Arsenal delivered one of their finest performances of the season as they beat Sheffield United yesterday, and they did it without captain Martin Odegaard.
The 24-year-old, who had started every league game this season for Arsenal, was an unused substitute as Eddie Nketiah, Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu helped secure a 5-0 victory at the Emirates.
There was no suggestion of an injury to Odegaard prior to the game, but he had received criticism following a poor run of form, and looked far from his best in the away games against Chelsea and Sevilla in this past week.
Mikel Arteta has now explained why the midfielder did not touch the pitch yesterday, in a game in which all five substitutes were used.
Arteta explains Odegaard absence
Speaking after the game, the Arsenal manager revealed that Odegaard has been carrying a knock in recent weeks, and he was left out as the club decided he needed a rest.
We went through all the minutes that everybody that has played in the last few weeks. He’d played an enormous amount of minutes,” Arteta stated.
“Martin has been carrying a little thing that wasn’t very comfortable in the games. We have players with enormous quality and we have to trust them. We believe it was the right day to do so.”
Arteta should rotate Odegaard more
Although his recent poor form may now be explained by his injury, it is becoming clearer that Arteta needs to rotate Odegaard more.
There are plenty of options in his position, with Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard all capable of stepping in if needed, and in some games, Arsenal can afford to rest him and not lose a beat, like in yesterday’s case.
There has been a lot of scrutiny over how much football Bukayo Saka is playing, but Odegaard has featured a similar amount for both club and country this season, and keeping the captain in good condition will help him return to, and maintain his best form.
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