Arsenal suffer Martin Odegaard injury hammer blow

The problems at Arsenal continue to mount as Mikel Arteta revealed the latest injury update on Martin Odegaard after the 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in the Europa League quarter-finals.

In the space of seven (long) minutes, Arsenal went from having a very good result to a terrible one. All of their own doing.

Late changes offered Arsenal what they had lacked up until that point, even if they had to come sooner, but a mental frailty and overriding inability to manage games reared its ugly head and the joy turned to ash in the mouth frighteningly quickly.

It should not have needed to be the case, however, as the Gunners should have been way in front by that point. In the goalless first half the visitors were there for the taking, adopting a high line that Martin Odegaard could have exploited.

Arsenal suffer Martin Odegaard injury hammer blow ahead of Slavia Prague Europa League second leg

Indeed, Arsenal’s only central creativity came from Alexandre Lacazette who assumed the role and left Emile Smith Rowe and Willian treading on each other’s toes, and in doing so isolated Bukayo Saka with no bodies to aim for in the box.

With Odegaard in the team Arsenal have that central basis to build from and it was totally absent with Lacazette wrestling control of a task that was not.

There will be no welcome amendments for the next leg, either.

"“We don’t know, he [Odegaard] wasn’t able to play today and he will be out I think for the next game or two. But we don’t know yet,” Arteta told the official Arsenal website."

With effectively only one game left of this season, the absence of the Norwegian comes at a crucial moment. Should it have come to this?

Previously mentioned that he had discomfort in his leg following the international break, the decision to then field him for 95 minutes against one of the most relentless pressing sides in Europe asks further questions of an already questionable fitness team.

Arteta believed, as he should, that his side could have secured a win against Liverpool and boosted their European ambitions via the Premier League, but in fielding someone not fully fit the club have now damaged their best chance of transforming the entire outlook of this club for next season.

Another foolish error, and he joins the rest.