Martin Ødegaard: El Capitanø

[GoonerJeeves]

I thought his performance mimiced the performances for Norway during the international break. It isn't quite happening for him in the final third at the moment.

Hopefully, we'll see some improvement in this regard. Nothing wrong with his work rate or attitude though, but that was never a problem.

 

[SA Gunner]

Lets hope he can continue this hard work, and not get injured as a result of it.

I am encouraged by Ødegaard, and we have seen his quality in glimpses. I am excited to see him blossom, once under the tuteledge of a progressive coach. Hopefully he spends 5 seasons with us and we sell him on for some good money.

 

[Why]

I mean his ball through to Auba, where auba tried to place it and krul got fingers to it, was sublime. Auba 2 seasons ago buries that. Then we would be gushing over Ode. I thought he played well. Can't help the fact our forward isn't in form

 

[Atlas]

Why are we comparing him with Özil? Ode doesn`t need to be as good as Özil to solve our current problems. Its not as if ESR or Buendia/Maddison (comparing them because of the poll in this thread) are anywhere close to Özil anyways.
I thought he had a very good first half. Seemed to tire a bit in the second half with decisions being a split second slower but still performed his defensive duties very well. I think it was because he was playing 90 mins for the 4th time in 10 days. Overall though, I think we still play way better with him in the team.

When you play for Arsenal you will be compared to players of the past. The onus is on the player to raise his level accordingly. Xhaka for example will be welcome at Stoke when he goes there for 4m because he is a Charlie Adam level player and Stoke fans can relate to that. Ødegaard is purportedly a top level talent it’s only natural to compare him to previous top level talents we have had.

 

[Riou]

He's not as good as peak Özil obviously, but he's better than the Özil of the last few seasons here without a doubt.

Plus Özil wasn't as good as Bergkamp, but Mes still had a very decent career here.

It doesn't matter if Ødegaard is a step below the players of the past, as long as he performs well he can easily be a success here, like previous players of ours have done.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

He's not as good as peak Özil obviously, but he's better than the Özil of the last few seasons here without a doubt.

Plus Özil wasn't as good as Bergkamp, but Mes still had a very decent career here.

It doesn't matter if Ødegaard is a step below the players of the past, as long as he performs well he can easily be a success here, like previous players of ours have done.

How on earth can you say this with such certainty? The performance Özil put in against United and Newcastle in Arteta's early days are far and beyond anything Ødegaard has produced. Also are we simply talking about the Özil who never played? In the 18-19 season he started excellently under Emery too before being dropped and when he was brought back he was pivotal in our EL run.

Ødegaard is miles off any version of Özil based on what he's shown so far, only thing is we've not seen the best of him and there's more to come. But statements like that are such hyperbole and blatant revisionism.

 

[Riou]

How on earth can you say this with such certainty? The performance Özil put in against United and Newcastle in Arteta's early days are far and beyond anything Ødegaard has produced. Also are we simply talking about the Özil who never played? In the 18-19 season he started excellently under Emery too before being dropped and when he was brought back he was pivotal in our EL run.

Ødegaard is miles off any version of Özil based on what he's shown so far, only thing is we've not seen the best of him and there's more to come. But statements like that are such hyperbole and blatant revisionism.

He had some very good moments, after Arsène left...but I just feel he didn't really care anymore, his level would drop too much for me.

Would rather have Ødegaard over that Özil, everytime.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

This fanbase gets so so giddy over so little. Ødegaard has one performance, or sorry one half vs West Ham were he was anywhere near even the worst version of Özil but because he runs about a fair bit he's now all of sudden miles better. People have really drank the kool aid the club was handing out toward the end of Özil's time here. You can say Özil of 19-20 wasn't Özil of 13-18 fair enough but this idea that he was absolutely useless is so overblown it's ridiculous, only thing more overblown is the performances of Ødegaard. I'll honestly be the first to praise him if he can replicate what he did vs West Ham over the course of a few games but so far a bit of running is not gonna get me doing backflips.

People have such low standards now and wonder how we can finish 8th back to back.

 

[AberGooner]

Hope we persist with Auba up top as I think Ødegaard can be a big help in getting the best out of him, I think they link well together.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

He had some very good moments, after Arsène left...but I just feel he didn't really care anymore, his level would drop too much for me.

Would rather have Ødegaard over that Özil, everytime.

Completely baseless. In those two games I mentioned he was running around none stop. In particular Newcastle he was constantly running into space off the ball, sprinting to get into the box on counters, helping get back, etc. Against United he was absolutely vital to our pressing. I'm sorry but it's complete nonsense to say he didn't care. Absolutely no basis to it whatsoever.

