Аравдугаар сарын 10-наас эхлэн 28 хоногийн дотор есөн тоглолт хийх Арсеналын бүрэлдэхүүнд Микел Мерино хагас хамгаалагч болон довтлогчийн байрлалд тоглох шаардлага үүсэж магадгүй байна.
Арсеналын довтлогч Кай Хаверц бэртлийн улмаас хэдэн долоо хоног талбайд гарах боломжгүй болсон нь Микел Артетад сонголтын асуудал үүсгээд байна. Энэ нөхцөлд 2024 онд 32 сая фунт стерлингээр ирсэн Микел Мериног довтлогчийн байрлалд тоглуулах хувилбар яригдаж байна. Тэрээр өмнө нь Арсеналын төлөө довтлогчоор 23 удаа тоглохдоо 10 гоол оруулж, зургаан оновчтой дамжуулалт өгсөн үзүүлэлттэй байгаа нь багийн бусад тоглогчдоос илүү үр дүнтэй байгаа юм.
Микел Артета өөрийн шавийн тоглолтын өндөр IQ, талбайн аль ч хэсэгт үр дүнтэй байрлаж, тоглолтыг холбох чадварыг нь онцлон магтсан байна. Мерино энэ улиралд Арсеналын төлөө хагас хамгаалагчийн байрлалд зургаан тоглолтод оролцож, Карабао цомын хүрээнд Ипсвичийн эсрэг гоол оруулсан. Мөн тэрээр Испанийн шигшээ багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд Хорватын эсрэг оновчтой дамжуулалт өгч, Чехийн эсрэг гоол оруулсан амжилттай байгаа юм.
Премьер лигийн тоглолтууд аравдугаар сарын 10-нд үргэлжлэх бөгөөд Арсенал Лидс багтай тулна. Викторь Гьокерес сайн формтой байгаа ч шахуу хуваарийн улмаас Микел Мерино багийн гарааны бүрэлдэхүүн эсвэл сэлгээнээс тоглолтын хувь заяаг шийдвэрлэх чухал үүрэг гүйцэтгэх нь тодорхой байна.
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Arsenal will play nine games in 28 days starting on October 10 and Mikel Merino may be forced to play both midfield and as a striker
Mikel Merino often has an impact on games, whether it be from the start or off the bench. The midfielder has a knack of being in the right place at the right time for both club and country and supporters often enjoy watching the 30-year-old celebrate a goal by running around the corner flag.
Merino, signed by Arsenal from Real Sociedad in 2024 in a deal worth just under £32million, has 16 goals and eight assists under Mikel Arteta. He often scores important goals, too, and his versatility proved invaluable in the 2024/25 season when a striker injury crisis meant the Spaniard was deployed as an emergency No.9.
It was the first time in his career Merino had played the striker role and, due to his intelligence and skillset, he took it all in his stride. After 23 appearances as a striker for Arsenal, Merino currently has a goal record of 10 goals and six assists.
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In fact, he has a goal contribution rate per appearance of 0.7 while playing up top, better than Kai Havertz (0.62) and Viktor Gyokeres (0.41). The former Osasuna and Newcastle man has played in midfield for all six of his appearances for Arsenal so far this season and even scored against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup, a game in which he was captain.
Merino rarely starts for Spain but often comes off the bench and makes an impact, too. The Spaniard grabbed himself an assist vs Croatia last week and scored in the 3-1 win over Czechia on Saturday.
With Havertz limping off for Germany with a hamstring issue and potentially out for a few weeks, Merino could generally be an option for Arteta against Leeds when Premier League action resumes on Saturday, October 10. Gyokeres has shown impressive form for Sweden during the break, though, so the Swede is expected to start, although with nine games in 28 days Merino will surely get his fair share of gametime.
Arteta is a huge fan of Merino, too. “He’s unbelievable,” the Arsenal boss said. “First of all, he’s one of the most intelligent players that I’ve seen and I’ve worked with. Then the personality is just full of… I don’t know, he just wants to give for everybody. He thinks about everything, he thinks about everybody.”
He added: “He has qualities that are unique in football and in our team, his capacity to arrive in the box, he’s capable of occupying different places, to play in different positions, to link play with people.
“And as a midfielder, the ability that he has to score goals like tonight is a different one that we’ve seen lately, but another incredible one.”
Merino could feature for Spain on Tuesday when they take on Croatia and Arteta will be hoping all of his international stars come back to north London unscathed. Merino could send yet another reminder to Arteta and Gunners fans across the world during the game against Slaven Bilic’s side considering they just shipped seven goals against England.
Be it from the start or the bench, Merino will surely make an impact.
