Arsenal has struggled with the absence of Martin Odegaard since the last international break.
The Norwegian was injured during international duty, though Arsenal has managed to remain unbeaten since then.
However, his absence is evident in every game, as the midfielder is their primary creative force, and they have struggled to replace him.
Fabio Vieira could have been a solution, but the Gunners sent him on loan to FC Porto in the last transfer window.
Without Odegaard, they lack creativity, and a report from Football Insider suggests Arsenal might sign an alternative for him in January. The report indicates that their struggles without him have been an eye-opener, and Arsenal is likely to pursue a player who can step in when he is unavailable.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Odegaard’s absence from our team in the last few weeks has truly been an eye-opener and we need to do something about it.
We do not want to be a team that relies on one player, so we need to find a solution to not having Odegaard in the group.
The Norwegian will remain a starter, but we need to plug the gap quickly whenever he is unavailable for selection.
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We have Nwaneri. He is good enough
I wouldn’t really say we have struggled in the absence of Martin.That is not to say he is not missed. The idea that creativity has to come from a central attacking midfielder is one I find odd.
In the modern game,creativity can come from many places. In the absence of Odegaard,the team has adapted fairly well,creating chances from the wide areas by the wingers and fullbacks.Saka statistically is one of the best chance creators in the league,equalling an assist record recently. Martinelli is improving and Timber just equalled the chance creation record by a fullback against Leicester. We can see what Calafiori is doing as well. We know all about White.
The two false nines(Trossard and Havertz) create their fair bit of chances as well, as we saw against PSG. Trossard for the Havertz goal and Havertz provided a brilliant pass to Martinelli which could have been a goal easily.
One of the most dominant Liverpool sides under Klopp never really had an attacking midfielder. They set up with three hard working central midfielders. A huge chunk of their creativity came from the wingers(Salah&Mane),the false nine(Firmino) and fullbacks( TAA and Robertson). To this day, Trent is their biggest chance creator and arguably their most creative player.
Besides,didn’t most fans want the manager to give chances to youth? Signing another attacking midfielder will just block the path for Ethan Nwaneri who looks very promosing.
Should we always run to the market whenever one of our stars is injured,or try to find internal solutions first?
Completely agree – imo arteta has made up for what we lack without odegaard by changing things up tactically. We actually look less lopsided as the threats are coming from the left and right in equal measure recently – Trossard and havertz are dropping into those half spaces and supporting the wingers/fullbacks on either side as needed.
I think we’ve missed odegaard a bit more in the big games as he’s so adept at holding the ball in tight spaces, but we’ve coped and I agree it would better to help nwaneri to come through rather than buying a new player.
Yeah Davi I agree that the trait we have missed from Odegaard most is that ability to hold the ball.He controls the tempo of the game and keeps things ticking nicely in addition to that ability in tight spaces.This is why next summer I think we’ll need another central midfielder who is more of a tempo controller,a high volume passer who is good in tight spaces. When Partey came off,that need became even more apparent.
First, top quality midfielders are few and far between, and there won’t be too many available in January. If there are any, they will almost certainly cost a lot.
Surely though it will be a question of how long Arsenal is going without Odegaard. If he’s back, fit and well, before January then clearly Arsenal won’t need anyone. Also, if someone else (Nwaneri, for example) can step up consistently then it’s unlikely Arsenal will need to sign anyone either.
It’s a little early to start thinking what may or may not be needed about a midfielder come January – we’re only at the beginning of October after all.
Spot on Onyango.What we lose on the swings, we may gain on the roundabouts.
Odegaard is a great miss; that’s the truth. We miss those defence-splitting passes from him.Yes we are having the results, but the playing style has lost ‘something’.
When there was a question here on JA if Arsenal have had a great summer window, my answer was that the lack of an option for Odegaard and the reluctance to get another striker after the pursuit of Sesko collapsed, were my two reservations.
Yes Nwaneri is available, which is great. He and his fellow youngsters in the first team give us great hope for the future. But for the now I doubt we can rely on him to deputize for our captain.
Same situation upfront. If anything should keep Havertz off-pitch for a while, the team would have to rely on a misfiring and hardly-fit Jesus for the striker role.
So if Arsenal really desire to win something big this season, they must address these two areas in January. We don’t want another “nearly” season.