Mikel Merino joked that he “gets a taste” for playing as an improvised striker, because he touched the gap in Arsenal’s front line left with injuries left by Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus (ACl) and Havertz (knees) were excluded the rest of the season in January and February, leaving a weapon without a recognized central striker.
Merino discovered in an interview Guard That the idea of him to take over the role did not seriously talk until the morning of Leicester City, three days after Havertz’s injury, in which he did so for the first time and scored twice from a 2-0 bench.
The Spanish International has started all Arsenal’s last six games in advance and ‘false nine’, not an attacker and out-of Nettiled the winner against Chelsea for the last time.
After praising Arsenal Legend Ian Wright for what the team brings, Merino said after the last whistle against Chelsea that believes that he adapts wellwhich includes watching a game from a different perspective and involvement in different battles.
“I’m used to being forward, I’m struggling with centers, and they hit you from behind,” he admitted. “You are always in a disadvantage and they like to mark their territory, physically intimidating you. They want to ensure that you are embarrassed and have no space, from the first minute to duration – even if there is no ball.
“It’s more mental than midfielders because it’s a more direct duel. But I adapt to one thing I have always been for, it’s a fight: I like contact, I never come back.”
But Merino, after he also expressed that he did not feel that there was pressure on him to score goals, suggested that his purpose on the field had not changed so much.
“My job was always to make it easier for others,” he said. “Look where people are, where the free man is, I realize if I have to participate or move to help a teammate [without touching the ball]. “
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