 

[AberGooner]

Completely baseless. In those two games I mentioned he was running around none stop. In particular Newcastle he was constantly running into space off the ball, sprinting to get into the box on counters, helping get back, etc. Against United he was absolutely vital to our pressing. I'm sorry but it's complete nonsense to say he didn't care. Absolutely no basis to it whatsoever.

It's easy to forget now but that period up the first lockdown we where really starting to play some quality stuff under Arteta. Özil was a massive part to that, he'd totally bought in to what Arteta wanted to do. That Newcastle and United games are probably the best performances I've seen from us under Arteta. No idea what happened after that.

Ødegaard has huge potential but he'll do well to get to that level. Not fair on him either to be compared to Özil really, let him get on with his own game and we'll see what happens.

 

[Riou]

Was Özil pivotal in our Europa run under Emery...I know he played a lot, but don't really remember many standout games.

Valencia it was Laca and Auba, Napoli it was Ramsey...don't really remember Mes doing much then, tbh.

He was good when Arteta took over, but faded before being dropped.

Maybe I should have said current Ødegaard is more useful to have, rather than just better, than post 2018 Özil.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

It's easy to forget now but that period up the first lockdown we where really starting to play some quality stuff under Arteta. Özil was a massive part to that, he'd totally bought in to what Arteta wanted to do. That Newcastle and United games are probably the best performances I've seen from us under Arteta. No idea what happened after that.

Ødegaard has huge potential but he'll do well to get to that level. Not fair on him either to be compared to Özil really, let him get on with his own game and we'll see what happens.

I remember a video doing the rounds which showed that Özil was vital to almost every single attack we made during that period, literally everything attack there was something Özil did which contributed to it significantly.

 

[AberGooner]

I remember a video doing the rounds which showed that Özil was vital to almost every single attack we made during that period, literally everything attack there was something Özil did which contributed to it significantly.

He was constantly pressing as well, more so than whoever happened to be playing CF, another thing which we seem to have given up on in attacking areas. That's something I think Ødegaard can try and emulate as he has the engine for it.

After we'd beaten West Ham I was really looking forward to see how we'd do at City but then Covid happened. Really don't know what changed during the lockdown for the style of play to differ so much, we where genuinely exciting to watch before that.

 

[dashsnow17]

He's not as good as peak Özil obviously, but he's better than the Özil of the last few seasons here without a doubt.

Plus Özil wasn't as good as Bergkamp, but Mes still had a very decent career here.

It doesn't matter if Ødegaard is a step below the players of the past, as long as he performs well he can easily be a success here, like previous players of ours have done.

Hmm if we're talking about talent I don't think it's outrageous to say they were the same level tbh. Put prime Özil next to Henry with Vieira behind him and you're gonna see some absolute magic.

 

[Riou]

Hmm if we're talking about talent I don't think it's outrageous to say they were the same level tbh. Put prime Özil next to Henry with Vieira behind him and you're gonna see some absolute magic.

Meant Özil wasn't as good as Bergkamp for Arsenal, talent wise as you say, they are probably about even...though Dennis' nasty/gritty side made him a better player, imo.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Meant Özil wasn't as good as Bergkamp for Arsenal, talent wise as you say, they are probably about even...though Dennis' nasty/gritty side made him a better player, imo.

Bergkamp also played in far better teams, tbf. Özil never had the benefit of a quality central midfield behind him, and often had absolutely dysfunctional ones (15-16, when he was at the height of his quality for Arsenal, he had Flamini-Ramsey, and Ramsey playing as bad as I've seen in an Arsenal shirt at that, behind him), saying nothing of not having an Henry or players as comfortable in combination as Pires and Ljungberg.

Re: Ødegaard typical performance for him yesterday, bringing brains, calm, and intelligence to our play every time he gets on the ball, knowing to keep the ball when we need to, making the right decisions, dropping deep to supplement our deficient midfield.

What really makes me fall in love with this guy though is the way he presses, which I really didn't expect or know about him until we signed him. The only one with urgency to press and not let Norwich **** around with us playing out the back when we lost control of the game in 20-45 minutes. I wanted to kiss him then (and kick the rest of the team + Arteta).

In short, very intelligent player, recognises what the game / team needs in the game at a very high level.

 

[Atlas]

Bergkamp was a better player because he never went missing. Özil would turn up for 15 mins and create something then go missing for the rest of the game Bergkamp was always involved and he could be a nasty **** when he needed to. He was also a lot more consistent and kept up a high level right till retirement while Özil pretty much retired after getting his last contract.

 

[A_G]

Ødegaard under Wenger would've been fun to watch.

 

[OnlyOne]

Come back and still see @Tir Na Nog as comfortably the worst poster.