I began penning this column in February 2011, the week earlier than Arsenal misplaced the Carling Cup Ultimate to Birmingham Metropolis. The lack of the Carling Cup Ultimate led to a summer season that noticed Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri depart the membership (Gale Clichy additionally departed the membership that summer season in far quieter circumstances).
In April 2011, Stan Kroenke took a controlling stake in Arsenal following the dying of Danny Fiszman. Eras can by no means be pinpointed exactly; many would mark Eduardo’s leg break and William Gallas’ subsequent meltdown at Birmingham Metropolis in March 2008 as the start of Arsenal’s so-called ‘banter period.’
I feel there could also be some debate about that, by the tip of the 2010-11 season and that defeat to Birmingham, I don’t suppose anybody would actually contest that this marked the start of a drawn out finish of the Arsene Wenger period at Arsenal (it definitely represents the start of the ‘KSE period’ if you happen to needed to name it that).
Briefly, it was an extremely fertile time to jot down a weekly column in regards to the membership and I might say that proved to be the case for the following decade. Arsenal had turn into a high-end cleaning soap opera and, inside that, the forged was made up of loads of proficient however divisive gamers. Mesut Ozil, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud- every of them a strolling discourse price revisiting week after week.
It was fairly straightforward to search out materials for a weekly column. During the last two and a half years, I might say this column has turn into tougher to jot down as a result of Arsenal have entered an period of excessive competence. Gamers like Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard are tough to eke too column inches out of.
Since you actually can solely write, ‘this participant is constantly nice, as you possibly can all see’ as soon as. Whereas somebody like Theo Walcott or Olivier Giroud is grist to the columnist’s mill. (I’m not complaining about any of this, could the period of extremely competence proceed!) Mikel Arteta has painstakingly bleached jeopardy out of Arsenal video games as a lot as doable and that’s precisely what I’ve needed for a few years now.
From the present squad, we briefly had some kerfuffle over David Raya being ushered in to switch Aaron Ramsdale earlier than we realised the sagacity of the choice. We briefly questioned whether or not Kai Havertz would match into the staff till he began to play usually as a striker and he grew to become a part of the furnishings. Martin Odegaard misplaced his mojo just a little final season. Gabriel Martinelli misplaced his for a short time (and we aren’t but on the level to firmly set up that it has returned). Alex Zinchenko was in all probability the closest we now have needed to a real ‘marmite’ participant of the Walcott / Giroud classic.
Even Granit Xhaka, beforehand a poster boy for the period of ‘essential however very flawed and barely controversial participant’ at Arsenal was rebranded into somebody tremendous competent and dependable by Arteta’s teaching. All of which is to say, from a purely prose perspective, Mikel Merino’s arc into emergency striker and cult hero standing has been a welcome wrinkle within the Arsenal script.
It’s particularly ironic since Merino was purchased as a bulwark in opposition to jeopardy. He had simply turned 28 years previous when Arsenal purchased him in the summertime of 2024, which was seen as a departure from the younger signings that set the inspiration for the present squad. Upon signing, his most remarked upon high quality was his unerring capability to win duels- be they aerial or floor.
His signing was so austere when it comes to aesthetics that my Arsenal Imaginative and prescient Podcast colleague Clive repeatedly referred to him as ‘the financial institution supervisor.’ In actual fact, he bears greater than a passing resemblance to the Simpsons portrayal of Nineteen Fifties and 60s NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas. Unitas is revered by Abe Simpson as a result of he had ‘a haircut you possibly can set your watch by.’
Abe likes Unitas as a result of he varieties a lovely distinction to different gamers who’ve adopted up to date counterculture fashions round lengthy hair and sideburns. Merino was presupposed to be unremarkable, the type of participant that coaches love however followers wrestle to heat to as a result of they do boring, tough to detect issues like press nicely, win their duels and stand the place they’re supposed to face. (Mason Mount has been the byword for this in latest seasons).
The nice Arsenal striker disaster of 2025 has thrust Merino into an unfamiliar place of prominence. The striker scarcity calls to thoughts the good left-back scarcity of 2006 and that point that Laurent Koscielny needed to play right-back away at Norwich in 2011 (see, a good time for a columnist!) or when Nico Yennaris performed there in opposition to Manchester United just a few weeks later.
The confounding factor about taking part in Merino as a striker is that it concurrently works and doesn’t work. Arsenal lose fluency and creativity when the Spaniard performs as a 9 however he may additionally be one of the best finisher within the Arsenal squad. His uber competence each works and doesn’t work as a striker, he’s a really staff minded participant and he drops to attempt to join play however he does so, so faithfully and so unerringly that he doesn’t actually have that intuition for disruption that one of the best strikers possess.
Merino’s three targets this season come from 1.0XG, an impossibly neat quantity. His XAG is 0.5, this actually is a brief again and sides participant who offers in straightforward to digest figures. But his competence one way or the other makes him just a little beguiling and obscure. In workplace phrases he is sort of a personal secretary that you simply in all probability don’t actually discover however the busy director’s life would disintegrate with out.
He’s organised, drafts excessive degree messages nicely and has a diligent however straightforward to observe digital submitting system. When thrust right into a extra celebrated function like centre-forward, that sense of extremely competence can drive the remainder of the staff right into a type of staff of fine private secretaries. However senior administration earn the massive cash as a result of they take selections and a few of these selections contain threat.
Arsenal’s play undoubtedly lacks threat with Merino upfront, nonetheless, he has the talent of a bureaucrat to course of threat with the minimal of fuss. Psychology research confer with the 4 phases of competence in people in skilled environments, which staff will usually journey by means of en path to promotion till they attain their true degree.
Unconsciously incompetent (you could have simply taken the job or promotion and do not know what awaits you), Consciously incompetent (you’re just a few weeks into the job and boy, do you now know!), Consciously competent (you’ve bought the grasp of issues now) and Unconsciously competent (you are able to do this on autopilot and wish to think about the following degree).
I might pitch Merino at centre-forward as consciously competent, which might be probably the most tough degree to judge for a line supervisor. Merino’s trajectory additionally bears similarities to Kai Havertz, in that he hasn’t critically impressed in the principle function that he was purchased for, however as a centre-forward he has been extra celebrated.
Merino has a ‘by means of the wanting glass’ high quality as a participant that could be a bit like a tall constructing. You’ll fortunately stroll previous it each single day with out ever questioning why it’s there or the way it simply stands up of its personal accord for many years and many years. However whenever you cease to consider it, or begin to look into the mechanics of structure and engineering, it turns into oddly fascinating.
