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

At long last the Arsenal world can turn a page on at least one transfer saga as the window draws to a close, with the elusive creative midfielder who has been desired all summer arriving in the form of Martin Odegaard.

From being the number one target before the window even opened to then being considered out of the Gunners’ reach as Real Madrid looked to hold onto him, a full circle has been completed with the Norwegian signing a permanent contract.

Thought to be in the region of £30m possibly rising by £4m more depending on certain add-ons, it constitutes a fine piece of business from Arsenal who have secured their man well below Los Blancos’ original £45m valuation.

Taking Arsenal’s spending well past the £100m mark, Mikel Arteta and Edu have succeeded in landing the Spaniard’s key targets this summer, leaving him no margin for error as he aims to arrest a slide down the table that has seen the club finish eighth in consecutive Premier League seasons.

Arsenal: 5 tactical demands for Martin Odegaard in 4-2-3-1 after Mikel Arteta completed £30m transfer of Real Madrid midfielder in summer window

Business is far from concluded this summer though, with a host of players needing to be moved on to reduce the bloated squad and trim the wage bill. Such departures can then facilitate further additions to get Arteta closer to his desired squad.

In regards to the Norwegian, this is one of the additions that is expected to have the biggest impact on the side. While there are issues galore at Arsenal, the lack of goals and chance creation is the most startling, therefore whoever would be signed to come in at No. 10 has a big job on his hands.

Does he get thrust straight into the starting lineup? It’s hard to imagine he won’t be. Sadly, however, that won’t be on Sunday for the Chelsea clash as the new arrival couldn’t secure a visa in time to feature.

His time will come though, potentially even on the following Wednesday when Arteta takes his side to the Hawthorns to face West Brom in the Carabao Cup second round. Whenever Odegaard’s time may be, he has a few jobs to carry out.

1. Get Aubameyang Scoring Again

The best way to get Arsenal improving as an overall package is to get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring goals again. When he’s firing he is one of the most natural scorers not just at Arsenal but in the division. While the ways in which to improve the side as an attacking unit are plentiful, none will see a greater increase in productivity than the captain finding the back of the net with regularity.

Are those days past him?

The jury is out on whether Aubameyang’s decline is systematically or structurally related, or simply down to the fact of him being 32 years old now and past his best.

Should it be the former, then we’ll know for definite when the additional creativity Odegaard brings is added into the team.

Looking at the three who could feature behind the striker – Emile Smith Rowe, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka – that blend is what can cater to the captain’s strengths. While we shouldn’t lean too heavily on a single performance, the 4-2 win over Leeds last season was Aubamayeng’s best performance all year and featured that quartet.

Technical security and pace across the front line can see the No. 14 flourish. If he still can’t score with additional final third punch behind him, he likely won’t again too often in red and white.

2. Add Attacking Balance & Variety

What is Arteta’s approach with this group of players? The simplistic view is that it’s about giving the ball to the best three players in the team – Saka, Smith Rowe and Kieran Tierney – and crossing your fingers.

The left-sided bias was prevalent throughout last season and has carried over into the current campaign, largely dictated by Tierney’s brilliance and the lack of attacking craft from the right-backs on the books.

Tierney is effectively not a defender anymore. So advanced in attacking phases, adopting a back three with the right-back taking up one of those slots opens the five lanes of attack Arteta prefers.

It’s also dreadfully predictable. Every attack doesn’t have to stem from fine work by a double-marked Scotsman and result in a dangerous cross with no recipient. The issue is that he’s the best at what he does and thus the patterns of play regularly drift into those areas of the pitch.

Being someone who loves to drop into the right-half space and facilitate attacks in different areas to the current crop, Odegaard can add variety in distribution that presents Arsenal with new avenues to goal. Tierney isn’t going to suddenly cut his attacking forays by half, but so long as the opposition aren’t easily prepared for the approach taken there can be greater diversity in movement of the forward players.

The Norwegian will provide greater central presence as Smith Rowe loves to drift out to the left in any case, and his abilities in passing as opposed to Smith Rowe’s specialties in dribbling will, in theory, provide a more symmetrical forward frontier. Arsenal have lacked creativity on both flanks.

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.

4. Engineering the Press

Arsenal shift into a variety of formations at different stages of matches, dependent on whether they are in possession or out of it.

In attack the team moulds into variations of a 2-3-5, while as seen last season when moving into a mid or high-block, Arsenal adopted a 4-4-2 defensive shape.

This usually saw Aubameyang partner Odegaard up top. In those instances it was always the Norwegian who instigated the press, often found instructing his teammates on where they should be assisting.

While not in any way a speed merchant, his boundless energy in this instances was infectious among his teammates and even if not winning possession back high up the pitch he nonetheless cut off passing lanes for opposition defenders in the process.

Given the 4-2-3-1 is set to stay with the personnel and system at Arsenal near enough the same bar upgrades (Luiz-White, Sambi-Ceballos), a defensive 4-4-2 shape also could be in use for the majority of fixtures.

Will we see more of Odegaard directing Nicolas Pepe on who to target? Most definitely.

5. Provide On and Off-Field Leadership

This isn’t something tactical per se, but one of the most endearing aspects of Odegaard’s time in north London last season was the manner with which he assumed responsibility and took upon a leadership role almost immediately.

Arteta and his staff were enamoured by his professionalism and bravery, and while offering that in the dressing room isn’t necessarily tactical, when he’s relaying his manager’s orders on the pitch in real-time, it most certainly is.

The ‘Open Mic’ feature that Arsenal used last season was one of the highlights of a miserable campaign. Odegaard was given the starring role in the 3-3 draw with West Ham and few supporters expected this 22-year-old to be as vocal as he was.

Instructing Alexandre Lacazette when to press, bellowing at Calum Chambers to be faster moving the ball and barking orders elsewhere for his teammates to switch the play or push the backline up, these were all commands Arteta had laid out as part of his plan that the Norwegian absorbed fully.

With full stadiums back and Arteta’s endless step-by-step guidance on the sidelines set to be drowned out, having someone with vocality like Odegaard in the forward areas of the pitch is the kick up the backside many of them need.