"He’s still getting up to speed" - Ian Wright unhappy with Arsenal star's performance in 1-0 loss to Newcastle

Former Arsenal player Ian Wright criticized midfielder Mikel Merino for his performance after the Gunners’ 1-0 loss to Newcastle at St. James' Park. Wright said that Merino didn’t provide sufficient defensive pressure in Arsenal’s midfield.

Mikel Merino was named in Arsenal’s starting XI that faced Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, November 2. The Spanish midfielder failed to make an impact in the 60 minutes he spent on the pitch and was replaced with Ethan Nwaneri.

While Mikel Arteta’s men dominated most of the game, they couldn’t create meaningful, clear-cut chances. They only registered one shot on target in the entirety of the match. They suffered their second defeat of the season as Newcastle rode on an early goal from Alexander Isak.

After the match, Ian Wright was critical of Mikel Merino’s performance. He said while analyzing the match on Premier League Productions:

''Listen, Odegaard has been out for a while now. We talk about our managers… Fabio Vieira we haven’t seen too much of him, he was a player who was supposed to be in the same mold.

''Emile Smith Rowe has moved on, gone to Fulham, and he’s doing okay for himself. We’ve seen Ethan Nwaneri come on, the youngster, and he’s got to come on in a game for a team that’s trying to challenge for the title and it is a lot of pressure on him.''

''You just feel that, at this stage of the season, ten games in, we should not be playing and being as tepid as we are, not creating enough, not putting them under enough pressure. I thought, again, Merino wasn’t tight enough in and around the midfield. I think he’s still getting up to speed.’

Mikel Merino moved to the Emirates from Real Sociedad in the 2024 summer transfer window. Up to date, he has scored only one goal in seven appearances for Arsenal across competitions.

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Ian Wright says Arsenal fans cannot continue to use Martin Odegaard’s absence as an excuse for unwanted performances

Apart from singling out Mikel Merino for criticism, Ian Wright also told Arsenal fans they cannot continue to attribute their disappointing performances to Martin Odegaard’s absence. Arsenal’s last five results in the league have been quite disappointing, as they only won two matches.

Odegaard hasn’t featured for the Gunners since September after he sustained an injury while on international duty with Norway. Some fans believed the Norwegian’s absence is one of the reasons for their lackluster performance.

Wright admitted the importance of Odegaard but added that the fans can’t continue to use it as an excuse for their sub-par performances. He said (via Metro):

"It really is quite frustrating to be ten games in and feeling like we feel now and that’s only because we know how tough it is to try and chase down Manchester City. One shot on target against Bournemouth, one shot on target today.

"It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough for a team that is going for the title. There is a lot of work to be done in that dressing room. We can’t keep saying that we’re missing Martin Odegaard. We can’t keep saying that because we know we’re missing that."

Arsenal currently sit in the fourth position in the Premier League table with 18 points after 10 games, seven behind leaders Liverpool.