Made some good tackles but looked a bit rusty. Thankfully Partey has found form again so he can be eased back in.
Mik Merino
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Still not convinced we got the right guy from Reala. Obviously too early to tell.
Zubimendi really wasn't available, or did you mean someone else Coombs?
- Edited
Burnwinter that's who I meant. Regardless of his availability, this still fees like a proximity buy.
Not nearly to this extent, but remember Eisfeld when we were all looking at Götze?
True, maybe there's a slight element of laziness or Merino's transfer being on a path of least resistance, but I reckon it's mostly that Arteta's in the Basque football mafia and Arsenal's been doing relatively trouble free business with Real Sociedad for decades now.
I felt encouraged we knew what we were doing on this front, and had the inside track after Liverpool went in so hard and late for Zubimendi and got comprehensively shut down. You still have to presume he's off to Madrid but it's better to know these things up front.