Mikel Merino has had a tough few months, since playing an important role in Spain’s Euro 2024 success. Despite signing for Arsenal, the former Real Sociedad midfielder has only managed to make two appearances because of injury problems.
Merino isn’t the only one to have struggling of late, with Rodri Hernandez and Dani Carvajal both suffering season-ending knee injuries. This has re-fuelled the debate about congestion fixture schedules, and the 28-year-old’s opinion is similar to that of many of his colleagues, as per Marca.
“There is a lot of talk about injuries and the number of games, and within the union we all have a very similar opinion. I love playing football, but when you do it so often there comes a time when your body doesn’t keep up with your head and that’s where danger comes. But we can’t blame it all on that because there have been two injuries so close together. What we have to do is take care of ourselves. The calendar is now irremediable, so we have to take care of ourselves.”
Having swapped La Liga for the Premier League in the summer, Merino has had a small opportunity to assess the differences between the two leagues. He gave his thoughts on the matter when speaking to the media.
“The truth is that I’ve not been in the Premier League for a short time, I haven’t had time to have 100% experience yet, but it’s very physical, back and forth and in Spain it’s more positional, more tactical, but they’re two high-level leagues.”
