Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard suffered ankle ligament damage during international duty with Norway earlier this month, putting a damper in Arsenal’s decent start to the 2024-25 season.
With a huge away game against Manchester City fast approaching, and a brutal schedule that will see the Gunners competing in three competitions, how can Mikel Arteta’s men cope without their captain until November?
Contrary to popular belief, Martin Odegaard is actually a paragon of control in Arsenal’s midfield. Despite the fact that he slightly hinders attacking dynamics, his presence in the midfield is something you can’t replace like-for-like with another player; his profile is very unique.
So how can Arsenal maintain their unbeaten start to the season without their star man? Mikel Arteta a few potential solutions which we’ll go over in this article.
The first solution is the most likely one: Arteta inverting Timber into midfield to form a double pivot with Partey, allowing Rice to push up as a No. 8. This creates a box midfield which provides a numerical advantage in the centre of the pitch in a 3-2-2-3 structure.
Against weaker opposition in the Premier League, this could be invaluable to dominating possession and establishing control without Odegaard present to act as the conductor in midfield. However, this double pivot could be exposed by clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea who have wingers & attacking midfielders that can attack the spaces out wide and will all play Arsenal during the period that Odegaard is injured in.
Another possible solution is to play a double pivot of Rice and Partey in a 4-4-2 that shifts to a 4-2-4 in possession, fundamentally masking the technical deficiencies midfield less apparent and platforming players such as Havertz, Rice, Martinelli, etc.
An issue with a 4-4-2, though, that it’s basic pressing structure makes it difficult for Arsenal to switch from defense to attack immediately considering most of the team would be behind the ball to defend.
Our final solution is for Arteta to either drop Havertz into midfield and start Leandro Trossaed up to, or utilize Jorginho in Odegaard’s roles as they share some similar characteristics. This is likely the most feasible solution, but neither Havertz or Jorginho are as dynamic controllers that can create from deep like Odegaard can.
In conclusion, Arsenal will miss their midfield dictator but there are temporary solutions that can partially fill the gaps that Odegaard left to fill. It remains to be seen whether Arteta decides to implement any of these tactics against Manchester City and the rest of his opposition for the period that his talisman is on the sidelines, but lady luck favours the brave.
Arsenal are still hot on the heels of the Champions, and with Liverpool looming in the background they can’t afford to drop points too many times at the start of the season. This could be the season the Gunners fulfil their destiny and win the Premier League title over the body of Pep Guardiola’s super team .
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