Speaking on Matchday Live on Optus Sport, Arsenal legend Tony Adams had a right go at Arsenal’s recruitment over the last few windows.
The Gunners bounced back last night after back to back defeats in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta handed Martin Odegaard his first-ever start in an Arsenal shirt, but the Norwegian’s display was overshadowed by Emile Smith Rowe.
That doesn’t mean Odegaard had a bad game. His movement was really good, his one touching passing accelerated our play and he was a constant threat in the final third. However, Adams has claimed that he would’ve never signed him.
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The former Arsenal skipper believes that Edu’s signings of Willian, Nicolas Pepe and now Odegaard were all unnecessary. He claims that if he was our sporting director, he would’ve signed strong defenders instead of flashy attacking players like Edu has done.
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He said: “To be honest, there’s an argument that you don’t need Martin Odegaard. I got so annoyed that we bought Pepe and Willian in when you’ve got two kids bursting into the team.
“There are other areas in the team that you could look at. There are holes in that team, we saw how fragile they are defensively. The defence has always been the weak link.
“As the sporting director of Arsenal, you wouldn’t be getting Odegaard in. You’d be getting good, strong defenders into the team instead.”
Edu is right, Adams is not:
It’s very easy to say that Arsenal don’t need Odegaard. Yes, Emile Smith Rowe has been exceptional for us since Boxing Day, and there certainly is an argument to be made that he should be higher than the Norwegian in the pecking order.
However, if Smith Rowe gets injured, we have no backup. Our only other option in attacking midfield is Willian who isn’t a natural number 10, and doesn’t look anything like his previous self in any position he has played in so far.
Speaking of big, strong defenders, Arsenal signed Gabriel Magalhaes in the summer. He started incredibly well and after a questionable few weeks, he looked really good last night and is proving to be an incredible signing.
Edu arguably deserves some criticism for bringing in Willian, but most of his other deals are proving to be brilliant. Our technical director deserves a ton of praise for everything he has done so far, including signing Odegaard last month.
