Merino’s debut + Arteta’s losing faith in Jesus?

Morning all.

Let’s start with some interesting stuff from Mikel Merino who made his Arsenal debut, at last, in the 2-0 win over PSG on Tuesday evening. As we know, his late arrival in the summer window was compounded by picking up a shoulder injury (broken scapula) in his first training session. That meant a spell on sidelines when he was looking to settle in quickly and contribute on the pitch.

Mikel Arteta tried to look on the bright side when that news broke, saying it would allow the Spanish international some time to settle in, and to understand the the way things worked at Arsenal. To me it felt just a little like trying to find a silver lining when there really wasn’t one, because signing a 28 year old who has experience in Spain, Germany, England and at international level usually means they’ve experienced most of what the game has to offer.

Well, it turns out Arteta was right. Merino is a quick study it seems, suggesting that even though he didn’t play until the other night, he’s a better player than he was four weeks ago. Which is quite the thing to say. He continued:

Arsenal do some things that I’ve never seen in my career. The methods they use are completely new to me. So obviously it takes some time to adapt. But at the same time, I think when you get it, you are in a different level because they challenge you every single day, not only physically, but mentally.

I thought it was interesting, if fairly obvious, that when he came on he tucked in alongside Declan Rice who moved to the space that Thomas Partey vacated. They basically shielded the back four as PSG tried (and failed) to break us down, which makes sense in the context of that game. I’m more curious to see what his role might be in a fixture like this weekend’s game, for example.

I don’t necessarily expect him to start against Southampton, but in that kind of game where we’re expected to win, I think we’ll see him deployed further forward. Perhaps in a more ‘Xhaka’ position, if that makes sense, but with the ability to drop in and defend and win duels if required. Another point to make is that adding another 6’+ guy to our side makes us an even bigger physical treat. At one point in the first half we had a set-piece and the size differential between us and PSG was so obvious. I’m looking forward to seeing more of what Merino can bring.

The other thing I wanted to discuss this morning was Gabriel Jesus, and my growing concern about his end-product. You have to go back 20 Arsenal appearances for his last goal – which came in a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on January 30th. It was a good night for him, he scored and provided the assist for Bukayo Saka to score our second, but since then he’s struggled to find the back of the net.

There have been three assists in that time (all in the last campaign, including one against Bayern Munich), but so far this season he has looked a long way off the level we need. I had high hopes for him too. He got a proper pre-season under his belt having struggled on and off with injury ever since that World Cup knee issue he suffered, and his versatility across the front-line was something I felt we could easily lean into it. He can play on either flank and, as we saw in that scintillating spell after his arrival from Man City, he can play up front too.

Finishing and taking his chances was always an issue, but at the moment he looks like someone bereft of confidence, whose decision making isn’t where it needs to be. If there’s a simple option, a complicated option, and near impossible option, it feels like he goes for the latter every time. On Tuesday, there was a moment when the ball came to him just inside the box, a quick pass would have set-up a good chance for Saka on his left foot, instead he tried to twist inside and beat a couple of defenders. He didn’t beat them – although in his attempt the ball squirted to Saka who played a first time pass for Gabriel Martinelli to have a shot on target. Simple option so often = threat.

Last weekend, as we tried to break down Leicester’s stubborn resistance, Jesus only got off the bench when the own goal had gone in and it was 3-2. That felt instructive about his recent form. Even then, despite involvement in the fourth goal, he could have made a quicker decision to play in either Raheem Sterling or Kai Havertz, and got a bit fortunate that his relatively tame shot was deflected off the German by a Leicester defender to seal all three points.

Just to be clear, I don’t expect Gabriel Jesus to be a prolific goalscorer, that’s never been who he is, and at 27 I don’t think it’s something he’s going to blossom into at this point. However, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to be a guy capable of scoring 10-12 goals across all competitions during the course of a season. It’s difficult when you’re not starting regularly, but that’s a consequence of both his form and the fact that other players have taken their chances and made themselves virtually un-droppable.

Perhaps he is low on confidence, but when that happens it’s important to keep things simple to rebuild it. He has quality, we’ve all seen it, but it’s nowhere to be found at the moment. Arteta’s faith in him has obviously taken a hit too. It’s a worry, but hopefully something he can work on over the coming weeks, because there’s so much football to play we’re going to need everybody to contribute at some point.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now, have a good one.

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