Arsenal: 3 Martin Odegaard Options Under Mikel Arteta

Arsenal have secured the loan signing of Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid to widespread fanfare.

With the Premier League to tackle along with other cup competitions, securing another player with creative qualities was essential to releasing the strain on the squad and to aid in rotation.

Emile Smith Rowe has been exquisite since coming into the fold at the end of December, flying the flag for inventiveness in the final third and playing an integral role in the Gunners’ recent run of form.

Still only 20 years old and boasting just a handful of senior outings to his name, it became apparent that he couldn’t bear this burden all on his own. Naturally, if possible, he would.

It is, however, a lot to ask the midfielder for the second half of the season, and with Mesut Ozil no longer in the picture the need for more bodies in that area became crucial this window.

Having now secured their man, how could Mikel Arteta go about using Martin Odegaard in the team?

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1354392486291140609

3 ways Arsenal could use Martin Odegaard

The first one is fairly obvious: Smith Rowe cover.

Operating at his best level to date in front of a double midfield pivot, Smith Rowe’s intelligent running off the ball and understanding of space make him a constant threat in between the lines. Picking up positions in the half-spaces and given the freedom to do much of his work in wide areas, Arsenal have been a vastly improved outfit as a result.

He makes smart (sexy) runs that no other player in the squad makes, which means without him Arsenal lose their attacking potency and fluidity in advanced areas.

There will come a point where the Gunners will have to be without him though, since he will need rest as the club embark on the second half of the season.

Securing Odegaard, someone who thrives in the half-spaces and proved with his performances last season that he can have a positive impact in progressive moves, is about as good as Arsenal could have hoped for. Technically sound, effective in tight situations and boasting intelligence on and off the ball, when he eventually finds his feet in English football he will be superb cover.

He’ll need to, as well, since the deal will cost Arsenal in the region of £6m.

4-3-3 with Thomas Partey and Emile Smith Rowe

This is one to get the pulses racing.

It’s been brewing for months that Arteta eventually wants to move away from the 4-2-3-1 and shift into a 4-3-3 with two No. 8/10 hybrids alongside a single defensive midfielder. At present he doesn’t have the personnel to do so, thus Thomas Partey takes his place in a double pivot with Smith Rowe the key creative operator.

Granit Xhaka and Partey look set to form a partnership that will see the season out (at least), but there could be scope to try a lineup to truly whet Arsenal appetites.

Playing Partey as the single deep midfielder with Smith Rowe to his right and Odegaard to his left (even if he prefers the right), he has two players of a similar mould who can assume the No. 8 role either side. Both thriving in half-spaces and effective movers of the ball, Arsenal would have the most mobile and athletic midfield in years. Balance wouldn’t be unhinged with Odegaard’s natural left-footedness.

Odegaard has dabbled in a few positions including a more reserved space in midfield, one that allows him to perform box-to-box duties and offer delayed support in attack. Alongside Partey there will be added defensive assurance given his exemplary reading of danger, while equally striking a balance with Smith Rowe, thus allowing him to assume the more traditional No. 8 mantle.

Such a system is less defensively sound than if, say, Xhaka featured, but late in matches when either chasing the game or against opposition who pose less of a threat, Arteta may look to dabble with his long-term preference.

Covering Bukayo Saka at Right-Winger

All the talk of needing someone to give Smith Rowe’s legs a wee break has masked over similar needs for Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal’s star man this season is of supreme importance to the club. Perhaps most influential of all. Due to that, he’s played in all-but two of the Premier League fixtures this season on top of trips away with the national side. Not used in the Europa League group stages, now the Gunners are into the nitty gritty of the knockout stages, his value to the side becomes apparent once more.

Adding those fixtures (hopefully more than just the two) on top of an already congested season will require him to rest, which is where Odegaard can come in.

Far from a quintessential winger, neither is Saka. Unlike the Nicolas Pepe ilk, Odegaard won’t be getting chalk on his boots all game in the same vein of the 19-year-old.

He’s played in wide areas before during his career, either on the left or the right, where he can help build triangles in wide areas before interchanging with his fellow forwards and moving infield. Calmness in these areas when Arsenal look for overloads, Odegaard has the nous to pick out a teammate in either one or two touch fashion.

It wouldn’t be an uncomfortable role for him to operate in, even if he isn’t as pacey as his new teammates.

Possessing a varied enough skill set to still be effective in wide berths, heightened technical ability and glue-like feet ensure he is capable of beating his man one-on-one. Despite Arsenal playing with two wide players, one is given license to drift into the half-spaces and allow for an overlapping full-back, where Odegaard could thrive.

In Arteta’s fluid formation fantasy, tasks out wide come hand-in-hand with central obligations, thus someone of his versatility and technical competence won’t disrupt his intended flow.