SUMMARY
- Martin Odegaard has been a revelation since signing for Arsenal.
- However, a deeper look at Odegaard's stats show that there is a lot of room for improvement.
Arsenal has been one of the most improved sides in Europe over the past couple of seasons. ‘The Gunners’ have made some smart purchases in the market, which, combined with the soccer brain of coach Mikel Arteta, has proved to be crucial for the club.
One of the key players in Arsenal’s resurgence is their young attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian is Arsenal’s premier creative outlet with him impressing with passing and skills over the ball on the pitch.
“Bruno leave my club “Ødegaard is
immediately, this is Zidane’s regen
your worst season🤬” in his prime 🤩” https://t.co/lUiSetHNiq pic.twitter.com/ONdGiA9xJ8— 𝙆. 🌩️ (@UTD_Kem) April 19, 2024
However, as the 25-year-old has grown in significance, Martin Odegaard has also been facing comparisons with other Premier League players with similar profiles. And it is safe to say that one such comparison might shock many soccer fans.
Martin Odegaard has had a strong outing in the 23/24 season
The Arsenal number 8 has been one of the Premier League’s most elite passers. The Norwegian has played a pretty crucial role in many goals that Arsenal have scored in the 23/24 season. Apart from the stats, it is the composure and calmness with which the Norwegian plays that has impressed fans the most. Martin Odegaard has provided a sense of stability and reliability that Arsenal had desired for a long time.
Martin Odegaard averages 2.8 chances per game, having created 80 chances in his first 29 games in the 23/24 season. This ranks him 4th in the list of total chances created in the season by a player.
Martin Odegaard only scores beautiful goals ✨ pic.twitter.com/ylYkuiFIE2
— GOAL (@goal) May 2, 2023
The Norwegian ranks second (8.4) amongst players with the highest expected assists (xA) with his teammate Bukayo Saka occupying the top spot with an xA of 9.7. However, Martin Odegaard has severely underperformed in terms of his expected assists as he has managed to deliver only 6 assists till now. Martin also ranks 5th amongst players from the league in the list of the highest number of big chances created, with 14 big chances created.
Martin’s stats are bettered by Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes
It is clear by looking at his stats that Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard has been doing his job pretty well in the 2023/24 season. However, Arsenal fans will be sad to know that Bruno Fernandes from Man Utd. is head and shoulders clear of the Norwegian.
Bruno Fernandes has created the second highest chances (90) for his team in the Premier League, tied with Pascal Gross who has a better average than the Portuguese. Martin Odegaard has, on the other hand, created 10 fewer chances than Bruno Fernandes.
Bruno Fernandes, what a GOAL 😱 pic.twitter.com/yxL9VDrIKN
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
The Portuguese player has provided two more assists than Martin Odegaard in the Premier League. Bruno Fernandes has been rated highly in the English top flight with an average rating of 7.76, winning 6 MOTMs in the process. Meanwhile, Martin Odegaard has managed to secure a rating of 7.57 with just 3 MOTMs in 29 games.
Finally, Bruno has a better G/A than Martin in the 42 games that the duo has played in this season. Bruno Fernandes has 21 goal contributions as compared to Martin Odegaard’s 17. Clearly, the Portuguese’s performances in the 23/24 season have massively gone under the radar.
Despite Martin’s majesty, Arsenal has failed to win a trophy yet
‘The Gunners’ have been building the team from scratch under manager Mikel Arteta for quite some time now. It looked like the process was finally completed when Arsenal was in the pole position to win the 22/23 PL title until Christmas 2022. However, the North London team had to face a catastrophic decline that awarded the trophy to Man City for the third consecutive time.
However, in the 23/24 season, fans had expected that ‘The Gunners’ could finally lift the trophy. The team had made some smart buys in the form of Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber and thus had a team with great squad depth.
Yet, despite the brilliance of Martin Odegaard and co. Arsenal are in danger of going trophyless. ‘The Gunners’ have crashed out of the UCL 23/24 QFs at the hands of the mighty FC Bayern Munich. Their Carabao Cup hopes were quashed by a 3-1 loss to West Ham in the R16 stage itself.
A Champions League journey to be proud of ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6dyWWTlah7
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 17, 2024
Similarly, a loss to Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup, ended their hopes to win the competition for a record 15 times. The Premier League title too, looks a very tricky affair for ‘The Gunners’ as Manchester City are two points ahead of Arsenal with just 6 games to go.
Arsenal’s tendency to choke at crucial moments proves that Martin Odegaard and his time still haven’t grown the tough mentality that is needed to win titles. Mikel Arteta has a daunting task in front of him to inculcate a winning culture in the North London team.