Mikel Merino, who is eyeing FA Cup glory, says everything is beginning to click for him at Arsenal after freak injury delayed his settling in following summer move
Mikel Merino believes Arsenal fans are about to see the best of him – at a time when many players are feeling the strain of a packed calendar.
Spain midfielder Merino was sidelined after fracturing a shoulder in his first training session following a summer move from Real Sociedad and did not debut until October. But five months into his time in north London, having previously spent a year at Newcastle, the 28-year-old believes he is hitting top shape after an injury-interrupted start.
“Everything is beginning to click,” he says before tomorrow’s third round tie against Manchester United. “I’m starting to understand everything perfectly.
“I know the rhythms in the team. I’m starting to build a relationship with everyone at a deeper level, which needs time.”
On the flip side, in a hectic January where Mikel Arteta’s team must play nine matches, he says finding a moment to not think about the day job is proving difficult.
“It’s tough when we have so many games, where physically you are exhausted,” he says. “You always have kicks or you have problems that make you think, ‘OK, I’m not in my best shape and I have to play again in two days.’
“At the same time we as players have to try to manage it, try to find ways to disconnect ourselves. Because that’s where you have the real recovery, right?
“You’ve to be obsessed with football, obviously, but you have to find your moments to disconnect too.”
Merino describes himself as a “really simple guy” who has little interest in sampling London’s nightlife. Instead he would rather play the board game Settlers of Catan or read about the legends of his second biggest passion – basketball.
“Right now I cannot play because obviously I have to take care of my body,” he says. “But yeah, basketball was a big thing for me growing up. I liked it, not more, but at the same level as football.”
It is a sport Arteta has leaned on too, previously showing his players video clips of NBA action so they could think differently about how to move as a unit on the pitch.
“I haven’t seen that yet,” Merino adds. “But it doesn’t surprise me. The ways Mikel tries to engage with the players are really unique.
“They are really smart and really useful ways of connecting with the players. And it makes sense because basketball is about movement, about freedom and about switching positions.”
Arsenal will wear an all-white kit tomorrow as part of the club’s annual anti-knife crime initiative, which Merino says “is a really proud moment to see that the club is trying to connect with the community.”
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