Arsenal: 5 tactical demands for Martin Odegaard in 4-2-3-1

3. Odegaard Can Speed Up Arsenal’s Progression

Just because the player isn’t especially fast doesn’t mean he can’t speed up how his side plays.

One of the main criticisms of Odegaard is that he isn’t overly pacey. It’s a peculiar avenue to take given that Mesut Ozil and Dennis Bergkamp weren’t speed merchants, and they ended up doing rather well.

But this isn’t a comparison of any kind. What those two did was bring pace to Arsenal’s attacks through their speed of thought and choice of pass.

Arteta has already sought to amend this with the addition of Ben White and Sambi Lokonga. Two players who can progress the ball with pace either through deep passes or ball carrying, Odegaard possesses the technical craft to receive and release the ball in economical fashion.

Dani Ceballos was infuriatingly slow at moving the ball on, whereas Odegaard understands the need for tempo, that which he can also dictate. Such footballing intelligence comes naturally and having someone who can scan the pitch before he even assumes possession – and know whether to hold on to the ball or to release it accurately – is invaluable.

Arsenal take far too many passes to have a shot off. This isn’t prime Wenger-ball either, as the control is not threatening and merely recycling with the end goal of finding Tierney out on the left. Odegaard as the vision and elegance to evade a marker and eliminate one or two players from the game immediately, before threading as pass vertically, not horizontally. He will lift the tempo.

Granted, this is a lot of lyrical waxing and the Norwegian is far from perfect, nor is he some form of saviour. What he is, however, is better at this than any other member of the squad.