Arsenal had two players participating in the Nations League match between Denmark and Spain.
Spaniards David Raya and Mikel Merino both started that game. Raya, who’s slowly cementing himself in Spain’s lineup as their first-choice goalkeeper, had a fantastic performance. Before conceding in the 84th minute, the Gunner had a relatively stable performance, especially in his ball progression and distribution.
Despite this, Mikel Merino delivered another impressive performance as he continues to improve his match fitness. In a similar role to that he took versus Chelsea, he is not playing the LCM role like Xhaka; he is not box-crashing or underlapping and overlapping the LW. Instead, he is impacting the left 8 spaces, making smart paces, and maintaining composure and calmness on the ball under pressure.
He was great; the 80 minutes he was on the pitch were a typical all-action display with 60 touches, 35 completed passes, nine duels won, and four dribbles completed.
Summarily, he put up these numbers against Denmark:
▪️4/5 successful dribbles (highest)
▪️9/13 successful duels (highest)
▪️5 ball recoveries
▪️3/4 successful long passes
▪️35/44 accurate passes
▪️4 passes into the opponent’s third
While we, as Gooners, have been frustrated with these international breaks due to key players such as Martin Odegaard suffering injuries while on international duty, Mikel Merino’s situation is unique. As a Gunner, we were looking forward to him playing during the international break to regain his momentum after missing the first few games of the season due to injury.
Those minutes on international duty are crucial as they prepare him to dominate between the lines and elevate Arsenal’s left-hand side, thereby freeing up Martinelli.
