Arsenal picked up a 3-2 win over Watford today and Martin Odegaard was once again the star of the show.
The Norwegian has been absolutely incredible for us over the last few months. He is getting better and better every time he steps onto the pitch and he really is one of the biggest reasons why we’ve looked so good recently.
Arsenal fans love Odegaard and rightly so. He deserves every bit of praise he gets, but club legends Paul Merson and Tony Adams were both adamant that he wasn’t good enough when we signed him.
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Merson and Adams criticised Arsenal for signing Martin Odegaard
Back in August last year, after Arsenal confirmed the signing of Odegaard from Real Madrid, club legends Merson and Adams had a real go at Mikel Arteta and Edu for their decision.
Merson wrote in his column on The Daily Star: “Mikel Arteta is making a mistake signing Martin Odegaard – and his job could soon be on the line. What are they doing signing Odegaard?
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“He didn’t exactly pull up any trees on loan, did he? He only scored two goals! I think it’s a mistake. I think it’s another lazy signing. No other Premier League team was going for him.”
Adams was of the same opinion. He said, as per The Sun: “To be honest, there’s an argument that you don’t need Martin Odegaard. As the sporting director of Arsenal, you wouldn’t be getting Odegaard in, you’d be getting good, strong defenders into the team instead.”
Time for an apology?
Almost all of Arsenal’s signings last summer were criticised by some fans, pundits and the media. Many even said Arteta didn’t know what he was doing.
It’s time for all of them, including Merson and Adams, to hold their hands up and apologise.
Odegaard, in particular, has been exceptional. He is our best player in almost every game these days and if he keeps performing at this level, the Norwegian, alongside the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli, will make Arsenal a very dangerous side.
Odegaard is still only 23 and the exciting thing for us is that he’ll get even better in the coming years.
