Mikel Merino analysis: style of play and position

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A Euro 2024 winner with Spain, Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino has been strongly linked with a transfer to Arsenal. Moving to north London would see him come under the tutelage of his namesake, Mikel Arteta, who also had a spell with Sociedad in his playing days. There the Sociedad comparisons end. While Arteta struggled to establish himself at the Basque club, Merino has become one of their key players in his time there. 

Merino was born on June 22 1996 – the day that Spain exited Euro 96 with a defeat on penalties against England. Shortly after celebrating his 28th birthday, he was part of the Spanish team that beat England in the 2024 final, coming on as a late substitute for Lamine Yamal. Although his role in the final was limited, a 119th-minute winner against hosts Germany in the quarter finals played a crucial part in Spain’s success.

Nine years previously, Merino had lined up alongside fellow Euro 2024 winner Rodri, when Spain’s Under-19s won their age-group European Championship. Within two years of that tournament, he had moved from Osasuna to Borussia Dortmund, followed by a spell with Newcastle United, before settling at Sociedad. “He has a very good left foot,” Rafael Benítez, his manager at Newcastle, said in 2024. “He can take free-kicks, he can shoot outside the box, he’s capable of playing the final pass, and he gets there at the right time.”

Here, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed Merino’s game…

Technical analysis

Merino is a left-footed midfielder who has mostly played as a number eight, within a midfield three or four. He also has experience in a deeper pivot role, usually as part of a double pivot. His main strength is his penetrative passing, whether breaking lines or creating with through balls; he is typically his team’s most positive passer.

Merino attacks from the inside-channel spaces particularly well, often finding clever pockets of space in which to receive. The timing of his movement – he rarely moves too early – allows him to frequently collect passes in this part of the pitch. From there, he can then showcase his forward passing.

Merino’s through balls from this particular space often create dangerous situations. He can play carefully weighted penetrative passes, and time them for a variety of movements and runs. For the most part, his through balls are best suited to wingers who run beyond (below), but he can adapt to find forwards or central midfielders.

Another key aspect of his forward passing is the ability to disguise his intentions. As he passes, Merino can quickly shift his hips to provide through balls inside the opposing full-back. This allows him to connect into central teammates, in the same way and areas that former Real Sociedad teammate David Silva excelled in. Playing alongside Silva between 2020 and 2023 would certainly have benefited Merino’s forward passing.

Although most adept at forward passing from the left, Merino has provided passes of similar quality – either through or around – when drifting to the right inside channel. He can also pass over longer ranges, which makes his game less predictable. Merino switches out to wingers on the far side with purpose (below), and can also work bending balls back into the central forward, in moments where he has moved wider himself.

Because he opens his body upon receiving, and can accurately hit a longer pass when needed, opponents have sometimes repositioned early in an attempt to predict Merino’s passes. In these moments, he has been known to reverse the ball into a much closer teammate, again with that ability to penetrate.

Out of possession

Without the ball, Merino is a tenacious, aggressive dueller. Where possible his preference is to challenge early and with power. He tries to impose his body across his man, lunging at the ball, while also trying to get his body between the ball and his direct opponent (below).

Merino challenges early in an attempt to regain the ball, but also to stop – or limit the impact of – opposing counter-attacks, especially through central spaces. With this instinctive intensity to immediately duel, he can concede fouls, which do at least delay potential counter-attacks.

Merino is instinctive and supportive during counter-pressing moments, when he’s not the first point of defensive contact. He has a good understanding of when to leave his man, and when to support a press. Additionally, he covers ground well and, when needed, intelligently screens the dangerous central spaces.

Quite a few of his duels do come from his own mistakes on the ball, however. When Merino is trying to link play from a deeper position, or has dropped towards the ball, he is far less consistent in his passing. Similar to Casemiro at his peak, when he loses possession ahead of the back line, he often makes up for it with an immediate regain.

Number eight

In the six seasons between 2018 and 2024, Merino mostly played in a number-eight role for Sociedad. This was mostly from the left side of a 4-3-3, although Sociedad also utilised a 4-4-2 diamond structure in that time. Whatever the shape, Sociedad’s number eights made frequent forward runs in support of their wingers, positioning themselves high up the pitch. There, Merino has demonstrated his ability to run forward, join attacks and link into a wide and expansive front line. By drifting between the lines, Merino has demonstrated his penetrative passing and ability to unlock his forward teammates (below).

With regular forward runs and intelligent positioning against compact blocks, Merino has been able to frequently pass into the final third. As a result, in five of six seasons since 2018/19, Merino has recorded the most through balls for Sociedad, and been in the top two for passes to the final third. Even with the likes of David Silva and Martin Ødegaard playing around him, Merino’s high positioning has often drawn out defenders, freeing teammates in the front line.

In a 4-4-2 diamond, Merino has had more central teammates to combine with. This means more disguised passing, central progressions and tight combination play. With just one supporting player on the left side, though – the advancing left-back – Merino had fewer opportunities to deliver sliding through balls. He could switch play from left to right when Takefusa Kubo, used as a central player in the 4-4-2 diamond, widened to the right. And as Sociedad readjusted their central-midfield structure following Kubo’s widening, Merino could then move back to his more traditional number-eight role.

Defensive midfielder

In a 4-2-3-1, Merino has dropped down to become a second pivot, as opposed to operating as the number 10. Sociedad head coach Imanol Alguacil used this shape during the 2021/22 season, with Merino partnering either Martín Zubimendi or Asier Illarramendi.

Rotations on Sociedad’s left often saw a full-back advance, the winger narrow, and the nine and 10 pairing – with Silva as the 10 and either Alexander Isak or Alexander Sørloth as the nine – moving across. During this adjustment, Merino worked with his pivot partner to move the ball away from pressure, switching the play. Merino and his partner also demonstrated clever opposite movements, to help manipulate the opposing midfield unit (below). With multiple teammates between the lines, Merino was then able to utilise his penetrative passing – albeit arguably with less effectiveness than when he was the one receiving between the lines.

Merino was able to make purposeful runs from deep in this shape, however, in the right inside channel. Silva readjusted to become a left-sided number eight, instead of a fixed, central number 10. His movements naturally complimented the rotations on the left, while creating more room for Merino to attack from deep. In this particular formation, Merino showed his box-to-box qualities, with the ability to join attacks late, from a deep starting position.

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Author: The Coaches' Voice