Arsenal secured an important win in the context of the race for Champions League qualification as they beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The scoreline certainly flattered the Blues, who failed to create anything meaningful besides Marc Cucurella forcing David Raya into an uncomfortable mistake went unpunished.
Mikel Merino was given the nod upfront despite the fact that Gabriel Martinelli's return meant Mikel Arteta could have opted for a front three of the Brazilian, Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard. Instead, the Hale End graduate had to make do with a place on the bench.
Merino vindicated his manager's decision with a quite ridiculous headed goal from a Martin Odegaard corner. Arteta said after the game that they had indeed practiced something similar but was still taken by surprise with the genius of the finish.
"We worked on something similar with that finish, no?" Arteta said. "To be fair it was a different kind of finish planned but very happy because that would generate the belief in the team again, even in the stadium, the crowd that we can score because it's something that we're missing obviously when we're so prolific on that and with the amount of injuries that we have to deal with in the front line, so very happy with that."
The question is now whether this is Arteta's preference even with the potential April return of Bukayo Saka on the cards. Could Mikel Merino be the chosen player to finish the season in the centre-forward role?
I have my concerns; outside of the header, Merino's performance left me with several questions. His chance to score a second, an unchallenged close-range volley, was saved by Robert Sanchez. It was a chance which he probably should have tucked away.
Performances against West Ham, PSV (home) and Manchester United have not brought much encouragement that this is the right choice to end the season. The league looks a formality for Liverpool at this stage and this means that the only real potential chance of silverware comes in the form of the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid are, of course, the opponents for the quarter-finals. They are arguably the toughest test the Gunners would face of the remaining sides and if it is to be Merino who starts in the centre-forward role then this naturally will limit the Gunners.
Merino, for me, was most-effective coming off the bench against Leicester City where he bagged two goals and won the game late on in a time where a goal was desperately needed. This has been latched onto, and Arteta has rolled with it in a time he describes as an ‘emergency situation.’
A return for Saka means Merino, Martinelli, Trossard and Nwaneri are all options to construct a front three from. It might be the first leg comes too soon for Saka in particular, in which case the Spaniard will have the four he had today to choose from.
The assumption is that the Spanish team will have much more of the ball, maybe even in both legs. In which case, Arsenal’s best hope is to strike on the counterattack.
This is what gives me pause for thought, particularly for those moments where the ball breaks; because while Merino may try, the reality remains that he lacks one key attribute: pace. On the transition, he does struggle and often is easily caught or, at worse, possession turned over, like we saw so often at Old Trafford.
A front three of Martinelli, Trossard and Nwaneri naturally offers a lot more in transition than one containing Merino. Equally, when chances are limited and restricted to the likes of set pieces, Arsenal would arguably be more threatening with the former Real Sociedad midfielder in their team – as demonstrated against Chelsea.
This is the decision that Arteta has to make but arguably has shown his hand to Los Blancos with this decision against Chelsea. Should we return from this two-week-plus break with Merino still leading the line against Fulham, then we have our answer.
This next two weeks will be a very important period for Arsenal and, of course, Bukayo Saka. Arteta explained that he will be spending these next weeks with the club and beginning to integrate him into sessions with his teammates.
"He is going to be here [at the Arsenal training ground], hopefully more with ball at his feet than he has had," Arteta said. "That will mean he is passing the ball and shooting and running and everything. He has done quite a lot already on the pitch working on his own.
"Next we need to arrange it with people around him in a more competitive training session and see how he goes with that. He's getting closer, he's stepping up and making a very good progress, I would say.
"So let's see when we start to throw him in with the team how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly."
He was also asked about the chance of him playing in April after the win over Chelsea and he replied: "Yes, he's got a good chance."
Fans will be praying that this means he could get the opportunity to feature against Real Madrid. What we know from the Arsenal talisman’s character is that he will certainly be doing everything within his power to return and play some part of that almighty European clash.