This is how ODEGAARD became a REAL BEAST in ARSENAL 😱
Martin Odegaard is the captain and engine of Arsenal, which are moving at full speed to the English Premier League league title! In this video, we’ll show you how the Norwegian turned from a promising junior into a real machine in midfield and what Mikel Arteta did with him. Be sure to subscribe to Vamosito so you don't miss any of our videos. Let’s get started!
Odegaard’s huge advantage is that during his career he has played in all positions in midfield and attack, so he perfectly understands how to act in all situations on the pitch. And although he plays only in the midfield center at Arsenal, his functionality together with tactical objectives allow, or even demand, to be constantly in different corners of the pitch.
“Every day, I'm learning something new. There are so many details, body position, how to control the ball and it helps us to improve,” Martin said.
This is what makes him such a defining player for the Gunners.
“He always wants the ball and he commands our pressing. He's really influential,” this is how Mikel Arteta described Odegaard a year and a half ago.
Martin is always focused on progressing the ball. He constantly finds partners, cutting through the opponent's defensive formations with his passes. If there’s no opportunity to create a threat, Martin always aims to give a pass to a partner and immediately opens up to receive a return pass.
If there are few options for a pass, he skillfully keeps the ball and progresses it via dribbling. Martin's style of ball control is reminiscent of what Leo Messi does, although not on such a cosmic level.
At Arsenal, Odegaard takes the place of an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation, or one of the box-to-box central midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation. These two formations can be used by Arteta even within a single match, depending on the tasks that the team sets for a given segment of the match.
A typical maneuver of Arsenal this season is to overload the wing and deliver the ball to Odegaard so that he chooses the further attack development. You can see one of those moments in this example. Martin receives the ball closer to the right wing and immediately has three options to continue the attack: White, Saka and Jesus.
Due to strong decision-making in general and in such situations in particular, Arsenal are able to create many moments near the opposition's goal. Odegaard fits this role perfectly.
Martin is one of the best in the world at cracking open the opposition's defense in various formations. If the opposition operates narrowly in midfield, as West Ham did in the recent Premier League match, the Norwegian understands the need to use the space on the wings and, both in the build-up and near the opposition's goal, skillfully positions himself in the half-space and between the opponent's lines.
The threat that Martin carries forces opponents to pay personal attention to his maneuvers. And Odegaard makes great use of it. In addition to the fact that he perfectly chooses the episodes when it’s necessary to move to the wing or open in the center between the lines, he also wonderfully clears the space for partners. Understanding that he is being marked, he takes an opponent away from the ball and gives his partners space to develop the attack.
On top of that, this season Martin has improved in terms of goals scored a lot. At the moment of making this video, he has already scored seven goals this season - the same number he had for the entire previous season. He owes it to Mikel Arteta. The Spanish coach took note of this aspect of Martin's game in pre-season training. This especially applies to the timing of sprints into the opposition's penalty area.
Odegaard is now a threat not only as a playmaker, but also as a scorer, which makes him even more unplayable than before.
We don’t even have to mention Martin's ability to assist as this skill of his is so obvious. He has five assists in 15 Premier League games this season.
“I was desperate to sign him. Fortunately, he is here now. He really is like a young Cesc Fábregas. I think he has developed into a complete player,” you can’t imagine a greater recognition of Martin's skill than this quote by Arsene Wenger.
Of course, we must also talk about Odegaard’s leadership qualities. He became Arsenal's captain at the age of 23 and seems to have booked the position for many years to come. The last person to wear the armband for more than two seasons was Cesc Fabregas over ten years ago. So there is hope that the story of the ever-traveling captain's armband, which has already become a source of ridicule, will end thanks to Odegaard.
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