Mikel Merino believes Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal into “a basketball team” by signing so many tall players.
Arteta has made a point of adding more physicality to his Arsenal squad and in the summer brought in Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori, who are both 6ft 2in.
Arsenal had just two players who were not at least 6ft tall in their starting XI for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth.
And asked about the huge side Arteta has assembled, Merino said: “Yeah, sometimes it is crazy.
“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 earned a reputation while playing in Spain for being one of the best midfielders when it came to winning tackles.
The 28-year-old was also revered for being dominant in the air and he says that is something he has worked to add to his game.
“As I said before, I think players change with age, with experiences,” said Merino.
“Obviously I am not the same player now that I was when I was 18 or 19. I have been evolving my game and I think when I was 18 or 19, I didn’t have this physical level.
“When you mature, when you grow, when you start working and training, you obviously get better in the physical and tactical aspect [of the game].
“So, I think I have always had the mentality of trying to win every duel. But now, I feel more prepared physically to do so. As I have said in a couple of interviews before, I am not promising I am going to win every duel, that’s for sure!
“But I can promise I will try to fight for every duel like it is the last one. That has been my mentality forever and that’s the mentality I will still have in the future.”
