How many of us genuinely believed that Martin Odegaard was struggling simply because Bukayo Saka was injured?
When Saka picked up his knock at the end of last year, ruling him out for around three months, Arsenal’s rhythm suffered. Understandably, when a team loses a key player, the burden falls on others to step up and fill the void. In our case, most fingers pointed to Odegaard, our captain, our creator-in-chief, the heartbeat of the team. It was expected that he would rise to the occasion and carry the side through a difficult spell.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead of taking control, Odegaard looked lost. His usual sharpness and vision seemed dulled, his influence waning game after game. The Norwegian didn’t look like the same player who lit up the Premier League last season with his flair, leadership, and crucial goals. And so, a theory emerged: Odegaard was underperforming because Saka, the winger who so often plays just ahead of him, was missing. The thinking was that Odegaard needed Saka to be at his best.
Yet here we are, months later, with Saka back in the side, and Odegaard still doesn’t look himself.
Yes, their on-field relationship has shown signs of life. There have been glimpses of the quick one-twos, the clever link-ups on the right, and the pressing sequences that used to terrorise defences. But it’s not been enough. There’s been no standout performance from Odegaard to suggest he’s rediscovered his magic. No moment where you sit back and say, “That’s the captain we know.”
Saka has returned and looked lively, even game-changing in spells, but Odegaard hasn’t raised his level accordingly. In fact, it’s starting to look like his dip in form runs much deeper than Saka’s absence. The theory that he needed the Englishman to shine is quickly falling apart.
And it begs a difficult question: Are we witnessing the beginning of Odegaard’s decline? Is this just a rough patch, or something more permanent?
Whatever it is, Arsenal need answers, and Odegaard needs to find his spark again, quickly. There’s still time to change the narrative, but right now, it’s looking bleak.
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I think he’s just going through a bad spell. He’s already shown how good he is. He’s only 26 years old. I’m sure he can get back to his best. I have a lot of belief in him
As lot of talented players get lost and regain it
Proudly flexing the captain armband as he leads us out time and time again.
Odegaard has been such a success at Arsenal, it begs the question as to why it did not work out in Madrid.
Looking back captain Odegaard never played a single minute under that great Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, but the Norwegian seems to have a remarkable ability to weather setback.
If ever there was a time when our Captain needs, to take up the mantle and shake critics off is now.
Odegaard was one of our best players against Ipswich yet there were fans saying he had a bad game. It is a false narrative based on the expectation that his role is to make assists. Yet all reputable football algorithms rated him as Arsenal’s best player and included him in their team of the week.He may not be scoring goals or assists regularly but he’s being effective still.
What most fans don’t understand is that there’s a slight change in his role in the team. He controls the tempo of our game. Our game flows through him. He’s the glue that holds everything together and that is a role fans rarely appreciate. It is a role whose importance you’ll only notice when the tempo setter is not on the pitch.
Against Ipswich for instance, Odegaard, had the most touches, most completed passes, most touches in the opposition box, most possession won in the final third and most shots on target of all the players on the pitch. And these stats don’t even cover the hard work he puts in every game. There’s no Arsenal player that works hard as him except maybe Rice. Our entire out of position game which is our superpower is built on him initiating the press.
The narrative that needs to change is that Odegaard is out of form simply because he’s not scoring lots of goals/assists. He’s contributing to team performance in other ways and is virtually irreplaceable at what he does based on the players we currently have.
Something’s off with his shooting though. Could he still be suffering the effects of that injury he had? I don’t know. The rest of his game is just as good as it always has.
He was awful against Ipswich,not sure what game you watched ,only one pulling out a silly narrative is you mate .
We’ve had it with Havertz,certain fans (they know who they are )trying to make excuses ,I will say it as I see it and Odegaard as been completely overhyped since he came here .
As usual, you make well considered comments Onyango. Not everyone sees it the same and that’s what opinions are all about.
I’d say he’s slightly off, but not nearly enough to question his commitment and ability.
