Ode confirmed
- Edited
Mirth Although back in the 00s it was normal for your best player to have a free role to influence the game how they saw fit until tiki-taka and then ControlBall ruined the fun
Its still normal for some teams. Look at Salah or Palmer.
Mirth I’d say him and Odegaard are on par for what they achieved so far
Yeah but Ode has some heavy lifting in these next few seasons to match him for trophies.
MistaT That said, outside of a few cowardly performances at Liverpool, I think on his worst day Odegaard is noticeably better than Fabregas at his lows. Odegaard has a far bigger impact on our defensive pressing and shape.
Fabregas was capable of some next level stupidity that you just don't get from Odegaard. I also think Odegaard is a much better leader. And his defensive contribution is more significant.
Qwiss remember that fucking back heel at the Nou Camp.
Odegaard is phenomenal, but let's not forget prime Cesc was something else. At one point he was legit the best CM in midfield and at that age, something special.
I agree with BBKG, moving him up front got more goals and assist but he was less effective overall. When Mourinho played him as a DLP again when he came back, that season was out of the world with some of his passes and vision. I remember thinking we got the wrong player. But ultimately he was only good for 1 season and Ozil was good for around 3.
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert or his handball in the wall vs Spurs.
Qwiss absolutely. What a mess.
He's been really out of it since he became a dad in the beginning of December. Could be coincidental, but I wonder if his head isn't all in the game.
Was never world class.
He’s a support man not a talisman
QuincyAbeyie I think Ode has always lacked some aspects. He would throw in a few games where he didn't really impact it enough and his finishing isn't the greatest unless he's running on to a strike. But for the most part he was pretty consistent but it certainly seems something isn't right with him at the moment.
Needs the right team around him.
I saw a stat that he created 10 chances today? didn't watch the game myself, but he can't have been terrible if that's true?
Either his ankle isn’t right or he’s not fully invested.
Didn’t know he was a new dad., but as one myself I totally understand if he’s finding it hard to reach prior peaks at work.
Should have scored his penalty but his overall performance was solid enough. If we actually had any finishers on the team he'd walk home with two or three assists.
Qwiss he had 7 key passes today. If we'd finished 2 of those we'd be praising him for a great game
Ode had some phenomenal passes today. We fucked around. I thought he played really well. He’s not the Roy of the Rovers scorer that some folks want. What he is is consistently one of Europe’s most creative players. These guys need to finish the chances he was putting on a plate today.
At the end of the day if we have 1 goal in last 8xG, the conversation shifts from the creatives to finishing.
Of all the games he's played in the last 1.5 months, this was one of his better. Penalty miss was a good save too.
naz Of all the games he's played in the last 1.5 months, this was one of his better. Penalty miss was a good save too.
Agreed. Our actual performance compared the the last few was much better. At least around the point the red card happened until the end of the swcond half. You could see there was an injection of directness in the way we wanted to force the issue. We were just shit again when we found ourselves in and around the box in taking our chances.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 Was never world class.
Mate you're sometimes a bit like an old millionaire stringing his kids along with capricious nonsense about their inheritances with this "was never world class" business ...
Ødegaard has often looked the best player in our league, I'm sure he "was world class" for at least half an hour in there.
he's back to loan spell ode. overly passive and prone to bad decisions. to me it looks like a fitness/ confidence issue that's come at the worst possible time
His football is still good. His leadership seems to be evading him. We are missing that a little. He is no Dennis Bergkamp like some were comparing earlier in the season but he is a damn good footballer who has lost his mojo a little for some reason. This is where a manager needs to earn his bucks.
He's not been great but he's also being asked to be the fulcrum of a pretty duff team just now.
He looks unfit and lacking sharpness. I've no doubt in my mind if we weren't struggling as we are he'd have had another couple of weeks of being eased in and likely be all the better for it.
He seems to be struggling with the chemistry of those around him, as the rest of the team is. There were a few moments in the game where him, Jesus and Timber all seemed to be gravitating towards each other without any real purpose or incisive movement in complete contrast to the Odegaard/Saka/White patterns we've seen. You wouldn't expect it to be anywhere near the understanding of those three, but it looked completely clueless at times.
Martinelli has to take a shot there, the ball probably didn't carry through as much as he wanted but a near post shot is on there.
Then you consider the chance Odegaard put on a plate for Rice, it isn't his fault they didn't put them away. The penalty is just bad luck, it was a good penalty but excellent save.
So harsh to put too much blame on Odegaard and this is coming from someone who is having some serious doubts about him long term!
Odegaard needs to play with more freedom. His right sided bias works when Saka is fit but without Saka he needs to use the full width of the pitch. Move horizontally across. He is a much better player when he does that. Wenger would just love him.
Ideally Jesus / Trossard should be in that space (left-side biased) and combining with the winger on the other side. It must be hard to change the pattern suddenly with all the injuries.
Funnily enough although he missed the pen I thought yesterday was the first time we saw him back close to his best. And even then he took a lump at the end of the first half and was limping for the last few minutes and wasn't clear he'd come back on for the 2nd half. He's the least of our worries.
Much better today as everything went through him, he really dictated play in a big game for the first time in a while. Reallly needs to remember how to score a goal though, that miss at the end could have been so costly.
Elite transition player. He's still in his rut and way off form yet he still dictates everything. Created more than the test of the entire team put together.
Goes missing when it matters
lorddulaarsenal how many chances did he create versus Spurs?
Can’t recall?
lorddulaarsenal
This. I think our fanbase have massively overrated him. Not a true captain, give the armband to Rice or Gabriel
He's excellent.