Mikel Arteta priority clear as Arsenal look to bring spark back to Martin Odegaard | OneFootball

Gunners skipper’s form has dipped amid recent attacking malaise

It should come as no surprise that Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal have coincided with Martin Odegaard’s form dipping.

It was like the Gunners captain had never been away and in his first three starts Arsenal scored 13 goals.

In the eight matches Odegaard has started since then, Arsenal have scored 15 goals - but five of those were in one game against Crystal Palace.

Odegaard has struggled to have the usual influence he enjoys, with an illness picked up around the turn of the year not helping.

He was feeling unwell before the win at Brentford on New Year’s Day and then did not train before Arsenal’s next match at Brighton, but he agreed to be part of the squad and managed 25 minutes off the bench.

That is typical of Odegaard’s character and he, more than anyone else, will be determined to turn things around.

The Norwegian hit double figures for goals in each of the past two seasons, however he has found the net just once this year after scoring a penalty at West Ham in November.

“Sustaining an attacking midfielder to score 15 goals maybe two years ago, it doesn’t happen,” said Mikel Arteta.

Martin Odegaard has struggled since coming back from injury for Arsenal

AP

“It hasn’t happened in 15 years, so we were very aware of that on the other side of the coin.

“So, he’s trying very hard; he had some big chances, we missed some opportunities. Just help him and make sure that he’s confident to take the shots when he needs to because he’s so good at it.”

Odegaard has also been impacted by the loss of Bukayo Saka, who will be out of action until at least March.

Saka and Odegaard enjoy an almost telepathic understanding on Arsenal’s right flank and that is now gone.

Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard have all had goes on the right wing, with varying degrees of success, but none of them are ever going to be a like-for-like replacement for Saka.

“It can be an element of that,” said Arteta, when asked if Odegaard was missing Saka.

“Martin came back from an injury and in the first week or two, you have that extra energy and then you play every three days.

Getting the best out of Odegaard, starting on Sunday when Arsenal host Manchester United in the FA Cup third round, should be a priority for Arteta.

The noises coming out of Arsenal, and from Arteta in his recent press conferences, are that attacking reinforcements this month are unlikely.

If that is the case, then Arteta must get more out of the players he has - and that does not apply to anyone more than Odegaard.

The Norwegian showed over the last two season how he can be valuable goalscorer, as well as Arsenal’s most creative player.

A busy January should, hopefully, give him the run of games he needs to find his groove and Odegaard has been clear on what he hopes to achieve this season.

The Gunners are still in all four competitions and Odegaard is determined to be lifting a trophy at some point this year.

“It’s been our aim for a long time,” he said. “We spoke about how good we were in the calendar year with our stats and everything, but we want to finish that with a trophy – or as many as possible.

“We are still in all the competitions and we are going to fight as long as we can in every single one of them.”