Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard scored his 15th goal of the season in their win over Newcastle. It is the highest an Arsenal midfielder has scored since Cesc Fabregas reached the same tally in 2009–10, and it places him only five players behind all strikers in the scoring rankings for this season. Even Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have never accomplished this much when penalties are taken into account. It’s a fantastic haul that shows the 24-year-old’s game has undergone a significant transformation. Odegaard has never scored more than ten goals in a league season before to this one. Yes, a creator. yet not one who scores easily. At least, that’s how it appeared to be.
Reevaluating his contribution this season is necessary given that he has scored five goals in his past five games. Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli are both joint leading scorers for Arsenal. He has scored more goals this season than he did the entire previous one. It is understandable why Kevin de Bruyne’s parallels are becoming more popular. Odegaard is likely the Belgian’s closest rival for the PFA Player of the Year title, excluding Erling Haaland. However, none of this happened by chance. Since Odegaard joined the team two years ago, Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff have been attempting to increase his goal threat.
“He was always playing in deeper roles, receiving the ball in deeper areas, and I believe that has helped him become more at ease doing that now than when he first came,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said. “Instead of being in advanced positions, he felt more at ease facing the action from those positions. But we have been working with him on that. He can benefit the squad the most, in my opinion, there.”
When comparing his heat maps for the previous three seasons, the shift can be observed to have taken place gradually. His contribution to Arsenal’s build-up play has decreased from one season to the next, which has resulted in him spending less time in his own half and more time in the opposing team’s. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s summer acquisition helped speed up the process since, while Arsenal is in control, the inverted left-back essentially serves as a second deep-lying midfielder, which frees up Arteta to take on a smaller role for Odegaard.
His statistics for shots, predicted goals and actual goals scored all demonstrate this. Odegaard is taking almost twice as many shots this season as he did during his first Arsenal season. Per 90 minutes, he is producing more than three times as many goals as was anticipated. His touches in the opposing box have also significantly risen. He is now averaging more than 3.8 per 90 minutes this season, up from about 2.2 per 90 minutes in his previous two campaigns. His goal against Newcastle was a reminder of his menace from long range since it was nearly identical to the one shot past Hugo Lloris in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham in January. Odegaard has five goals from outside the box since the start of the season.
When attempting to disassemble teams, Odegaard is already a master in terms of his vision and awareness of space. He is now displaying these same talents in decisive action. Take into account the fact that nine of his 15 Premier League goals this season have been scored first-time from within the box, where his shooting rate has increased from 40 to 52 percent this season. The statistics demonstrate a change in emphasis and highlight a recently developed capacity to be there at the appropriate moment, just as he was for each of his goals in the most recent 3-1 victory over Chelsea.
The sophistication of his movement was especially evident in his opener. Mateo Kovacic is out of position when Odegaard makes a late rush into the box and signals to Xhaka that he is available. Odegaard checks back, though, just as Xhaka crosses and notices Kovacic has continued to sprint toward his own goal. This slight movement ensures that he gets the ball with space to finish. All season long, that same ability to find room in the box has been noticeable. Martinelli initially passes over Odegaard for his first goal in the 3-0 victory against Bournemouth in August and chooses to shoot from a close angle instead. He is there, though, and in the proper position to hook the ball into the goal from eight yards out when the ball rebounds back out.
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