Merino reveals players only meeting sparked by 'same old Arsenal' fears

Credit: Getty Images

A dropped lead against relegated Wolves last season was enough to send Arsenal's dressing room into a players only meeting, according to Mikel Merino, who says the squad feared old doubts were resurfacing just as the title race heated up.

Arsenal drew with Wolves in the Premier League last season after surrendering a 2-0 lead, a result that frustrated the squad given Wolves eventually finished bottom of the table and were relegated. The slip prompted familiar criticism from outside the club, and according to Merino, some of that doubt crept inside the squad too.

Merino explains the dressing room conversation

Speaking to Mirror Football, Merino described the mood after the Wolves draw and the meeting that followed the next day, held without Mikel Arteta present.

“One slip, and all we heard was ‘same old Arsenal’. To be honest, there were doubts inside the team too. Giving away a 2-0 lead should never happen. But the day after the game, the players had a meeting inside the dressing room, without the boss. Everyone spoke up,” Merino said.

He added that the discussion was not about tactics but about collective responsibility. “Nobody talked about tactics. This was about how a group of human beings handle adversity together. I spoke about how I saw the team from the outside, and I said that this was something we as players had to handle, because the boss couldn’t do everything for us.”

A lesson Arsenal can draw on again

Arsenal went on to drop further points last season, including late defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City, but still secured the title. Merino's comments suggest the players only meeting played a part in how the squad responded to those setbacks, shifting the emphasis onto personal accountability rather than waiting for solutions from the coaching staff.

That kind of internal reckoning is often cited by squads competing for major honours, particularly once the pressure of defending a title sets in and every dropped point is scrutinised. Arsenal now face that exact challenge this season, with rivals eager to capitalise on any sign of weakness.

Having already gone through that process once, the Gunners have a blueprint for how to respond if results start to slip again. Whether that experience translates into the same resilience this time around will become clearer as the campaign progresses.