“The first one was good, so I had to do it twice”- Arsenal star Mikel Merino redeemed himself as the newest Arsenal’s title race hero as he told Mikel Arteta why he doesn’t want to come on as a ‘STRIKER’ again
“The first one was good, so I had to do it twice”- Arsenal star Mikel Merino redeemed himself as the newest Arsenal’s title race hero as he told Mikel Arteta why he doesn’t want to come on as a ‘STRIKER’ again
Merino: ‘It was crazy for me to come on the pitch in that position’
MIKEL ARTÉTA’s Mikel Merino masterstroke manufactured three precious points from where once there were none on a manifestly miserable Midlands mission. The Arsenal manager would not see it that way even though he only told his players of the plan to play his Spanish holding midfielder as a striker on the morning of the match.
And even after that he waited until the closing stages to execute it in a game that seemed lost, in that a draw would have been as bad as a defeat for his side’s distant title hopes.
Merino was not the only one offering to ‘have a go’ up front in the absence of injured quartet, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. During their midweek winter training camp in Dubai, defender Riccy Calafiori reminded his boss how he had played in attack as a kid and centre back William Saliba was even more vocal in offering his goalscoring services for the cause.
But it was on his fellow Spaniard that Arteta turned to in the fading light of an early wintry afternoon, where the misty rain made Arsenal’s hopes of securing a win even less obvious to see.
Merino, 28, a summer signing from Real Sociedad first had the Arsenal fans singing his name repeatedly after an unlikely decisive goal at Brentford on New Year’s Day. At Leicester, there was no containing the love between the player and the supporters after his two goals in the final nine minutes.
Even Merino conceded it seemed mad that he should be the answer to Arsenal’s striker crisis. He said afterwards: “It was crazy for me to come on the pitch in that position, trying to help the team in such a tough game. But this game is about small details sometimes, about who’s more precise in the last metres.”
That was a fair assessment as relegation-threatened (possibly doomed) Leicester squandered a couple of chances to take the lead as a reward for their resolute defending. They played for a draw and tried to nick only their third home win of the season.
That Merino was able to double his goal tally in his 26th appearance in an Arsenal shirt was in part down to his cool finishing (many of his predecessors in the number nine position have missed similar and even easier chances for Arsenal this season) but equally as much to the precise passing that set up his chances. Leandro Trossard set up the second with a low cross to the far post on 87 minutes, but it was the assist and general all round brilliance of teenager Ethan Nwaneri that really caught the eye.
His ability to both score and assist is another fortunate bonus for Arteta in Saka’s otherwise annoying absence. The trust his senior teammates have in Nwaneri’s ability is evident by the way they tried to get the ball his way ahead of any other player from start to finish in this match.
The evidence was not wasted on Merino, who pointed out how reporters always ask more questions about his young Londoner colleague than they do himself in interviews.
He also revealed how he had spent time talking to both Trossard and Nwaneri about how they could team up to get goals. “I said ‘I’m ready to do whatever the team needs me to do.’ That’s what happens when you spend time with each other. When you train a lot, when you see how they like to cross the ball, the timings they need to be in their comfort zone. When you train more and more and more, you create relationships where everything is easier. I saw them with the ball open. I knew what kind of touches they like to make and I just attacked the space. The balls were perfect and I just had to score.”
If only it were always so easy, then Arsenal would not be relying on Liverpool to slip up again at the top of the table while having to maintain a perfect run with an injury-ravaged squad for the rest of the season.
Free of any cup tasks for a while, their next match is at home to London rivals West Ham this weekend. Arteta will have no option but to select from the same squad of players on duty at Leicester, and his dilemma will be whether or not to start with Merino from the start. While Raheem Sterling is so desperately low on confidence, that decision might be easier than it sounds.
If he does, then Merino will be ready. He explained: “I’m ready to do the job that the coach and the rest of my team is relying on me to do. Hopefully, it will end up with two goals like this every time.”
Leicester, meanwhile, have to regroup ahead of a match against Brentford this Friday. All of their upcoming fixtures look challenging on paper such is their poor run of results.
Fit again midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was one of their better players on the day, even though he did miss the target with their chance of the match just before half-time. He said: “I think were a bit unlucky, but we stayed together, and we need to continue that in our next games. We are a bit gutted overall despite the performance being good for such a long period.”
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Hermansen 6, Justin 6 (Coulibaly 43), Faes 6, Okoli 6, Kristiansen 6, Ndidi 6 (Daka 85), Soumare 6, Khannouss 6, De Cordova-Reid 5 (Buonanotte 85), Ayew 5 (Mavididi 75), Vardy 5. Subs: Stolarczyk, Coady, Winks, Skipp, Vestergaard.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya 6, Timber 6, Saliba 7, Gabriel 7, Lewis-Skelly 7 (Calafiori 76), Partey 6 (Jorginho 76), Rice 6, Odegaard 6, Nwaneri 9, Sterling 4 (Merino 69), Trossard 6 (Tierney 89). Subs: Neto, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Butler-Oyedeji.
