Arsenal: 5 Ainsley Maitland-Niles midfield replacements

4. Martin Odegaard

How do Arsenal go about incorporating Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli into the same team? It’s the question burning everyone’s lips at the moment, with one potential solution seeing one of the quartet sit off.

Smith Rowe and Odegaard could operate as duel No. 8’s in front of a single pivot, yet when that pivot is either young Sambi or the immobile Xhaka, it’s a thought that is quickly put to bed.

Sticking with the 4-2-3-1, if Odegaard were to simply drop deeper and play in central midfield it would allow Smith Rowe to move back into the No. 10 and add some technical nous right in front of the back four. After all, Odegaard loves to drop deep and facilitate anyway.

Well, not quite.

Odegaard is looking nailed on to win the Premier League POTM award in December, with his performances all coming as the No. 10. With two central midfielders behind him, the freedom to drift into pockets on the right and make late surges into the box, taking him out of his favoured role would be to the team’s, and to his, detriment.

The glue to connect midfield and attack, moving him further away from goal and shackling him with defensive responsibilities would be most unwise. Tackling and recovery defending is not his strong suit. He has found his feet in this team, in that position. That triangle of the team is its beating heart. Don’t break it.

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