Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard’s performance for Arsenal against Manchester City has been heavily criticised by Defensa Central.
The Spanish outlet, who cover Real Madrid extensively, have kept a close eye on the Norwegian ever since he joined us on loan last month.
Odegaard was handed his third start in a row on Sunday but, like many of his teammates, he struggled. The 22-year-old could barely get on the ball and when he did, he couldn’t make much out of it due to Manchester City’s relentless pressing.
Defensa Central have titled their performance review as ‘Odegaard’s scattered match against City: He did not enter the game and barely appeared’.
They claim that he went ‘unnoticed’ during his time on the pitch and labelled his display as ‘flat’, ‘null’ and ‘very inactive’. They also write that he was ‘barely showing verticality in his interventions’ and his offensive threat was ‘hardly having significance’.
Arsenal Insider’s view:
That is slightly harsh on Odegaard who was not helped by the players around him. He got into good positions at times, but like everyone around him, he failed to find the final pass.
He only had 40 touches of the ball and misplaced it 10 times. However, he still managed to maintain a very decent 87% passing accuracy, which is very difficult against a side like City who barely give you any space to exploit. (SofaScore)
Odegaard still has a lot to improve but we should let him off the hook this time. He’s still adapting to the new league and three starts in a row proved to be a bit too much for him, and he was rightly subbed off in the 72nd minute.
It will be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta starts him again on Thursday. He had a decent game against Benfica last time around, and if he gets the nod again, he will have to fare a lot better to help Arsenal get over the line in Greece.
