Mikel Merino heaped praise on some of our newest recruits for the way they performed against the champions Liverpool despite the afternoon ending in defeat.
We fell to a 1-0 loss at Anfield in an even affair decided by Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, but the Spanish midfielder feels there are plenty of posiitves from the game, especially the display of his countryman Cristian Mosquera who came in just four minutes into the content and came within a whisker of helping us to an excellent clean sheet.
Noni Madueke also impressed on the wing while Eberechi Eze made his Gunners bow, and Merino feels that they’re looking sharp as they continue to learn the ropes in north London.
Reflecting on the result, he said: “We’re very disappointed today. Obviously we wanted to win the three points here in a very tough stadium against a really good opponent. I think the team showed courage and character throughout the game, but in a set piece, in a magic moment, they scored and they got the three points.
“I think there are lots of positives from today as well to look into the future. We know this league is a long one, so it's not going to be decided in the first five fixtures, so we’re looking forward.
“Today we saw some new guys coming on the pitch under difficult circumstances, for example, Mosquera after the injury. They managed to come in these circumstances and do it as well as they could have done.
“The whole team performed in a really good way, in a difficult stadium, with a lot of character. So disappointed for the loss, but lots of positives.”
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Just as the season feels as though it’s up and running, we now have an international break that will see Mikel report for Spanish duty, while a host of his clubmates also disappear around the world with their national teams.
That will delay the process of bedding in the new players, but Mikel feels that once everyone is back together, there is still plenty to come from our new-look squad.
“We're going to look back and see how dominant we were on a difficult pitch, how proud we have to be today, even though we lost. We have finished the first two or three games in good shape. I see the team going forward in the best way possible.
“Unfortunately, this is how football is nowadays, you have no rest. You finish your first three fixtures and then you have to go with the national team.
“Now it’s time to think about the national team, but already a piece of you is thinking about the future when you come back and you can still develop relationships with your teammates and start to gel. I’m very excited for the future.”
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