Martin Ødegaard: El Capitanø

[AberGooner]

You can definitely play ESR behind Laca given that Laca plays almost like a 10 himself at the moment. They've linked very well together in the past. ESR's goal against Newcastle in the cup comes to mind straight away.

I'd say Laca, Saka, Ødegaard and ESR are very variable and can be used in a lot of ways.

 

[samspade]

Excellent in terms of finding the killer ball today but I still wasn’t happy with much of his more conservative work. I think he put us under pressure with some of his decision making and his unwillingness to play certain types of pass. I think his deeper decisions along with Xhaka and Partey’s would have gotten found out against a better team. Still, excellent work recently in the hole.

 

[Farzad Stoned]

He is a liability without the ball as he was directly at fault again for another penalty in just the last couple of matches. That being said he has been very good delivering the final ball or key pass. Today he looked great right off the bat and should have had an assist in first three or 4 minutes. I was doubting him but he is a good smart passer and every team needs that and other than him no one in our midfield consistently gives us that.

 

[Jury]

Bergkamp-esque the way he plopped it on the spot for ESR. Timing wise, the window was tiny, but the ball was in the clear just long enough for ESR to despatch it. He's clearly a player.

 

[Ciscoo]

Some great moments, far from a perfect performance but plenty to build on. He looks a few adjustments away from becoming a proper goal threat.

 

[boonthegoon]

Other than the great pass for the assist, another great pass was the one touch pass to Saka which eventually led to the 3rd goal. It was as good as the assist.

 

[Henry boi]

Nah he started off brilliantly and was the pick of our players for the first half, could have scored a couple of times too.

 

[Barry]

5 key passes yesterday apparently. As the mid point is the season, it's a reasonable point to take stock of his overall contribution. So he missed 3 games at the start but for the remaining there have been some mixed performances but so far 4 goals and 1 assist.

Assuming he continues that trajectory he would end the season on 8 goals and 2 assists (or possibly a bit more). 10 goal contributions is the target most of us felt he should be getting as a minimum this year. I think his numbers are a bit misleading though. He should have far more assists and I'm not sure he's got another 4 goals in him - still doesn't feel like a natural goal-scorer. With the team starting to click a bit more now I can see his influence growing.

 

[Barry]

Just as a side point to my post above, at the start of the season it was clear that we needed more goals from our AM and wingers to compete at the top of the table. So ESR, Ode and now Martinelli are now looking like they can get 7+ goals a season (far more for a couple of them hopefully). I don't think Saka is far off either. If we get a dominant striker...

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

5 key passes yesterday apparently. As the mid point is the season, it's a reasonable point to take stock of his overall contribution. So he missed 3 games at the start but for the remaining there have been some mixed performances but so far 4 goals and 1 assist.

Assuming he continues that trajectory he would end the season on 8 goals and 2 assists (or possibly a bit more). 10 goal contributions is the target most of us felt he should be getting as a minimum this year. I think his numbers are a bit misleading though. He should have far more assists and I'm not sure he's got another 4 goals in him - still doesn't feel like a natural goal-scorer. With the team starting to click a bit more now I can see his influence growing.

If we win a fk on the edge of the box, you'd hope that he would get some joy there too. With 20 PL games left, I'd hope he'd be able to find 4 more goals. Doesn't seem a natural goal scorer as you say.

 

[Hunta]

He put Lacazette in on goal, any good striker scores. He put Saka in twice and he messed up, give Lacazette the ball again when he probably should have shot, but again a decent striker scores that too.

That was all in the first half, he should have had about 3/4 goal contributions, but there you go.

 

[AL the gooner]

Was a little too unselfish last night. Needed to pull the trigger a couple of times and wouldve got on the score sheet. Great pass to ESR and overall hes been excellent in the last month or so. The more those 4 youngsters play together the better theyll all get.

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

All summer i told you about Martin Ødegaard, but y'all wanted Maddison for his 'numbers'

 

[samspade]

All summer i told you about Martin Ødegaard, but y'all wanted Maddison for his 'numbers'

I didn’t want either tbf, I really liked what he did today. Waiting for him to shut me up with a run of games and a big performance or two against really good high pressure teams, hopefully he can do it.

 

[Macho]

All summer i told you about Martin Ødegaard, but y'all wanted Maddison for his 'numbers'

Was some any league cup game though

He's good anyways, wasn't particularly fussed about what he did tonight. Was a bit of a relief he was on the pitch though think the guys would have been a bit lost if he wasn't. One of our technical leaders this guy.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Continuing his good performance but please don't try play him CM again.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Continuing his good performance but please don't try play him CM again.

Only way you can do that is if you play 4-1-4-1, with a defensive midfielder behind him. He is a bit too lightweight to play in a central midfield pairing. Lovely pass for the goal.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Only way you can do that is if you play 4-1-4-1, with a defensive midfielder behind him. He is a bit too lightweight to play in a central midfield pairing. Lovely pass for the goal.

Yes but when you have really quality CM can play alone the problem you can't depend on xhaka or Partey to play in that role. Ødegaard looked so much comfertable when xhaka came on

 

[Rasmi]

He has improved. Will never be a favourite due to being a Norwegian. The highest level he can reach in my heart is like

 

[Macho]

He has improved. Will never be a favourite due to being a Norwegian. The highest level he can reach in my heart is like

Where you from that makes you hate him so?