Opinion: Why Mikel Merino must stay in midfield despite Spain heroics
Over the course of the recently concluded international break, a number of Arsenal stars were in top form. A handful of key players made goal contributions in national team colours during World Cup qualifying. Martin Zubimendi, Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié all impressed considerably, while the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard stole the […] The post Opinion: Why Mikel Merino must stay in midfield despite Spain heroics appeared first on Just Arsenal News.
RR aka Rishi-Raj
Over the course of the recently concluded international break, a number of Arsenal stars were in top form. A handful of key players made goal contributions in national team colours during World Cup qualifying. Martin Zubimendi, Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié all impressed considerably, while the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard stole the show. More players also impressed, but the best performer over that period was no doubt Mikel Merino. The Spaniard not only scored in both fixtures for his country, he also achieved a very impressive personal feat. Merino scored four goals against Bulgaria and Turkey, scoring a first career hat trick against the latter in stunning fashion.
Calls for Merino to move further forward
As expected, his performances have generated a buzz, with many praising his natural finishing ability. Many have also pointed out his finishing as his best quality, which has also led to some interesting debates in public discourse. There have been calls for Mikel Merino to be utilised in a front two with Gyokeres, while a fair few have even called for the 29 year old to be converted to a striker. Looking at his goalscoring exploits even beyond recent form, it is hard to argue against it. Due to an injury crisis that now looks like a long time ago, Merino played as a striker for the first time in February, scoring two fantastic goals in a second half cameo against Leicester. From that point onward, he scored an additional five goals and contributed four assists before the end of the campaign. The underlying statistics also back up his claim for a more advanced role. A 0.25 expected goals per 90 ranks him in the 97th percentile among midfielders in Europe, while 1.81 shots per 90 places him in the 91st percentile (via FBref).
Why midfield is still Merino’s best role
Despite all this, however, his best position is still in midfield in my opinion. His output cannot be ignored, but he is simply ill equipped to spearhead the frontline, even in a front two. A lot of his flaws as a striker were blatantly obvious to see last season. The Spaniard is naturally stiff and is not blessed with pace either, which means he hardly ever makes runs in behind the defence. He is also less effective in the press as well.
The case would have been different if he were at a different stage of his career. Already 29 years old, the former La Real midfielder is quickly approaching the twilight of his career, which makes a change of positions all the more inconceivable to me.
His best position is still in midfield, where he can impact the attack with his late forays into the penalty area.
These are my thoughts, would love to get yours.
Benjamin Kenneth
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