Arsenal: Martin Odegaard decision begs big question

Mikel Arteta had to change something in his Arsenal team ahead of Aston Villa making the journey to north London. Witnessing what everyone else saw against Palace, much of which was his own doing, forced his already guided hand.

Martin Odegaard wasn’t expected to be one of them. Signed late in the summer transfer window as the manager bided his time for Real Madrid to signal their desire to sell, he was brought in for a bargain fee of £30m.

In his last two Premier League starts he has looked far off the standard set by himself during the high points of his spells in red and white. Usually the glue that binds Arsenal’s attacking sequences together, the faded displays of passive involvement against Brighton and Crystal Palace set a minor trend. Once is forgivable, twice in succession is more concerning.

To hear Arteta say post-Villa that Alexandre Lacazette’s 20-minute cameo against the Eagles confirmed to him already that he was going to start in this fixture would prove to be an early grounding moment for Odegaard.

Mikel Arteta’s Martin Odegaard decision begs big Arsenal selection question with Alexandre Lacazette finding Premier League form of late

But it was a justified call that was integral to one of the best performances seen under the manager throughout his tenure.

Lacazette was engaged, a nuisance, a sh*thouse, technically superb and played inklings of the No. 10 role (it was more 4-2-3-1 than 4-4-2) expertly. Some of his combination play with Sambi and Smith Rowe was divine and the ferocity of his work rate rubbed off on all this teammates.

It wasn’t a typical No. 10 performance as the did line up as a second striker with the freedom to get in the box and support Aubameyang, but the end result didn’t change: Odegaard wasn’t sorely missed in a fluid Arsenal display.

The overall summary was that the team’s roles and responsibilities were distributed and shared out with brilliant balance. While maintaining that level of performance across a whole season is impossible with the youthful side, if that is the standard Arsenal can reach, then the players to produce it are somewhat undroppable.

Having seen that, the route back into the team for Odegaard is a winding one. This is someone signed to be the key to the club’s creative troubles who has hit his first bump in the road. The Norwegian’s quality is undoubted and dips in form are inevitable, just as positive patches of form, such as that of Lacazette, warrant regular inclusion.

With Leicester to come next in the Premier League, the team that Arteta put out on Friday has no reason to change other than the possible reintroduction of a fit Kieran Tierney, which some may also ponder over.

The season is long, just as Odegaard’s career will be. The benefits of a competitive squad are that should one piece fall short in propping up the others there are then replacements to come in and share the load. It’s a simple case of that at this present time.

What would be best for now is to hand Odegaard a start against Leeds in the EFL Cup to get him back into the rhythm.