Odegaard's Arsenal form is elite - and it's permanent

Sam McGuire

• 19 Jan 2023 14:01 GMT
• 5 min read

At one stage during the summer, Martin Odegaard’s future at Arsenal looked a little uncertain.

The Gunners had parted with €35 million to secure the services of Fabio Vieira and there were multiple reports claiming Mikel Arteta wanted to add more attacking reinforcements to his team. If moves did materialise, there was a feeling that Emile Smith Rowe could drop into midfield.

Odegaard had impressed during the 2021/22 campaign with seven goals and four assists from midfield as Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League. Yet they felt they needed to add another versatile, left-footed, final-phase player in Vieira.

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From the outside looking in, it looked as though the Porto man had been signed to rival the Arsenal No.8 for a place in Arteta’s starting XI. Similar fee and an almost identical profile.

However, a little over a month later, Odegaard was named the new club captain. Fast forward to now and he’s spearheading their title challenge.

The Gunners sit top of the Premier League table and are eight points clear of Manchester City ahead of this weekend’s clash with old foes Manchester United.

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The 24-year-old has already bettered last season’s return with eight goals and five assists in just 17 outings. He’s the leading scorer for the team in the league and only six players have found the back of the net more often than the Norway international.

Rio Ferdinand recently said that the former Real Madrid prodigy was his Player of the Year and Arsenal legend Ian Wright echoed this sentiment, saying: “He leads by example and can be the Player of the Year.”

Odegaard has four goals and three assists in his last five appearances for Arsenal. Since the Premier League resumed following the World Cup, the 47-cap international has really come to the fore for the Gunners.

He claimed two assists against West Ham United in the 3-1 win over the Hammers on Boxing Day. Odegaard then scored and assisted in what had the potential to be a tricky away trip to Brighton as Arsenal ran out 4-2 winners. His exploits in November and December earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award.

Newcastle United managed to keep him quiet but the fleet-footed Norweigian was back amongst the goals in the 2-0 win over Spurs. A performance that was lauded by his manager.

“He was terrific,” Arteta said of his captain’s performance in his post-match press conference.

“Especially in the first half, I think he was incredible. He’s really showing a different kind of presence, the way he’s influencing the game, just the feeling, the way he moves, what he transmits on the pitch is different and today to do what he’s done here, it’s a big credit to him.”

Odegaard's form is no purple patch

His form over recent weeks has been nothing short of sensational and it kind of arrived out of nowhere. Following his goal against Fulham in August, Odegaard went 11 matches across Premier League and the Europa League without finding the back of the net.

What we’re seeing now isn’t a purple patch. Odegaard has worked on becoming more of a reliable, sustainable goal threat.

Last season, for example, he had an Expected Goals per 90 average of 0.17 in the Premier League. This season, that average has jumped to 0.31. So he’s almost doubled that while attempting just 0.92 more shots on a per-90 basis.

While his goal against Spurs, a 30-yard effort, caught the eye, what is more impressive is just how often he’s managing to get shots off from high-value areas in the penalty area.

For one of his goals against Wolves, he has a tap-in from two yards out. It is an easy goal but he deserves it after getting into that area. He knicks the ball off of Bukayo Saka and he’s closer to goal than both Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.

If Odegaard keeps getting into those areas, he will continue to score.

Again, the No.8 is getting a shot off from a decent position in the box. Instead of lingering on the edge of the area like some midfielders do, Odegaard attacks the space and ends up getting a shot off from 12 yards out.

He is overperforming his underlying numbers right now but his technique coupled with the positions he is now occupying suggests this could be sustainable - at least this season.

Odegaard’s transformation from a support act to a leading man has been one of the stories of the campaign for Arsenal.