Mikel Arteta is one coach who no one genuinely believes is close to completing his quest to turn Arsenal into Manchester City 2.0, while Odegaard and Saka symbolize everything wonderful about this Arsenal team.
Arsenal proved their point against Watford, winning for the fourth time in a row to move into the fourth position, five points behind Chelsea and with a game in hand. Only Liverpool remains in the calendar of the teams listed above, and they will be gone by Wednesday week.
For much of the game, this was an embodiment of Mikel Arteta ‘s template, a sort of Manchester City-esque combination of skill, imagination, and clinicallity. The next level is divine, but Arsenal must add ruthlessness and frugality to get there.
Arsenal continues to provide optimism to the opponents. They don’t have the same hunger or shape as City or Liverpool to get the ball back swiftly in possession, and they’re too easily discomfited in defense.
As a result, they occasionally experience panic and pandemonium. With three minutes remaining, Moussa Sissoko bundled over Watford’s second. It was a goal created out of thin air, thanks to Ben White’s blunder.
Arsenal are a thing of beauty going forward, with Martin Odegaard being the loveliest of them all. That isn’t a dig at his Norwegian ancestors. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have flashes of brilliance and creative footwork, but neither sees the pitch like Odegaard, who broke Watford wide open with a flourish of his own inside the first five minutes and set the tone for the game.
Is Martin Odegaard a good buy?
This season, Martin Odegaard has taken Mikel Arteta’s club to the next level, establishing Arsenal as one of the best-improved teams in the Premier League.
Arsenal has been chastised all season for failing to sign the striker who would have propelled them into the Champions League places, but Martin Odegaard is trying to mitigate the blow.
Mikel Arteta’s team has improved their build-up play this season thanks to the Norwegian international, and they now boast the league’s third-highest xG since December 17.
The Gunners’ inability to create chances at the start of the season was a major issue, as they failed to score in each of their first three games.
Arteta’s side has become one of the most creative sides in the league since Odegaard’s £30 million move to the club in August, and the Norwegian’s creativity has been a key reason for the Gunners finding themselves in an increasingly strong position to qualify for the Champions League ahead of next season.
Arsenal has produced 46.3 percent of their chances through the middle this season, according to Opta, which is the highest percentage in the Premier League.
This is also a significant improvement over last season, when the north London club ranked 19th in the league for chances created via the middle, with only 32.7 percent.
Being able to create chances in the centre of the pitch is crucial because it means being immediately in front of the goal and, consequently, having a better chance of converting openings, but it also means that the opposition will struggle to prevent the attacks owing to the increased diversity.
Last season, Arsenal failed to score goals due to a heavy emphasis on the wide positions in the attacking phase of play, which proved simpler to exploit for the opposition.
Watch Martin Odegaard vs Watford on Sunday
Kierney recorded 4.7 xA (anticipated assists) last season, which was the second-highest in the Gunners team, which could be considered disappointing for the other members of the squad for a left-back.
It also pointed out that if the opponent was able to neutralize Tierney’s overlapping danger, Arsenal would be significantly weaker on offense, which is why Odegaard’s significance should not be understated, as he has given Arsenal a new attacking route this season.
