Tony Adams has doubled down on his criticism of the signing of Martin Odegaard in the last transfer window.
The Gunners landed the Norwegian on loan from Real Madrid as they looked for reinforcements in midfield.
Not everyone thought they made the right decision to have signed him especially as Emile Smith Rowe was doing very well.
Adams said previously that he had reservations about the transfer, but he has now revealed that signing him was done at the wrong time.
He called the midfielder’s arrival a “project” and said the Gunners simply didn’t have the time for a new one at the moment.
He says Arsenal should be focused on winning games now and need only players that are prepared to help them achieve that.
However, Odegaard has shown that he is not ready to contribute towards that, at least in the present.
“Odegaard, I wouldn’t (start) because it’s almost another project which we haven’t got time for now. There’s no time to lose,” Adams said as quoted by Mirror Sport.
“We have to win games of football and he’s not ready yet, he’s demonstrated that.
“There’s a player there, somewhere, underneath all that, he’s got flashes of real quality. But Smith Rowe now was ready to burst into that position. I’d simply put him back in that position.”
Mikel Arteta remains confident in the Norwegian and fans can only pray that he repays such blind faith.
I think he’s contributed well, he’s got great ball control and is more progressive than ceballos, and will get better as the season goes on, and was a perfect sub for Emile in the last game.
👍 Agree Goaldan, I don’t know what games TA has been watching?
In some matches he’s played he has taken up good positions and it hasn’t been his fault Arsenal players haven’t found him.
Plus major contributions to 2nd and 3rd goals against Leicester City.
Seems an odd time for TA and the Mirror to come out with this after Ødegaard had a decent game at the weekend and is likely to be covering for the injured ESR in the next few games.
Exactly, it shows clear as day why the signing was necessary.
Very ridiculous ranting. what happens if Emile Smith got injured? Where will we find the creativity that dogged our season till last December?It’s always safer to have an extra player in every position In a team
Well with the current situation as it is now as Smith Rowe is out what better than having fewer options to turn to than someone whose blending in and helping the cause. Let’s stop all the disputes and simply get down to working together for Arsenal ‘s best interests. Enough said. Let’s get on and sort it.
To be honest. I didnt see the point of this loan either. But after seeing ESR get injured I think it could be the right call. Now I dont beleive MAs plan was to rotate ESR and odegard but if he is sensible that is what he will do. ESR is better than odegard IMO and is wasted in LM.
But to let the two boys fight it out in CAM is a great idea.
Cebellos should clear off though
I don’t think it does ESR any harm to play out wide for a bit (and I think he’s capable of doing very well there) although I agree I’d prefer if Odegaard was the one who was shifted wide.
Davi, they can always interchange during a match.
I think that the club was correct to bring him as cover for ESR and the possibility of him getting injured
I think it is a good decision to bring him, the only missing link is back up to Ternary our left back is the week link I can see in case of injury.
He’s totally right…if we had signed Ode to be ESR’s back-up then that would be a totally different story, but not only was that not the case he was clearly given promises regarding starting in his preferred position(or the position that Real preferred to see him playing)…then you force ESR out wide, which isn’t where he found his success this year, and you likewise can’t play someone who is fundamentally better and more familiar with that particular position that you’re now shoehorning ESR into…if you can’t see the logic of his statement you have blinders on…this doesn’t mean that Ode is a bad player or that ESR can’t manage himself out wide, but it’s certainly not the optimum situation for a club that can’t really afford to be tinkering so much…this reminds me so much of when Wenger would shoehorn Ozil or Ramsey out wide right
Odegaard has been a good addition to the squad; he provides good coverage for ESR. Not sure though if he is worth the 60M reported asking price from RM. I would prefer a midfielder with greater physical presence and goal-scoring abilities.
In the current market given the financial situation at most clubs, including Real Madrid, €60 million for Odegaard is a “pipe dream”.
Has he fallen off the wagon? theres a big difference between “not ready now” and “will improve a lot in future”. If Adams is saying we need to win games now a top class footballing attacking midfielder on loan in the January window is EXACTLY the type of player we need
👍 Tony sometimes gets it wrong.
T A is right though, isn’t he? It is such a short sighted decision. Even if Odergaard has a great year, Arsenal will have to give him up and start all over again in June. One way or another money needs to be spent. I think bringing the Norwegian to Arsenal was a compromise to save both Edu’s and Arteta’s jobs by bringing in some protection.
The mood seems to be that Odegaard is only here for one season, but the truth is we don’t know until the season’s up. It could be argued by the way that Arteta has been managing so far, that he is trying to build two starting 11’s, and squad rotation is a massive part of his plans. If that’s the case, we need as many hands on deck as possible.
stop the loaness business. it is a short term strategy. Arsenal needs long term solutions. with such kind of management surely Arsenal is a declining brand. great stadium, wrong owners!