“It’s a joy to have him,” said Mikel Arteta of compatriot Mikel Merino after last night’s 3-0 win in Slavia Prague.
And the manager didn’t stop there.
“I always say the same thing. It’s his versatility on the pitch, the things that he can do, it’s his mindset, it’s his leadership, it’s the way he is as a person.
“Today we are missing a lot of attacking players and we have to find different solutions, he comes in the Champions League and scores two goals.”
Nearly nine months have passed since Arteta first pressed Merino into action as an auxiliary striker at Leicester – a reaction to the simultaneous loss of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz – and an experiment that paid immediate dividends continues to deliver.
Back then, Arteta was so wary of overloading Merino that he didn’t even tell the midfielder about the positional switch until the day of the game. He went on to score twice off the bench.
Since then, the 29-year-old has quietly become an expert in leading the line. What he lacks in pace, he compensates for with intelligence, timing and physicality – qualities Arteta had spotted as far back as September, while the Spaniard was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
“He’s a big threat. The moment he’s in the opponent’s box, you see that he’s a big, big threat.”
Courtesy of his latest brace in Prague, Merino’s Arsenal tally now stands at 12 goals in 59 appearances – more than double the strike rate he managed at Real Sociedad, where he scored 27 in 242 games.
So what’s changed?
“My view was always that he had really good timing and the capacity to finish in the box, especially one-touch,” explained Arteta.
“And then talking to him and making sure that he plays closer to the box, and he identifies the opportunities, the timing, the way he needs to attack the spaces in relation to how they defend the box, which today was a bit different as well, the way they set up.
“And then it’s obviously his quality, his willingness to learn and practise every day.”
With Viktor Gyokeres ruled out of Saturday’s trip to Sunderland – the Swede nursing a hamstring strain picked up at Burnley that will also sideline him for his country’s upcoming Interlull fixtures – Arteta will no doubt turn to Merino again.
On his impressive numbers in front of goal, which are further bolstered by eight goals since March for Spain, Merino said last night:
“It’s not bad, not bad. Credit to my teammates. Obviously, this is a team sport and I’m just trying to fill the role of the number nine, even though I’m not a classic number nine and I’m not born as a number nine.
“I’m really, really happy to be helping the team with goals, but also with my hard work, my running, I’m trying to position myself in the right spots. Obviously, with the quality we have in the squad, they pass the ball at the right time in the right spot. I’m there.”
He added that the experience he garnered last season is certainly helping him get to grips with the intricacies of life as a striker.
“Yes, [it helped] a lot, massively. Mainly in micro spaces. Because tactics-wise, I think I knew what the number nine role was.
“Obviously, watching every meeting we have with Mikel makes you clear what your role is. But inside the box, you know those little things that you have to learn – try to fix this one, maybe attack his back, or two steps make a massive difference.
“All those things I learned from last season. I think I’m exploiting it this season as well with different goals. Not only as a striker, but also as a midfielder in the national team.”
Long may it continue. Arsenal’s unlikely No.9 has become a very dependable one.
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