Odegaard

comment by You Can't Buy Class ¯\_/^v^\_/¯ (U12019)
posted 2 hours, 17 minutes ago
Couldn't disagree more, he was missing and invisible in every big game last season and missing and invisible in plenty others too when the going got tough.

Never pulled us out of trouble, never showed up when we really needed him. Just like this season.

He's overrated and is living off his captaincy which was a total mistake and failure by Arteta to give him it in the first place.

Total fair-weather player.
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When was the last time one of our midfielders scored 15 non penalty PL goals in a season?

Take the captaincy off him at the end of the season and give it to Rice. He has been very poor all season and for me he was never captain material

comment by oldboy (U20062)
posted 4 hours, 41 minutes ago
comment by You Can't Buy Class ¯\_/^v^\_/¯ (U12019)
posted 2 hours, 17 minutes ago
Couldn't disagree more, he was missing and invisible in every big game last season and missing and invisible in plenty others too when the going got tough.

Never pulled us out of trouble, never showed up when we really needed him. Just like this season.

He's overrated and is living off his captaincy which was a total mistake and failure by Arteta to give him it in the first place.

Total fair-weather player.
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When was the last time one of our midfielders scored 15 non penalty PL goals in a season?
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Who did he score these goals against? How many big clubs? How many big games? How many big goals that won us games?

Much like the answer to your question, his 15 goals are history now.

Odegaard is having a crisis of confidence, atm. That means he is a bit too selfish deeper and then abrogating taking responsibility in the box. This is throwing off our entire attack.

He has never been one to carry a team under pressure. That's a flaw in character he has from Madrid, but he is very good when Saka/Havertz were taking most of the spotlight last season.

Creative players should almost never be given the captaincy, especially ones that are soft like Odegaard.

He is so focused on trying to set an example as a good captain, running hard, pressing and cheerleading etc that he has forgotten about the most important thing, his own performances and leading by the example of playing well. Captaincy doesn't suit him, it's a burden. As a creative player he needs to be comfortable taking some risks but wearing the armband almost forces him to be more risk-averse, playing safer and more 'for the team'.

We all know the best captains tend to be CBs or DMs/CMs as they can see most of the game and pitch in front of them.

There are rare exceptions like world class strikers who carry the team like Van Persie that make sense when the CBs and are dire and not leaders and the CMs are unsuitable captains for whatever reason too.

*CBs are dire

I am not sure captaincy is a burden for him, and I don't think he is trying to do too much. I don't believe he is that type of player. I could see Declan Rice trying to be that type, which is not what you want, because I've seen him already try to run himself to the ground.

I always prefer cerebral captains for that very reason.

I think Odegaard will perform better when other players are more in the spotlight. Maybe when we buy a couple more high profile players and Saka is back to top form next season.

I believe it is a big burden as mentioned, it's not necessarily a case of trying to do too much overall, more trying to do too much of what he thinks a captain should be doing in this team which is running and pressing as the example to the other players.

I am convinced it has made him more risk averse as well, always wants to play it safe now which is the opposite of what we need from someone who is supposed to be a creative midfielder.

To be honest, he's massively overrated anyway and we need an upgrade regardless plus the captaincy needs to go to Gabriel or Rice.

When has Odegaard ever had a top performance in a pressure game? Those games against Man City or Liverpool for example? Saka always turns up. Havertz is another one who turns up under pressure. That's just not Odegaard. So while Saka is not a 100% and Havertz is missing, we will have to do. That's why I wanted a more creative player to balance him in the two no.8s position. Rice is not that at the moment, but he can dominate the ball and just needs to improve another 20% in his attacking skills. You have to keep in mind Ode and Rice are both relatively young.

I predicted Ethan Nwaneri will end up taking his position in a few more years, probably before he hits 20 and I really haven't changed my mind. Till then, a new striker and a quality left-winger will help.