How Arsenal skipper Odegaard became the Premier League's most productive midfielder
After a four-match streak without a win in the Premier League, Arsenal registered back-to-back wins against Chelsea and Newcastle United in the space of five days to keep their title challenge alive.
It wasn’t Gabriel Martinelli or Bukayo Saka scoring the goals to get them back on track though. It was Martin Odegaard.
To the surprise of many, the 24-year-old was named captain in the summer and the Arsenal No. 8 has scaled his game to new heights with the added pressure.
It was a surprise because there had been some who thought the versatile midfielder might not be in Mikel Arteta’s best XI following the summer signing of Fabio Vieira coupled with the Gunners already having Emile Smith Rowe within their ranks.
Smith Rowe picked up a serious groin injury against Manchester United earlier on in the campaign while Vieira has been limited to cameo appearances as he gets up to speed with the rigours of the Premier League.
The Norway international has taken this opportunity to make himself indispensable to Arteta and the way Arsenal play.
Odegaard scored twice in the 3-1 win over Chelsea and opened the scoring against Newcastle on Sunday. He has five goals in his last five outings and 15 for the season. He’s the club’s joint-top goalscorer with Gabriel Martinelli.
The former Real Madrid man has 15 non-penalty goals from midfield. That is a remarkable return for a player who had previously failed to reach double figures in any of the leagues he has played in.
He finished last season with seven goals and four assists across 2,793 minutes for the Gunners. He’s currently on 15 goals and seven assists from 2,907 minutes. He leads the way for goals and he’s third for assists behind Saka (11) and January arrival Leandro Trossard (8).
Arteta doesn’t seem surprised by his captain’s output. Speaking to Football.London, the Spanish tactician said: "That’s something our attacking midfielders have to have the ability to do, and that’s why we play in a certain way to exploit those spaces. Martin has the capacity to do that, he’s finding himself in those positions and then he is being very effective in the final action. It’s something very important for us."
While Odegaard admits to having improved upon that element of his game.
"I think I’m better at coming into those areas now – I attack the box more," he said after scoring twice against Wolves prior to the turn of the year. "They may not be the most beautiful goals but I’m in the right places and that helps a lot. I’m always happy to help the team with goals."
This season, 49% of his efforts have come from outside the penalty area. This may still seem like a lot but during the 2021/22 campaign, this figure was 60%. Odegaard is attempting more shots in general and they are now coming from better areas. It is little wonder his goal numbers have spiked.
Both the manager and the player have worked on this though. It is by design and goes to show how a small tweak can have a big impact.
It really has been a coming-of-age campaign for Odegaard and the plaudits are richly deserved. If this continues, he has the potential to be one of the most productive midfielders in Premier League history.
