Arsenal’s technical leader the key to Wolves success

With a full 40 days between Premier League matches it’s been an agonising wait for Arsenal to be back in action.

Training videos and photos of the team enjoying themselves in sunnier climates is the only content fans have been able to get their hands on, making Thursday’s game away at Wolves a hotly anticipated one.

It’s also a huge game in the context of the Gunners’ season. Having opted against signing anyone in January, which came off the back of a five-game winless run in the month, if the Gunners slump to defeat then the decision not to invest will be heavily criticised.

With a squad of 20 to see the season out Mikel Arteta will be relying on those who helped get the team to within a few points of the top four with 17 games to spare, one of whom is Martin Odegaard.

Martin Odegaard is Arsenal’s technical and tactical leader and will be the key to beating Wolves in the Premier League on Thursday

Taking time to settle into the team after signing permanently in the summer, since December onwards he’s making a strong case for being the best performer in the whole team. Gabriel Martinelli has scooped consecutive Player of the Month awards for some magnificent performances of his own, but Odegaard has been playing at the highest level of his career to date.

He is the technical and tactical leader in this group. Arsenal haven’t had a player of this technical proficiency in central areas since Santi Cazorla.

And with a stubborn Wolves side next on the agenda a lot of the Gunners’ attacking potential will rest on the Norwegian to unpick their toughest of locks.

Bruno Lage has turned Wolves into an outstanding defensive unit. They’ve conceded just 16 goals all season long, second behind only Manchester City. Out of possession they sit deep into a 5-4-1 shape, compressing all spaces between the lines, suffocating pockets for attacking players to drift into and being aggressive in their challenges with a near perfect blend of man and zonal marking.

Odegaard – currently clocking up 3.41 SCA (shot creating actions) from live passes per 90 minutes for a 92nd percentile rank – is going to have one of his tougher evenings at Molineux.

He’s the player who others look for in the team. When he first arrived it wasn’t him dominating the ball as much as others, but gradually he’s become the focal point from which all attacks build. And then tactically it is him dictating and triggering actions that his teammates follow.

The glue that binds Arsenal together, he also has to the find the combination to open the Wolves safe. The best part is that you can trust him to do so. Having adapted to the league‘s physicality, he’s erupted into the facilitator and the orchestrator of Arsenal.

This is someone enjoying his football and the result is one of the finer playmakers in the league at the age of 23. Thursday is another chance to show that.