Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has said that Mikel Arteta was proud of the team’s performance against Bournemouth this weekend.
The Gunners suffered their first defeat this season, as their unbeaten away record in 2024 came to an end at the Vitality Stadium.
The loss this weekend was a huge setback after Arsenal’s impressive start to the campaign. Fans will have every reason to be furious with the major decision in the game.
William Saliba was sent off in the first half for a last man foul on Evanilson as he was through on goal. Referee Robert Jones initially gave a yellow for the incident, but VAR sent him to the monitor after which the yellow was changed to a red card.
Many fans would point to the red card as the turning point in the game that gave Bournemouth a win. However it is important to note that before the sending off, Arsenal failed to get a shot on target. The gunners only had one shot on goal at the end of 90 minutes.
Merino revealed that Mikel Arteta was proud of how the team performed on Saturday:
“For us, it is always about winning. Mikel [Arteta] knows that, Mikel’s always telling us that, we have to win in any context and the thing is, we have the team capable of doing that. We have been playing in a very challenging situation for the last couple of weeks but the coach told us he’s really proud of the effort, of how the team managed to play with one player less for almost the whole game. So it’s about taking the good things, not only the bad things, and try to improve for the next game.”
This is the third game this season that Arsenal have gone down to 10 men in the Premier League; the gunners have drawn two games, and only lost against Bournemouth.
Bournemouth v Arsenal Premier League 19/10/2024. Mikel Merino 23 of Arsenal battles for possession with Lewis Cook 4 of AFC Bournemouth during the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England on 19 October 2024. Bournemouth Vitality Stadium Dorset England Editorial use only DataCo restrictions apply See www.football-dataco.com , Copyright: xGrahamxHuntx PSI-20632-0042
Mikel Merino is the latest signing in this Arsenal squad that ticks the box for physicality. The midfielder won the most duels in Europe’s top five leagues last season.
The Spaniard says having so many players in the team having that physical advantage helps Arsenal to become a ‘complete’ team:
“I am in the corridors or 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, it’s just nothing. The main thing is the mentality and we have that.”
Merino’s midfield partners Thomas Partey and Declan Rice have also spoken on the defeat to Bournemouth.
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