Arsenal slumped to a dismal defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners were abject against the Hammers, failing to create many meaningful goal-scoring opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen’s first-half header split the two sides, condemning Mikel Arteta’s team to just their third defeat in the Premier League this season.
The North Londoners remain eight points behind league leaders Liverpool, who can extend this gap to eleven with a victory over Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Theo Walcott predicted that Mikel Merino would struggle as a striker in Arsenal v West Ham
Kai Havertz is out for the season with a hamstring injury, while Gabriel Jesus will also miss the rest of the campaign with an ACL tear.
This has meant Arteta has had to find an unconventional option up front, and he opted for Leandro Trossard from the start last week against Leicester.
However, Mikel Merino saved the day against the Foxes, coming off the bench to net twice in a narrow Arsenal victory.
These goals prompted Arteta to deploy the Spanish midfield as a number nine against West Ham, and it didn’t pay dividends.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live prior to the game, Theo Walcott predicted that Merino would struggle more against the Irons and that this experiment would fall flat on its face.
“The history of West Ham teams is that they are always strong dealing with balls into the area,” the former Arsenal winger said.
“I would have gone with more pace in the Arsenal side just to stretch that back line, but of course, they are limited with the players that they have available.
“Mikel Merino will be playing with confidence from his performance last week but I think West Ham will be able to deal better with him than Leicester last week.”
Mikel Merino’s statistics vs West Ham
In theory, Merino as a striker makes some semblance of sense.
Exceptional in the air and effective in the press, he has some of the attributes you’d associate with a successful striker.
However, this game exposed the areas in his game that he doesn’t have that are required in a top-level number nine.
| Mikel Merino’s Statistics vs West Ham | |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Shots | 2 |
| Key Passes | 2 |
| Expected Goals | 0.32 |
| Expected Assists | 0.09 |
| Accurate Passes | 19/24 (79%) |
| Aerial Duels Won | 4/11 (36%) |
Not effective aerially against the Hammers, Merino managed just two shots and 0.32 expected goals, demonstrating that he doesn’t have the ability to find himself in dangerous goal-scoring positions inside the box frequently.
He also offered little in the build-up and looked clunky when receiving the ball in dangerous areas.
Arteta must try and find a new solution, because it’s clear that based on this showing, Merino isn’t going to work as a striker.
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