Martin Ødegaard: El Capitanø

[SA Gunner]

I personally don’t understand why we’re so reluctant to expose Nwaneri.

It’s true actually, we must use him if we want to elevate our game this season.

Question is… will Mikel finally let loose and give us that extra dynamic between the lines.

 

[blrgooner]

Spot on. Did you watch City today in and around the box? They flooded it, quick one touch passing.

Said it before, but if we don’t play with natural full backs, why can’t we have two attacking CMs?

Yes. I think that is exactly why I hoped we could buy Eze and play him there.
I think all hopes of doing that was lost when we didn`t manage to sell Partey. Partey is more of a playmaker from behind and doesn`t cover the space required in the midfield to ensure that we can play with two attacking CM`s.

Ode had a horrible game yesterday. Couldn`t get his first touch right at all which was very strange.

 

[SA Gunner]

Yes. I think that is exactly why I hoped we could buy Eze and play him there.
I think all hopes of doing that was lost when we didn`t manage to sell Partey. Partey is more of a playmaker from behind and doesn`t cover the space required in the midfield to ensure that we can play with two attacking CM`s.

Ode had a horrible game yesterday. Couldn`t get his first touch right at all which was very strange.

Yeah I think he is carrying a knock after that tackle. Lets hope he gets some rest now and is back to his old self again for the NLD.

And yes again to the Eze point. We needed someone like that between the lines to come in. And like others have said above, I agree that Arteta's success will be determined by how many technicians he is willing to bring into our midfield. Nwaneri is the obvious one, and I hope we use him this season.

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

Ode had a horrible game yesterday. Couldn`t get his first touch right at all which was very strange.

I think he’s a slow starter. It was the same last season.

 

[jaystewart]

He was great last season though.

I think his best qualities are in front of goal and linking up with Saka in small spaces in and around the box. You lose some that when he drops deep and gets involved in build up where his stand out qualities don't lie imo. It seemed like a sudden tactical change to accomodate Rice.

 

[jaystewart]

Hope he can find his shooting boots from that season. But I think his overall game 2nd half of last season was superior to 22/23:
Yesterday he was crap though ngl

I thought the second half of last season he was dissapointing aside from Chelsea at home. He went completely missing in the big ties during the run in.

The qualities I like most about him are those of a 10 i.e fashioning his own shooting chances, arriving onto cutbacks, unlocking deep blocks. It seems like he matured last season but I think he is simply on the ball a lot and to take more resposibility due to tactical changes to support Rice + lack of a midfielder on the left.

I am hoping Merino frees him up to focus on what he is best at.

 

[TakeChillPill]

Poor game today, he couldn't deal with the congested area and what the hell was that first touch?

Honestly the fact that this guy is our creative lynchpin is quite depressing to me and it's not so much a slight on Ødegaard as it is an indictment of the quality of creative players today.

He was good up until the kick to the knee, he put saka through a beautiful scooped pass, which he should've scored from. It was quite obvious he wasn't 100%

 

[djpeat]

He did not train with the national team yesterday..

 

[Gooner Zig]

I wasn't aware that Ødegaard got a huge kick from Minteh which he really struggled with - there's footage of him taking pain killers etc on the bench.

 

[Oxeki]

We should recall Fabio Vieira people, I think we will need him.

I really think we should tbh. If Ødegaard breaks down over the course of the season, our season is literally over. We saw what happen against newcastle when Ødegaard was injured, we couldn't create a single chance. At least with Vieira we have someone who is arguably as good Ode at making those final balls.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

I wasn't aware that Ødegaard got a huge kick from Minteh which he really struggled with - there's footage of him taking pain killers etc on the bench.

He's off to Kazakhstan for the international break as well. Ten hours roundtrip from Oslo to Almaty ....

 

[GoonerJay24]

I really think we should tbh. If Ødegaard breaks down over the course of the season, our season is literally over. We saw what happen against newcastle when Ødegaard was injured, we couldn't create a single chance. At least with Vieira we have someone who is arguably as good Ode at making those final balls.

Thats on the coach for not training different solutions to create. We have an abundance of creativity in this team

 

[MutableEarth]

Yeah I think he is carrying a knock after that tackle. Lets hope he gets some rest now and is back to his old self again for the NLD.

And yes again to the Eze point. We needed someone like that between the lines to come in. And like others have said above, I agree that Arteta's success will be determined by how many technicians he is willing to bring into our midfield. Nwaneri is the obvious one, and I hope we use him this season.

It's a longshot but I think Ethan will deputise if the unthinkable happens. He's the closest profile, he has the technical quality and despite being 17, he's no punk b!tch.

 

[Oxeki]

It's a longshot but I think Ethan will deputise if the unthinkable happens. He's the closest profile, he has the technical quality and despite being 17, he's no punk b!tch.

Arteta is never playing him in a million life time. Even worse, he gets a 5 minute cameo, but fails to impress and he gets buried till the end of the season.

 

[Oxeki]

Thats on the coach for not training different solutions to create. We have an abundance of creativity in this team

I really don't think so. Ødegaard is our only top creator. Unless Merino turns out to be an upgraded version of rice at 8, we're going to have to pray Ødegaard continues his perfect injury record.

Vieira should have stayed. I liked his profile. Ødegaard shouldn't play playing against Bolton or Ipswich. But we know it will happen.

 

[Rasmi]

Arteta is never playing him in a million life time. Even worse, he gets a 5 minute cameo, but fails to impress and he gets buried till the end of the season.

It’s hilarious after 5 years of arteta people still say things like that

 

[Makingtrax]

I really don't think so. Ødegaard is our only top creator. Unless Merino turns out to be an upgraded version of rice at 8, we're going to have to pray Ødegaard continues his perfect injury record.

Vieira should have stayed. I liked his profile. Ødegaard shouldn't play playing against Bolton or Ipswich. But we know it will happen.

An injury to Ødegaard or Saliba spells disaster. One creates 90% of our openings and the other turns our backline into a fortress.

 

[Buhry]

An injury to Ødegaard or Saliba spells disaster. One creates 90% of our openings and the other turns our backline into a fortress.

Well I think we have much better backups for Saliba than Ødegaard. But Saliba being maybe the best cb in the world overall over the last 2 seasons is not someone easily replaced regardless of how good the backups are.

 

[OnlyOne]

Yeah absolutely no chance if Ode goes down we turn to Ethan or Vieira???

We have more than enough, Merino and Rice will be 8's, Partey/Jorgi 6, Saka can come in with Sterling on the right, Trossard as well. All this before Ethan imo.

 

[MutableEarth]

Arteta is never playing him in a million life time. Even worse, he gets a 5 minute cameo, but fails to impress and he gets buried till the end of the season.

We'll have to see. It's unlikely but I think if he plays against Bolton and shines he has a shot.