Despite being injured for two whole months, Odegaard still leads open chance creation in the premier league in the 2024 calendar year. 62 ahead of 59 for Palmer, 58 Diaz and 55 De Bruyne. He and KDB are exceptional creatives
Ode confirmed
@Clrnc, I agree with @Coombs. Palmer is a fantastic player. But look at his stats. They are accumulated against bad teams that Chelsea punish in transition. Against more organized defensive structures, he’s been largely ineffective.
He’s a kid, so I expect him to solve this over time, and as Chelsea’s team matures.
QuincyAbeyie told ya
8 days later
Bravo today. When he got subbed today almost everyone around me stood up and clapped (doesn’t happen all the time). That display was worthy of a standing ovation 
Makes us tick. Our most important player by a distance.
By far. We look like a completely different team with him on the pitch.
We ARE a different team when he is on the pitch. He is integral for the way that Arteta wants us to play, and even if he has an off day, he still creates that danger for the opponents, and can change the game with one moment of brilliance. And his work rate is astronomical. Just look at his deft flick to Saka for his goal. He does little things like that which makes him impossible to stop all the time.
He’s an unbelievable player in all honesty and I don’t say that lightly. An artist but with work ethic, you don’t see that often.
Only criticism is that he doesn’t do it in the big away games and more recently he has faded physically in the 2nd half but that is a fitness issue post coming back from injury.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 we just went away to an unbeaten team that was at the top of the table in Europe, and dominated them. What else do you want him to do? What exactly is the standard you are holding him to?
If Ødegaard didn't play well yesterday, it'd definitely count as a big game he didn't perform in. 
Sporting have done well but they are still part of a famers league - I don’t necessarily call yesterday a ‘big game’ per se.
Ode did well yesterday but I’m talking about the likes of Bayern away last year. That game is a big game. Also, domestically in the away big games he struggles or goes missing.
Majestic player when he's on it. He does need to check his weight of through ball sometimes though. Ballsed up a couple of glorious opportunities last night due to overhitting it.
He needs more end product as well. I love him but he's too often playing for the pre-assist.
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The Odegaard and Rodri injuries this year and the VVD injury 3 seasons ago have really highlighted to me the difference elite players make on good teams. City have looked terrible but have still managed to keep themselves in the top 3 this whole time. These teams have all dropped to more or less 70- 80 point range without their key stars available. Additional absences around this absence cause a cascading effect.
At the very top end, you need difference makers. They're the ones who keep you at a 90 point pace. But lose them and you drop back to the top 4 chasing pack quite quickly.
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It's a zero sum game. If Ode is always making runs into the box instead of 'playing for the pre-assist' there would be no one there for the buildup, or the buildup would fall on others less suited to it.
One of the problems when Kai was deputising for Ode was that he's constantly making runs in behind and into the box, meaning he's not there for the buildup to support Saka while also going into his space.
Another great example is Haaland. City scored 99 goals without him with KDB their top scorer on 15. Folks imagine adding a 36 goal machine will propel them to new heights, but they scored less.
Ode scores more when the build-up from the left is better. At the moment service from that side is lacking.