‘Casemiro looked like N’Golo Kante’ – Arsenal fans are furious at what happened after Mikel Arteta made change against Manchester United

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Arsenal produced an underwhelming performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners struggled to break down a resolute United defence, with Mikel Arteta’s lack of forward options once again proving to be the major issue.

It took a spectacular finish from Declan Rice to salvage a point after Bruno Fernandes had given United the lead with an accurate free-kick on the stroke of half-time.

The game finished 1-1, condemning Arteta’s team to a third straight Premier League game without a win.

Arteta made a change with 15 minutes to play that certainly didn’t work, and has sparked discourse online.

• READ MORE: ‘Having a nightmare’ – Arsenal fans beg Mikel Arteta to axe starter who was a ‘liability’ vs Man United

Arsenal fans weren’t impressed with Mikel Merino in midfield against Manchester United

Merino saved the day against Leicester by scoring a brace as a substitute, deployed as a striker.

Arteta has opted to stick with the Spanish midfielder as a number nine since then, but it hasn’t exactly led to Arsenal being a functioning attacking unit.

However, with the game at Old Trafford poised at 1-1, the Gunners boss reverted to type, moving Merino back into midfield.

The Euro 2024 winner looked as though he’d become too accustomed to playing up front, and had forgotten how to operate in the middle of the park, producing a dire cameo in his natural position.

The Arsenal faithful were quick to vent their frustrations about Merino in this role on X.

One fan wrote, simply: “That Merino midfield cameo was… interesting.”

Another added: “Merino looked better at CF than CM.”

One supporter alluded to the player’s price tag last summer in his critique of his midfield display: “Merino went back to midfield and forgot he’s ever played there. £32m signing that was a three month saga.”

Another suggested that the change single-handedly elevated Casemiro’s game.

They wrote: “Merino dropped back into midfield for 20 minutes and Casimero looked like N’Golo Kante.”

Meanwhile, one fan highlighted the midfield dilemma Arteta faces with his current options, writing: “Declan Rice either is carrying Partey defensively when he plays #8 or Merino in build-up when he plays #6. Imagine how good he will be when he doesn’t have to do the job of 2 players.”

Mikel Merino’s statistics vs Manchester United

While Merino got worse when he moved into midfield, he’d been enduring a peripheral game as a striker anyway.

Completing just 17 passes throughout the 90 minutes, he managed just one shot, accumulating 0.1 expected goals.

This sort of output shows how he lacks the ability to get into dangerous goal-scoring positions inside the box frequently enough to be deployed as a centre-forward.

Meanwhile, Merino was dubbed a ‘duel monster’ before he signed for the Gunners, yet he lost more duels in this game than anyone on the pitch (14).

Not only did he struggle in possession when in midfield, this was a tame centre-forward performance from the Spain international, who couldn’t impose his physical attributes onto the game.