Mik Merino: Page 16 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Mik Merino

Burnwinter

Sadly he's been underwhelming so far. I expected far more aggression and the capacity to impose himself in some aspect of the pitch whether it was roaming the edge of the area or winning balls.

goon

Thought he’s looked pretty good in the last couple of games myself and was one of the few players doing the right things against a compact defence, I.e. making the right runs and moving players around. Set Ode and Kai up for decent chances too.

daredevil

He's a low touch and low volume player and that's the biggest issue. He can do the right things but just doesn't do enough of it. I was more keen on Ruiz over him, because he's exactly the higher volume passer that can allow you to play Rice as a 6.

Qwiss

daredevil yeah he's not involvd nearly enough which is a big problem. It's not entirely unusual for our left 8 to be involved though and I think it just adds to the argument for someone with more attacking impact like Nwaneri starting there in games like this.

Mirth

We currently line up with 2 DMs and Odegaard

We need to try a DM, Odegaard and a number 10 against teams that park the bus at least. Could be Nwaneri but even Trossard is an option

goon

Mirth

Or be a lot more progressive with at least one of our full backs.

That being said I don’t think Merino plays like a DM. He’s often very high or wide and not in a position to stop attacks.

Gazza M

Mirth 2 × DMs and odegaard works fine if your entire front 3 is fluid and dangerous. we only have one-third of that equation

Clrnc

goon And he has a turning radius of a lorry. Extremely unagile, extremely unnatural in those position. Not dissimilar to Xhaka in those positions. Very clumsy tbh when hes in the box most of the time. I rather we play him as DM.

Him and Rice in advanced positions is not what we need

daredevil

goon

Yeah, I'm not sure where the DM claims come from. He played as left 8 for Spain and Sociedad.

I'm not writing him off btw, I'm sure he's not even started three games in a row.

Doc

Clrnc I rather we play him as DM.

Would like to see this to, he isn't the greatest in tight situation.. might improve in the 6 position... Him and Rice generally provide similar qualities in central mid..

lorddulaarsenal

Superb player. Uses the ball so well. Probing passes with disguise on them to ensure the receiver receives it in space and at an angle which prompts their next move.

He’s a duel monster too, which really helps us to pin teams back and suffocate them.

Don Pacifico

lorddulaarsenal he's like the anti-Zinchenko in terms of his economy of touches and time on the ball.

flobaba

I'm a huge fan as well. He's one of the (many) work horses of the team, but it's no coincidence he gets in many decent goal scoring positions - very canny with his movement and definitely crucial to helping us put the loctite on when we are pinning in the opposition

Segway

Merino has perhaps not been the duel monster I expected but he's very intelligent with his positioning and a real presence in the boxes. I think he will improve even more.

Claudius

Does what was advertised. Still think there’s more to come.

Qwiss

He's a very good 4th man in midfield. Reminds me a little of Edu for the Invincibles.

Claudius

Qwiss good comparison. At this point, I don’t think of him as my first midfielder given how well Partey is playing and the heights we’ve seen Rice reach last year. But I’m happy for him to start for a few weeks at a time. Which is what you want beyond your first 11

Coombs

Qwiss love that comparison

banduan

Qwiss He's a very good 4th man in midfield. Reminds me a little of Edu for the Invincibles.

yeah and it's a good thing. I thought he was good this match but didn't exactly set the world alight. The kind of thing you expect a squaddie to be.

Gazza M

centre mid is probably one of the harder positions to acclimatise to under arteta. it takes a solid 3-6 months of regular play to find a decent rhythm. things are set up nicely for him to push on

Claudius

banduan speaking of squaddies, I really love squad usage right now. Everybody in the team can be counted on to play significant minutes and make an impact. We are obviously an attacker short, but we have no hangers-on for the first time.

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