The Gunners favourite felt the World Champions had something in common with both his old side and current European Champions Spain.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil in action
As he discussed the next round of European Championship fixtures on Sky Sports, former England and Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson compared his old club side to two of the strongest teams in world football, but not in the most complimentary of way.s
The Gunners legend has been critical of Arsene Wenger’s side when it came to goalscoring at times in recent seasons, not least in the campaign just gone, where he felt Arsenal had a real chance to claim the Premier League title in a season lacking usual challengers such as Chelsea and Manchester City. And he said that the way Germany played at times against Ukraine reminded him of some of the Gunners struggles up front.
“In the second half against Ukraine, Germany were outstanding,” Merson told Sky Sports when looking at their next fixture with Poland. “The way they moved the ball around the park was exceptional. However, they still lack a cutting edge up front in a similar way to Spain and also Arsenal in the Premier League.”
Germany’s Mesut Ozil in action with Ukraine’s Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Artem Fedetskiy
With several Germans and Spaniards in the Arsenal squad, it is perhaps not a surprise to hear comparisons between the three teams, even if the 48-year-old focussed mainly on attacking issues.
Merson, who went on to say he thought Germany would secure a narrow win over Poland, has expressed confidence in the ability of Olivier Giroud on more than one occasion, but has also made it clear in the past that Arsenal would be a much stronger side with more firepower up front.
France’s Olivier Giroud
His comparison is not unreasonable, with Alvaro Morata struggling to offer a goal threat for Spain and Germany playing an attacking midfielder up front as a false nine, while Giroud suffered a goal drought that lasted 15 games at the Emirates this season.
However, the Frenchman still netted 24 times in the last campaign, and with Arsenal said to be chasing Juventus forward Morata, according to previous reports such as those in the Independent, there isn’t necessarily any certainty that things will improve ahead of next season if that move goes through.
Spain’s Alvaro Morata has a shot saved by Czech Republic’s Petr Cech
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