Magic Martin is a great leader like Beckham

EVEN among some brilliant Arsenal performances, Martin Odegaard stood out for me. He set the tone for a hugely impressive win and I can’t pay him a higher compliment than saying his captaincy reminds me of the way David Beckham led the England team I was part of.

I grew up in an era when captains were expected to be very vocal and giving their team-mates verbal rollockings was considered part of the job, but when I was called into the England squad I saw Beckham do it in a different way.

He gained total respect by the way he trained, played and conducted himself. It didn’t matter that he never ranted — we would be happy to follow him anywhere and that included some big names and egos in the rest of the team.

Odegaard reminds me of that. I was surprised when I first heard Mikel Arteta gave him the armband but it’s made perfect sense. The Norwegian was incredible at the Amex, a game Arsenal had to win and did so convincingly, leaving them top with more goals and fewer conceded than anyone.

Odegaard set the tone with his press. Brighton were good in the opening 15 minutes but he was relentless with and without the ball and ensured every one of his team were on the same page.

His movement was non-stop but in addition to that the technical levels were so high with the ball, there was always this link between the Arsenal midfield and attack. Quite simply, Odegaard is at the top of his game at the moment.

He is incredibly disciplined and available every week, another reason I think why Arteta anointed him as the official leader.

The unfortunate aspect for Arsenal is that despite all of that, it’s still not in their hands. That’s the standard of competition in this season’s Premier League. If Liverpool win all of their last eight games, they’ll be champions.

The consistency of the top three is incredible. They could easily all go unbeaten for the remainder of the season, where even the odd draw could be fatal. Tottenham have to play all three protagonists and I suspect they might prove king-makers by picking up a result against at least one of them.

I hope I’m not being a hostage to fortune but it doesn’t feel like Manchester United are playing well enough to cause an upset against Liverpool today, even if they did beat them in the FA Cup.

An Arsenal title would be good for football. For the club to take a young, untested manager like Arteta and trust him with money and time to build a project would be a great story. Then again, you could say the same about Jurgen Klopp leaving Anfield as king.

It’s not anti-Manchester City but after winning the last three titles, I suspect a lot of neutrals quite like the idea of a different name on the trophy.

I remember first being called up by England and seeing the work Beckham put in, regardless of whether we were playing a major nation next or not.

He was already known as the best free-kick taker in the world but would stay behind after training to practise more. It made me realise why he’d had so much success, and that leadership can come in different forms.

If Odegaard does lift the Premier League trophy at the end of the season, Arteta deserves huge credit for making him captain.