As a captain, I can’t see why changing the status quo would make any difference at all. He does a good job
Yeah there are certainly aspects of his game that are off but not nearly to the extent that it’s being made out to be. He was our player of the season for the last two seasons and that alone should afford him some grace. I’m sure he’ll be back to his best soon.
One thing I might add is that he’s a player who thrives when there are runners ahead of him. That’s probably why he was much better with White making those runs behind the Ipswich defence.
Sorry Onyango in my original post if I came across as a d1ck .
But would put you in that group of fans that think more of Arteta than Arsenal (could be wrong )there are a few of them on JA .
My advice is keep your opinion but stand your ground but don’t look for backup from fellow Arteta odd balls (not you )especially those who try and get the opposite banned on here .
Absolute cringe AF from some of them 🤢
It’s okay. I try not to talk about Arteta unless he’s the topic of discussion. I won’t lie though, I’m a fan of his and maybe that makes me a little biased when it comes to him. I was a fan of Wenger too and he’s a big part of why I started supporting Arsenal as a kid. Emery is the coach I never really took to.That said, I’m a fan of Arsenal first because the club is bigger and will outlive any individual be it a coach or a player.
I guess one can be a fan of the club and still be a fan of a particular coach/player. I remember being a massive fan of Özil and maybe that made me blind to some of his flaws that others saw.
Anyway, I try to be objective, especially after reading comments from others. I now realize,for instance, that there are aspects of Odegaard’s game I hadn’t considered. I just think he’s still contributing to the team and taking him out would have a negative impact. If next season comes and he’s still not improved, then this is a discussion we can have. Even Rice was out of form for a while at the start of this season but he seems to be back.
That’s the standard that he has built for himself at Arsenal and even when he has a somewhat good game it is deemed not good enough due to the level he has set for himself.
But overall Odegaard has been very underwhelming this season. I have never seen him give the ball away the amount of time he had does this season. I just don’t understand what has happed to him.
But with the quality he has shown since moving here I am 100% sure he will be back firing on all cylinders next season.
M🤞
Odegaard is certainly struggling this year; whether it is a hangover from his injury, or just a slump many players go through.
Next year should show a revitalized and productive Odegaard, or questions should rightly be asked.
Durand,
I’m asking them now.
I have posted on other articles on here on my thoughts on Odegaard.
I just don’t get the hype surrounding him to be honest. He’s a good player and nothing more.
Whenever he’s criticized you always get well he runs around a lot and he’s good at the press, that’s all well and good, but I expect a lot more than that from my clubs captain.
Talking of the captain, I think that honour should go to Gabriel or Rice. Anyone who saw how Rice took the two Madrid games by the scruff of the neck, could not have failed to be impressed. That’s what you call a captains performance.
Something that Odegaard fails to produce on a consistent basis. So as far as I’m concerned he should not be the club captain.
I’ll refer again to a certain Mr Rice and his two Madrid performance as the gage as to what a captain needs to be for this club.
Odegaard was massive for us on a regular basis when we were really challenging for the title past two seasons.
Rice can’t just be a captain based on two games performance. It should be regular. Furthermore a player can be an excellent performer yet a poor leader and the vice versa is true.
Till date, I have yet to see where did that 100 million value come from based on his performances.
@Derek
You are either just biased or have not watched Arsenal since he signed Odegaard permanently.
He has been one of our most consistent players for the last few seasons. He has led us as our captain from where we were into the top 4 and challenging for the title. This season has just been so underwhelming for the whole team (Arteta and players etc). It’s been a start stop season in terms of injuries and player indiscipline.
I think it’s fair to criticise Odegaard for having had a very average, poor and underwhelming season. But to just blanket dismiss him as just an average player that is overhyped due to this poor season is very myopic to me.
Malaika,
I’m not biased as you put it. Odegaard had a good season where he scored 15 goals and had some assists, and I give him credit for that.
But for me I’ve always been of the opinion that he’s a good player but nothing more. Real Madrid don’t usually let their real good players go, the fact they were willing to sell him speaks volumes.
