Over the past few weeks, our conversation has centred around the absence of Martin Odegaard in the Arsenal engine room. We’ve discussed how when Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, and Mikel Merino play together in the midfield, it appears boring and lacking ideas.
It’s not incisive, and there’s no proper link-up with the attack. This was evident in games against Newcastle (1-0 loss), Liverpool (2-2), and Bournemouth (2-0 loss). but now….. Martin Odegaard is back.
Coach Mikel Arteta must make a difficult choice regarding his midfield setup now that the creative spark Odegaard has returned and reclaimed his position in the team.
Rice as the #6, Merino as the LCM, and Odegaard as the RCM were considered Arsenal’s best midfield trio entering this season. Thomas Partey was never considered one of Arsenal’s top midfield three for 2024-25.
Several months into the season, Partey has emerged as Arsenal’s best midfield option. The Ghana international has not only remained fit, but he has also been consistent in his performance. It’s almost criminal to consider not including Partey in your finest Arsenal midfield three…
Currently, a thriving Arsenal midfield would undoubtedly feature Partey in the lineup. This raises the question: which of Mikel Merino and Declan Rice will be Arsenal’s third midfield option after the November international break?
As much as most people would go with Rice, they should not forget Mikel Merino’s excellent cameo against Chelsea. Merino replacing Rice empowered our Gunners versus the Blues. It’s regrettable that Arsenal didn’t secure a late victory, but the Spaniard’s introduction energized the team and invigorated their attack.
The summer recruit may not have started the London derby, but he impressed in the few minutes he spent on the pitch. He undoubtedly demonstrated that the Partey-Rice-Odegaard midfield trio is a dangerous Arsenal midfield combination.
Partey-Rice-Odegaard or Partey-Merino-Odegaard?
Mikel Merino has a crucial decision to make. Yes, Rice-Merino-Odegaard is a strong midfield option, but Partey currently performs better in the #6 spot. Declan is one of the best sixes in the world, but he can learn a lot from Partey.
The £105 million recruit will one day flourish as a #6, but in the meantime, he may have to impress as an LCM, which means he or Merino will be in Arsenal’s starting lineup.
Jack Anderson
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It’s a mouth watering midfield if you ask me, surely it would be criminal to leave out The Ghanian powerful world class midfielder when on top of his game.
But Moreno and Odegaard together was unplayable a couple seasons ago at Real Sociedad, which frightened the Bernabeu giant that lead to the immediate withdrawal of Odegaard.
Now the former West Ham man probably , possess the best interceptions skills have seen in the modern game , this is one area of the game Rodri from Man City cannot match the Englishman Declan Rice.
The weakest link got to be the Spaniard as he needs more time to get his feet properly wet, now that the creative spark has return.
I reckon Partey to be better than Rice at playmaking from the CDM position, because of Partey’s superior passing/ dribbling skills and experience
But Rice is better defensively and a poster boy at Arsenal. Partey is also much older and probably has lower stamina
We haven’t seen Odegaard, Merino and Rice start a game together. I think their combination will be good
Well said @Ga👌i I will like to see Odegard– Merino and Rice. Arsenal need Pathey’s CM abilities and dribbling/passing skill set but for the periods he was out injured for months the team coped well.
Imo our defence isn’t at their usual best at the moment, in that case we need Rice back as NO6 while Merino can be tried as N08 the position is what he occupied for Spain national team to a good effect and he is good at tackles and duels. That will offer a good defensive cover for our backline. Merino is also left footed he could target Matinelli for passes.
I think for now, it’s Partey, Rice and Odegaard.
However, Merino and Rice can both play 6 and 8, which underlines the recent deficiency, which is without Odegaard we are anemic.
Just surprised that we make it appear as if we’ve just discovered Partey. Boy has always been excellent from day 1. Yes, he’s had issues but these (injuries/momentary off-games and age-related perceptions) have always been exaggerated for some unknown reasons. While we thought he was bad, we’d then post him all over the pitch and out of position sometimes and we’d blame him for everything that went wrong there …….. Happy that he keeps doing very well still and best wishes to him.
I think for a team that challenges for the title, Rice has the least contributing qualities. As a 6, he has few passing attributes from the deep. As a 8, he has a smaller bouquet of passes around the box. What would be helpful is him using other attributes like carrying the ball into the box which he is very good at. Unfortunately he hardly does this preferring to pass wide or backwards. My best would be Partey, Merino and Odegaard.
“Rice as the #6, Merino as the LCM, and Odegaard as the RCM were considered Arsenal’s best midfield trio entering this season. ”
By who? Most had only seen merino playing at the euros (mostly as a sub), and I don’t think rice has ever really worked as a 6 at arsenal since he’s joined, despite playing there several times (which might have been because havertz was the other midfielder, but we don’t know that). From my perspective we had a highly effective midfield three of jorginho, rice and odegaard from last season, and based on prior knowledge, partey is basically a better version of jorginho (quicker, stronger and better close control, but similar passing ability, playing style and football brain) – for me, there was always a question over whether the rice-merino-odegaard combination could be as or more effective, and that’s still yet to be answered. So, for me, the current thinking is that partey-rice-odegaard is our best midfield, and merino is a brilliant squad option, particularly to take over from rice. However, if rice-merino-odegaard does prove effective, imo it’s preferable because the three of them have better track records for staying fit over the long haul. Will wait and see
Don’t fix what ain’t broken! We were on a roll with Partey Rice Odegard, continue the same. Kai, Gabriel, Saka upfront. Ben, Saliba, Gabby, Timber at the back and we were unbeatable. Have to stop tinkering, just play players in their natural position/their strengths and bring in like to like replacements either due to fatigue or injury. No rocket science. Need to part ways with Tommiyasu, Kiwor, Zinczenko, Jorginho, Gabriel Jesus in the next available opportunity.
for one game since Odegaard returned Arteta has this so called ‘headache’
there are two things occupying me;
1) Arsenal are conceding a lot more goals this season and it is costing us points – defensive midfield screen should have a role to play in improving our defensive record
2) Arsenal left hand side of attack continues to disappoint and underperform – little threat allows opponents to defend our right in greater numbers
Arsenal’s midfield combination selected needs to address both those issues
it seems Merino was recruited to be the answer, i.e. allowing Rice to back to #6 and improving left sided attack, but so far seen little evidence of either!
It’s easy to concede goals with a midfield that is overly relied upon for goals and support for our defense in the absence of a natural striker to keep our opponents busy and unsettled at the back. It was obvious we needed a proven striker during the summer break and decided to ignore this ….. in the current circumstances, chances of conceding are high though we have the best defenders in the league
Merino looked more creative in 25 minutes against Chelsea than Rice has since he came. If the plan is to play Rice as a left 8 then it was the biggest waste of 100 million since Grealish. The Englishman would have cost us 40 if he was any other nationality.
Party, Ordigaard and Rice middle field is the best there is. Merino still have to gel with the team, he is not up to scratch.
Partey, Merino and Odegaard for me.
Rice cannot do it better than Partey does and Merino has the fluidity that Rice lack.
Hello Members,
Honest opinion, is play rice as a headless chicken who can run around everywhere recover the ball and track back, if you need to win titles with intelligency in the middle of the park like toni kros, luka modric, like xavi and iniesta then try partey is brain and merino is , We beat spurs just using partey and jorginho without rice or odegard, thats brains at work, dont like headless chickens, ipity england as they have to still find a proper six and proper 8
Ødegaard is back and all results show is a draw and a loss.