Arsenal depart Hong Kong with the first loss of the preseason, a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham. Mikel Merino revealed his frustration with the result, but he is also looking to take a big picture view of the last fortnight, seeing his time travelling with the team across South Asia as a "lovely" experience.
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‘There are other things that have a lot of value’
The preseason phase is always a time that seeks to set up strong performance in the campaign. Merino acknowledged that there were several benefits of this trip to South Asia despite the defeat in the derby.
“It’s not the result we wanted. Winning is a priority for us, but in pre-season, there are other things that have a lot of value, like getting fit, keeping that connection with the fans in this amazing city.”
The only goal of the game saw Pape Matar Sarr lob David Raya after his pass put Myles Lewis-Skelly in trouble. But the midfielder believes things are not all bad after full time, as Arsenal again dominated the metrics. They had 57% of the ball and created sixteen shots to six efforts from Spurs.
“We adapted quickly to the pitch, to the opponent, I think we dominated most of the game. The result is obviously the worst part, but we have to take the positives.”
The 29-year-old was the most successful of the three signings from last summer. Despite his efforts as a makeshift striker, he could not push the team over the line in the fight for the Premier League, nor could the Gunners go all the way in Europe, bowing out in the final four of the Champions League.
He has every intent of using this result as extra fuel to hit the targets that the side have set this year.
“This feeling is going to be the gasoline for the season to keep growing, learning and go upwards.”
For now, he has happy memories of his time touring across South Asia for a world-renowned club.
“It was an amazing two weeks. When you come to these tours, you have a lot of excitement about it. Time to discover new places, new parts of the world for us. At the same time, show what Arsenal is, the culture, the family we are. Overall an amazing experience and hopefully we'll come back soon.”
The Spaniard spoke more about the engagement of the supporters. The club have not travelled to Singapore since 2015 and last went to Hong Kong 13 years ago, but the adulation is as fervent as ever.
“The support has been amazing through the whole tour. Thank you very much to the whole fanbase, because I know it's hard for them to support us during the season, sometimes with times that are not ideal for them. But thank you very much because it was lovely.”
