Changing of the guard has Odegaard thriving
ARTETA’S SMART MOVE TO MAKE MARTIN LEAD
MARTIN ODEGAARD admits he was thrown in at the deep end when he was tossed the captain’s armband and told to lead Arsenal to the Champions League.
The 23-year-old Norway international had not captained any team before, but after an awkward start, his promotion last month has coincided with a surge in Arsenal’s fortunes.
After a 1-0 loss at Southampton, four wins in a row mean the Gunners will still be fourth even if they lose the derby at Tottenham on Thursday.
Mikel Arteta was a highly regarded captain for Arsenal himself. And when injury to Alexandre Lacazette robbed him of a leader for the trip to St Mary’s, the manager handed the honour to the former Real Madrid player without so much as a word.
“He just told me before the first game against Southampton that I was going to wear it and that was all,” said Odegaard. “We have a young team but I think with the young players we have we have a lot of experience as well. We’ve been through a lot and we just enjoy playing football together and you can see that on the pitch.”
Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp described Odegaard’s appointment as “a masterstroke”, hailing him as Arteta’s “manager on the field” after the 2-1 win at West Ham nine days ago.
Odegaard’s leadership skills were given a sterner test in the 2-1 win over Leeds on Sunday. Arsenal should have won at a canter as they were 2-0 up when the visitors had Luke Ayling sent off after only 27 minutes.
“We know how they play and we know they’ll never give up,” Odegaard said. “We always knew it would be a fight until the end. Some parts of the game we can do better
and kill the game. But all that matters is taking the three points. We have to win in different ways.
“West Ham was not our best game, but we won. Against Leeds we played really well in some parts and other parts we had to fight. But we got the three points and that’s the most important thing.”
Despite six years on the books at Real, Odegaard has started just two Champions League group games, so is as keen as anybody at Arsenal to achieve the team’s goal this season.
“I’ve played in the Champions League a few games but I don’t feel like I’ve really played there,” said the midfielder. “I really want to get into there and fight. That’s where the best teams want to be, of course, so that would be big both for me and for the club.”