It turns out Arsenal didn’t need to buy a striker in January to galvanise their Premier League title aspirations after all. All they needed was a bit of winter sun.
Since returning from a week-long warm weather training camp in Dubai in January the Gunners have been in imperious form, winning five games in a row by an aggregate score of 21-2. The squad has been reinvigorated, none more so than captain Martin Odegaard who is enjoying his best run of form this season.
Odegaard ran the show as Arsenal dished out their latest beating to Burnley at Turf Moor. He scored the first with a sumptuous half-volley that he casually teed up for himself as if he were playing in the playground rather than the Premier League, before taking on playmaking responsibilities as Arsenal steadily improved their goal difference.
The Norwegian initiated the move that led to the second goal with a pass that bypassed five Burnley defenders as it rolled into Kai Havertz’s feet and carefully threaded a through ball into space for Bukayo Saka to run onto and smash in the third.
The previous weekend, Odegaard created seven chances as Arsenal thrashed West Ham, his most in a league game this season.
Odegaard’s invention has been fairly consistent throughout the campaign: he has created more chances from open play and completed more successful passes into the opposition’s penalty area than any other player in Europe’s “Big Five” leagues.
But it is more noticeable now that Arsenal have become ruthless – 36.2 per cent of their league goals this season have been scored in their previous five games.
That Odegaard is creating a steady stream of goalscoring opportunities is nothing new. In his first two full seasons at Arsenal, he finished fourth and fifth respectively for chances created (including set pieces) in the Premier League and he is currently fourth in that chart again. Ever since his startling emergence at Stromsgodset a decade ago, he has been earmarked as a potential world-class No 10.
However, he is playing slightly differently. In 2022-23, Odegaard morphed into a goalscoring attacking midfielder, hitting double figures for goals in a league campaign for the first time in his career with 15 in 37 matches, all of which were scored from open play and mostly from inside the penalty area. This season he has scored five goals in 22 games, including two penalties.
He is having fewer shots per game (with 2.2 down from 2.5) and creating far more chances (2.9 compared to 2.1). It isn’t exactly a new role, but more of a new/old role. Last season, Arsenal almost exclusively played with a central striker who would occupy defenders and create space inside the box for the likes of Odegaard to pounce. This season, things are more fluid. Opponents are gravitating to him like moths to a light.
One of the reasons behind the tweak in Odegaard’s game is Havertz. The Germany international has played in several positions but has predominantly filled the left-sided central midfield position vacated by Granit Xhaka in an altogether different way.
Havertz naturally drifts higher up the pitch than Xhaka did which gives opponents an extra attacker to deal with, therefore creating additional space for Odegaard to pick out probing passes.
In Arsenal’s last two games, Leandro Trossard has started as a false nine, alternating with Havertz to add another layer of confusion.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Odegaard has produced arguably his two best performances of the season in those matches when Arsenal have had greater in-game rotation and movement up front.
Whether by accident or through design, opposing teams have attempted to double mark Odegaard to try and cut off Arsenal’s main creative source.
The problem with that is twofold: Odegaard is extremely adept at escaping such close attention and closing him down in numbers means full-backs are often exposed one vs one against Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, which is often a recipe for ruin.
Odegaard has an equally important part to play off the ball too, often leading Arsenal’s high press. That was particularly apparent in the 3-1 win over Liverpool when he and Havertz acted as centre-forwards off the ball to close down Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in possession.
He is averaging 1.5 tackles per game, up from one per game last season. Odegaard’s work rate and sense of when and where to press are aspects of his game that are appreciated by fans but often overlooked elsewhere. He is every bit the modern playmaker; a craftsman with the ball and a grafter without it.
Odegaard has faced plenty of scrutiny this season, be it over his decreased goal output, captaincy capabilities or perceived over-celebrating, but his fine form has answered those critics. Arsenal’s captain is leading by example and leading a renewed title challenge.
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