Is Odegaard now more important for Arsenal than Smith Rowe and Saka?
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 27 Dec 2021 13:57 CST
- 4 min read
After a rocky start to the season, Arsenal have found some immense form under Mikel Arteta, and with an impressive run of results they now look set to seriously challenge for a Champions League spot.
At the heart of this recent surge has been the youthful core with which Arteta has built the squad around.
The defensive structure now looks solidified, but it's the attack that has really caught the eye.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of his captaincy and banished from the starting XI, but the Gunners have only got better in his absence.
Gabriel Martinelli looks to be displaying the promise he briefly showed before his injury, while Alexandre Lacazette has played the role of facilitator well.
However, it's been the trident of Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard that have stood out.
The trio have perfectly summed up how Arteta wants to play, and have embraced his philosophy excellently. While Smith Rowe and Saka have deservedly received plenty of praise for their form, Odegaard has slipped somewhat under the radar.
The fact he isn't English likely plays a large role in that, but Odegaard's recent impact needs to be acknowledged.
Smith Rowe's recent injury has meant he's been forced to make do with a place on the bench. Of course, he has netted in three games in a row after being substituted on, but the form of Martinelli on the left, and Odegaard in the No.10 role have made things more difficult for the England international.
One thing's for sure, if Odegaard keeps up his current form, then Smith Rowe will be battling with Martinelli for a starting spot, because the Norwegian has been truly excellent of late.
Odegaard's recent form
Signed on loan in January, Odegaard was signed permanently in the summer, but it's taken him a while to get settled into life in England.
During the initial loan period he spent at the club, the Norwegian international showed signs of brilliance despite a lack of goal contributions.
Recently, however, Odegaard has rectified that, and has now added a clinical nature in the final third to his technical prowess.
The former Real Madrid playmaker has scored four and assisted three in the Premier League this season, but just one of those goal contributions came before December.
In fact, before the final month of the calendar year, Odegaard was looking like a slight waste of money. Of course his underlying numbers were impressive, but he wasn't contributing enough.
In December he's fixed that. After two assists in Arsenal's 5-0 Boxing Day win over Norwich, Odegaard now has three goals and three assists in his last six league games.
It's the kind of form Arsenal expected when they signed him, and Odegaard is finally delivering.
With such an exciting and fluid attacking unit, Arteta has designed a system that suits Odegaard's style of play to a tee, and the rewards can clearly be seen.
Is he Arsenal's most important attacker?
Now, Odegaard's recent upturn in form has coincided with Arsenal's recent upturn in form. Coincidence? Probably not.
It is worth mentioning that all of Arsenal's attackers have suddenly hit form, however. In the past four games, Martinelli has scored three and assisted one, Saka has scored three and assisted two, while Smith Rowe has found the back of the net in four successive matches.
So Odegaard's form isn't an outlier in the Arsenal attack.
However, the Norwegian has been at the heart of everything good Arsenal have done recently. His ability to pick the right pass almost every time is hard to quantify, but impressive to watch, and without his composure on the ball when the Gunners counter-attack, his team-mates wouldn't have such eye-catching recent form.
Smith Rowe and Saka are Arsenal's gems, the golden boy's from the academy, but right now, Odegaard has proven he's more important.
The system could function without Saka, for example, but the same can't be said of the Norwegian superstar.
