yesterday and we need him. Obviously the midfield balance was off yesterday and he was being asked to play in a way that's not his natural game but he looks like he's finding the pace of the league a challenge now and we don't really have time for him to settle in. Hopefully Odegaard will be back soon and he isn't asked to do that again.

Clrnc

Qwiss he will take awhile to adapt. He is too unagile at the moment.

Don Pacifico

Qwiss generally agree with this but given his time at Newcastle, I'd expect him to adjust to the league swiftly. Adjusting to an Arteta set-up may take a bit longer as imagine he'll need to get used to being quite positionally fluid. Might also still be lacking match sharpness.

lorddulaarsenal

I thought he played ok - he’s clever on the ball.

Looks well out of shape mind you - much bulkier than he was in the summer with Spain - that’ll soon change I’m sure

RocktheCasbah

lorddulaarsenal I thought he seemed to under hit quite a few passes on Saturday eve.

Anyway, it's such early days for him - for every Patrick Vieira we've had who've come in and hit the ground running, there've been a litany of Pires, Bergkamps, Henrys and - dare I say - Havertz who've taken just a little bit longer to acclimatise.

Qwiss

Don Pacifico that was very early in his career though and he wasn't too impressive for them. He's been a very good La Liga player though and I expect he has a lot more in him I just hope it doesn't take him too long to get where we need him.

kamikaze

Merino will be fine but we need a more creative option in midfield too. Nwaneri is the long-term solution, but I'd love to also have a Rosicky who can fill in at left 8 or wide left, put in a shift, make some tackles, and make some things happen.

Honestly, he drove me crazy with his inability to play possession, but having someone like Theo as an option would be amazing in this squad. We waste so many transitions and we lack a pacey outlet who can finish.

Claudius

kamikaze Theo was rubbish for his era. But in a context with 5 subs and games that last 100+ minutes, such a player would be useful.

Qwiss

kamikaze Honestly, he drove me crazy with his inability to play possession, but having someone like Theo as an option would be amazing in this squad. We waste so many transitions and we lack a pacey outlet who can finish.

Arteta doesn't seem to want that though. He could easily deploy Sterling or Martinelli like that but he doesn't. Was a similar story with Auba. Seems to me if we had a peak Theo when Arteta arrived he'd have moved him on pretty quickly.

awooga83

Merino is not a player I had any insight of before we got him in. With how he was described I wasn't convinced that he was exactly what we needed but have to see how he slots in. He's looked a bit behind the pace so far but I guess not surprising for now.

Burnwinter

We haven't seen enough of Merino, given the shoulder injury, to have a clear idea what he'll be about as an Arsenal player.

I like everything I know about the guy and I suspect he'll come through. I also think it could take till Christmas as it has been far from an ideal start for him.

Coombs

Still not convinced we got the right guy from Reala. Obviously too early to tell.

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