Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino shares insight on surprising Mikel Arteta tactic​

Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino has been speaking about the team’s superb aerial prowess and how it has helped the Gunners thrive at set-pieces under boss Mikel Arteta

​Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino has been speaking about the team’s superb aerial prowess and how it has helped the Gunners thrive at set-pieces under boss Mikel Arteta Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino has been speaking about the team’s superb aerial prowess and how it has helped the Gunners thrive at set-pieces under boss Mikel Arteta   

Mikel Merino says Arsenal’s giants are more like a basketball team.

Gunners midfielder Merino, 28, is 6ft 2in and he says he used to be one of the tallest at his old club Real Sociedad. But he admits it feels like he has moved to the land of the giants since moving to Arsenal in the summer because Mikel Arteta has built a team of six footers.

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are the only guaranteed starters in Arsenal’s first choice XI who are less than 6ft as Arteta wants his players to be strong in the air and have a physical presence.

Spain international Merino said: “Yeah, sometimes it is crazy. I am in the corridors of the training ground just walking, and back at my old club I used to be one of the tallest so everyone was smaller than me and now I look around and everyone is taller than me.

“We look like a basketball team now. Football now has changed and now you need a strong team, physicality is key, we need to be the most complete team possible.

“You need the physical aspect, technical aspect, the tactical one, you need to be a total team to achieve big things as we do.

“It is not only about being tall and big, you need mentality. If you are tall and big but don’t go with the 100 per cent intention to win the ball, its just nothing. The main thing is the mentality and we have that.”

Arsenal have become set piece specialists under Arteta and Merino also looks ready to bring his extra height and power as another dimension. He said: “Football is evolving and set pieces too. That is one of the reasons I am here, because I think I can be a threat in the opposite box.

Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“Everybody is paying a lot of attention to them. it is a biog part of the game and you can win or lose a lot of games because of that. Here we try to train it a lot.”

It has been a “crazy” few months by Merino’s own admission as he won the Euros with Spain in the summer – breaking England hearts in the final along the way – and then joining Arsenal in a £35m move.

Arsenal boss Arteta has pointed to Merino’s football brain, leadership qualities and presence in the dressing room as the Spaniard – who speaks perfect English – says moving to the Emirates was a dream come true.

From idolising Spanish midfielder greats like Andres Iniesta and Xavi who won World Cups, Merino has now followed in their footsteps by lifting the Euros.

Merino said: “It was probably the best summer of my life because a lot of things happened but winning the Euros, for sure, it has changed my life for the best. In the football aspect as well, winning the Euros, signing for Arsenal, is amazing, it has been a dream come true.

UEFA via Getty Images)

“I grew up watching the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, winning World Cups and Euros. I thought about them as legends and now I am the one winning the Euros which is kind of crazy to me. Just amazing, an amazing feeling.

“I have admired a lot of midfielders, because luckily in Spain we have had a couple of them! In England, as well, there was [Frank] Lampard or [Steven] Gerrard, Cesc Fabregas and [Patrick] Vieira, all these kind of all-round midfielders. That was the kind of player I admired when I was kid.

“I’ve been lucky that my father was a footballer back in the day. When I was growing up, when I was 14, 15 years old, he became a coach, he coached the academy teams in my boyhood club.

“I would sit at home watching their games, he would explain to me what happened in the game, more from a tactical aspect in the team.

“I love the tactics, I love the football, I love being around football but i see how coaches age and I don’t know if I want that for me! Let’s see in the future – don’t try to retire me yet!”

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