And where him being the club captain, well that comes down to me personally believing that he shouldn’t be the club captain.
If waving your arms about, running around a lot and being good at the press is all that’s needed to keep your place in the team then he’s clearly smashing it.
But having seen the likes of Tony Adams, Patrick Viera, Thierry Henry captain this club, they to me epitomized what a club captain should be. Adams and Viera especially gave you the impression they would run through walls for the club.
Not that I’m suggesting that Odegaard should do that, but I think you’ll get my drift.
Ødegaard is out of form r, just look at how much we struggled to compete with Liverpool for the league. And now people are calling for Rice to be captain based on two standout performances? Are we only playing two games in a. season? I’ve seen Partey outshine Rice several times this season, but he never gets this kind of hype. Rice is great, but football is a team effort. If some of you were managing this team, Skelly would never see the pitch again after those mistakes. Let’s be honest, being emotional makes you a passionate fan, but it doesn’t make you a great coach. Some are even calling for Ødegaard to be dropped for Nwaneri. Seriously?
I think it’s unreasonable to expect more from him purely because he’s the club captain Derek. It’s a role he undertakes well imo. Certainly, Rice and GM are good candidates but withdrawing the armband is tantamount a demotion and what will it fix? I presume that you are in favour of dropping him if that’s the case
SueP,
With him being club captain that come’s with a bit more responsibility than just being a player.
His performances have been nowhere near what they need to be. Whenever his performances are questioned, the times I hear it said that he runs around a lot and he’s good at the press. That may be so, but don’t tell me that should be enough for him to keep his place in the starting line-up game after game.
People are saying that two games is not enough for Rice to be considered for the roll, that may be the case, but the point I was making really as regards Rice, was that the way Rice took both games by the scruff of the neck and lets face it he ran those games. That’s the level I hold my teams captain to, and I don’t care what anyone says, Odegaard regularly underperforms. And it’s because he’s the club captain that keeps him in the side, and that shouldn’t be the case.
And if I was the manager and I decided to drop him to the bench, and he got stroppy about it, I’d let him know in no uncertain terms why he was dropped, and would remind him that he’s the club captain and like it or not that comes with more responsibility, and if he can’t handle it. I’ll give it to someone that can. It’s that simple.
Maybe Odegaard should be dropped to the bench, but I don’t see anyone who can reliably replace him, that’s the problem. Maybe the discussion should go beyond Odegaard to include who can or should replace him. But even if someone else was to replace him, it may take time to build that chemistry he already has with Saka and that partnership will be needed if we are to win the CL.This is not a straightforward thing at all. For me, it’s more of a discussion going into the next season.
I’m not sure it’s true that being captain is the only thing keeping him in the team-it’s just a claim you can’t prove.Arteta has dropped a captain before- Aubameyang. Our game model is built around Odegaard and maybe that’s the problem- we can’t experiment with something new at this stage. We beat Real Madrid 5-1 with Odegaard in the team. I don’t think you can achieve that while ‘carrying’ one player. It means he contributed, one way or another.
I don’t agree with the article. Odegaard hasn’t been playing at the level he can but he hasn’t been bad in the last few games. He was overshadowed by the other MFs particularly Rice against RM but still put in a committed, solid performance. His overall performance against Ipswich was quite good and he was one of our best players. I agree with those who have identified his shooting as being an issue that he needs to work on.
As usual, a player has a dip in form and all of a sudden he’s always been useless. I totally agree that at times this season he’s not been at his best but there is no other player in our team who can, not only spot a crucial pass, but can also execute it with precision. Let’s just hope Rice doesn’t have a couple of off days otherwise he will be regarded as a total waste of money.
Sando true GB, so true.
Wasn’t Martinelli destined for the bin at various points of the season, yet here we are, witnessing a return to form that puts him in the top bracket once again.
Kiwior, Gabriel, Jesus, Havertz and Tierney have all been through the same wringer at some point or another.
I see Odegaard’s captaincy as a link with Mikel and the fans during a game, as, surely, these professionals shouldn’t need to be told what to do during said game?