Martin Odegaard: Why Arsenal captain needs more from his front three as Mikel Arteta’s Gunners suffer blip in form
Arsenal are winless in their last three Premier League games with questions asked about their finishing capabilities; Martin Odegaard has set up 19 attacks for the Gunners, who have not scored from any of them; Arsenal captain is creating top chances, but his team-mates are wasteful
Martin Odegaard has been creative for Arsenal, but his team-mates have let him down
Most games, you can spot Martin Odegaard geeing up his Arsenal team. The Gunners captain shakes one hand in the air, asking for more noise from the stands, demanding more pressure on the opposition goal from his team-mates.
It feels the like role of an orchestra conductor, only it’s a footballer in the middle of a Premier League pitch. And that metaphor is in line with Odegaard’s role in this team.
Odegaard is at the heart of most Arsenal attacks – he has the most passes that have led to shots in the Premier League this season, while only Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah have been involved in more attacking sequences to result in shots.
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The vast majority of those Odegaard passes are ‘secondary shot assists’ – the pass before the pass that leads to the shot. And they have been crucial for Arsenal this term.
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Arsenal’s winning goals away at Everton and Brentford came from the Norwegian’s ‘second assists’. These passes also gave Arsenal the lead early on against Tottenham and Bournemouth. Odegaard’s key ball to open up the play against Brighton gave his side their result-sealing second goal through Kai Havertz to pick up an important win.
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But now Arsenal are stumbling. Back-to-back defeats to West Ham and Fulham have derailed the Gunners’ title bid. There’s an argument they should have also picked up three points in the draw at Liverpool before Christmas, given the chances they had at Anfield.
Yet amid Arsenal’s recent stumble, Odegaard’s levels have not dipped. He put on 19 passes leading to shots in those three games the Gunners failed to win. Arsenal failed to score from all of those opportunities.
The most brutal game for him was the 2-0 loss to West Ham, where Arsenal had 30 shots on goal. Odegaard, either directly or indirectly, set up 12 of them. Arsenal’s attacking options were misfiring while their captain was putting everything on a plate.
The warning signs were there, when it comes to Arsenal’s attack not benefiting from Odegaard’s creativity. Go further back and the Gunners have scored just twice from 41 chances influenced by their captain.
There was the delicious outside-of-the-boot pass from Odegaard against Brighton to release Bukayo Saka down the right of the box. Saka squared for Gabriel Martinelli who tapped over with the goal gaping. Arsenal won the game, so got away with it.
Against Brighton, Odegaard played a glorious pass to Saka, who squared to Martnelli in the box, but he fired over a big chance.
Against Wolves, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah both missed one-on-ones from precise Odegaard through balls. Arsenal held on for a 2-1 win, so those chances were forgotten about.
Against Wolves in December, Odegaard played Trossard through but his one-on-one was saved
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Against Wolves in December, Odegaard played Trossard through but his one-on-one was saved
Minutes later, Odegaard played in Nketiah for a one-on-one, but he hit the post
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Minutes later, Odegaard played in Nketiah for a one-on-one, but he hit the post
Those moments, and there are many more, didn’t cost Arsenal points but now they are. Gabriel Jesus and Saka both missed close-range chances from Odegaard passes against West Ham. Martinelli then put a good effort wide after being teed up by his captain inside the box at Fulham three days later.
Against West Ham, Odegaard took four defenders out the game to feed Ben White, but Jesus couldn't tap home the defender's cross
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Against West Ham, Odegaard took four defenders out the game to feed Ben White, but Jesus couldn’t tap home the defender’s cross
Then at Fulham, Odegaard teed up Martinelli for a great chance but he put it wide.
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