Arsenal fans are calling for Mikel Arteta to pull the plug on one player’s Emirates career after his display against Girona.
The Gunners edged past Girona with a 2-1 win in Spain to book their place in the Champions League round of 16.
While the night undoubtedly belonged to Ethan Nwaneri, who wrote his name into Arsenal history with his goal, there were some low points too.
Arsenal fans blasted debutant Neto, who made a staggering error to hand Girona the lead but, he wasn’t the only poor performer on the night.
Raheem Sterling missed a penalty on a difficult occasion for the summer signing, sending Arteta a stern message regarding the failures of Arsenal’s summer transfer window.
Sterling and Neto weren’t the only new faces who flattered to deceive in Girona, as fans commented heavily on another disasterclass.
Arsenal fans question Mikel Merino’s performance after Girona win
Mikel Merino had an eventful start to his Arsenal career, suffering an injury in his first training session at Colney.
Since his return, the Spaniard has failed to show his worth in midfield, trusted with only eight Premier League starts.
Arteta has admitted that he expects more from Merino, an opinion echoed by Arsenal fans after the Girona win.
Supporters flooded X with assessments of Merino’s performance against Girona, asking why Arteta was so desperate to sign the former Real Sociedad ace.
“Merino is so bad I don’t know how we chased him for a month,” a fan said, as another agreed, “Merino is useless as well… why did we sign him?!”
It’s not the first time that Arsenal fans have been unimpressed by Merino, prompting supporters to express their dissatisfaction at the summer transfer window.
- “Neto, Sterling and Merino. What a horrible transfer window that was.”
- “Merino + Neto+ Sterling was a hall-of-shame summer window by the club.”
While some noticed Merino’s strengths and what he can offer to Arsenal on a good day, the general consensus was that the Spaniard doesn’t do enough to make his presence known.
“Merino is a brilliant ball winner and dueller. But his spatial awareness to prepare his body for the second action is so bad it almost doesn’t matter. Gets himself caught so many times after winning it.”
Another Arsenal fan said, “Merino doesn’t impact games enough for us. He’s a big guy but you don’t see him.”
“He’s been anonymous today,” a supporter agreed, summing up an uneventful night for the Euro 2024 winner, who played 90 minutes.
Some Arsenal followers took their assessment of Merino to a new level, calling him ‘the worst’ and, asking Arteta to sell the summer signing at the end of the season.
“Mikel Merino has been Arsenal’s worst player this season based on appearances,” a fan claimed.
Another wrote, “I’d sell Merino in the summer,” making their thoughts clear.
Merino’s Arsenal career isn’t set to get easier
While Merino wasn’t the worst player on the pitch against Girona, it’s the matter of the Spaniard failing to influence games that is an issue.
Such has led Arteta to push the summer signing down the pecking order, which isn’t set to get easier as Arsenal prepare to welcome Martin Zubimendi.
Merino and Zubimendi, his former teammate at Sociedad, are different profiles but, with Arteta adding to the midfield, the number of combinations available could see the Spaniard remain as a bench player.
It’s a shame considering how hard Arsenal pushed for the transfer however, there’s plenty of time for the 28-year-old to prove himself.
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