Odegaard’s Real Madrid Reckoning: Arsenal Captain Out to Prove Ancelotti Wrong

Odegaard’s Real Madrid Reckoning: Arsenal Captain Out to Prove Ancelotti Wrong

The Norwegian may have been hindered by injury earlier this season but his numbers since his return have been dreadfully disappointing

Florentino Perez’s decision to sign a 16-year-old Martin Odegaard in January 2015 generated an awful lot of excitement within the world of football. However, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t in the least bit impressed.

“When Florentino buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it,” the Italian wrote in his book ‘Quite Leadership’. “Furthermore, the president decided that Odegaard would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise. He could become the best player in the world, but I didn’t care because he was not a player I asked for. That signing was about PR.”

In that context, it’s hardly surprising that Odegaard was sold to Arsenal for £30 million ($38m) shortly after Ancelotti returned for a second spell as Blancos boss in the summer of 2021. Odegaard had impressed while the coach had been away, but only while out on loan, and Ancelotti made it clear that he felt there were eight players ahead of the youngster in the midfield pecking order.

There have been times over the past four years when Odegaard’s exit has made Ancelotti and Madrid look foolish – if not for the mere fact that they allowed him to leave at all, then certainly the knockdown fee. However, as Odegaard gets ready to face his former coach and club on Tuesday night, he once again has a point to prove – and not just to Ancelotti’s Madrid, but Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal too.

AFPArsenal overtaken by LiverpoolThis was meant to be Arsenal’s year in the Premier League. Having run Manchester City close during the previous two title races, the feeling was that a relatively young Gunners side captained by Odegaard was perfectly placed to finally overhaul their ageing rivals.However, while time did finally catch up with Pep Guardiola’s men, it was Liverpool – and not Arsenal – who took full advantage. Even after losing 3-2 at Fulham on Sunday, the Reds remain 11 points clear at the top of the table, and with just seven rounds remaining.However, while Arne Slot’s Liverpool warrant plenty of praise for the consistency and composure they’ve demonstrated this term, awkward questions are now being asked at Arsenal.The north Londoners have undoubtedly been very unlucky with injuries and Odegaard himself spent nearly two months on the sidelines with an ankle sprain sustained on international duty back in September. However, the problem for Arsenal wasn’t so much that Odegaard was sidelined, it was that he contributed so little after returning to the field.

Getty’What is going on with him?’When Odegaard was restored to the Arsenal starting line-up, it appeared as if he’d never been away. His impact was almost instantaneous, with the skipper creating a goal in each of his first two Premier League games after returning to full fitness.Unfortunately, he’s registered just two assists since, which is one of the main reasons why Arsenal’s expected title charge during the second half of the season has completely collapsed.”What is going on with him?” former Arsenal defender William Gallas asked in an interview with Prime Casino. “He doesn’t look like the same player we’ve seen dominate games over the last two years. I know he had an injury, but he has been really poor by his standards.”Indeed, while Odegaard has not stopped creating chances for his team-mates, there has sometimes been an sluggishness about his play that has even prompted Arteta to take him off while Arsenal are chasing a goal – something that would have been unthinkable until recently.

Getty Images Sport’I know that I have not been good enough’John Arne Riise feels that Odegaard has been not only hindered by the ankle sprain but also affected by the criticism that has come his compatriot’s way amid Arsenal’s faltering title bid.”Last season, he looked so free,” the former Liverpool left-back told GOAL. His body language and everything was nice. Now, he is trying too hard to do the same thing, it’s not fluent.”He’s over-thinking it sometimes. He’s trying too hard because he knows people are questioning his performances this year compared to last year and that makes any player try harder, but that can go in the opposite direction.”Odegaard, though, has insisted that the flak has not really bothered him at all, not least because he is his own harshest critic.”I’m very used to people speaking about me, judging my performances and I think I do that myself,” he said in March. “I’m harder on myself than anyone else and I know that I have not been good enough, especially in front of goal.”However, a player who has hit double figures in each of the last two seasons still only has five goals in 34 appearances this season – and there are now less than two months of the 2024-25 campaign to go.

Getty Images SportStruggling without SakaOf course, injuries to other players have undeniably affected Odegaard’s output.Arsenal didn’t just lose Gabriel Jesus, their only orthodox No.9, for the rest of the season, they were also stripped of the services of the Brazilian’s makeshift replacement, Kai Havertz, forcing Arteta to improvise by moving midfielder Mikel Merino into a more advanced position.However, Bukayo Saka’s unavailability for four months was arguably the most significant injury issue for Odegaard, with even Arteta acknowledging that the pair can sometimes struggle when the other is absent.”It’s inevitable to think when you have such chemistry with a player and you’re not together next to each other, you’re going to notice that something is different,” the Spaniard said in January.

Getty Images Sport’Odegaard has had too much creative responsibility’There’s certainly no denying that Odegaard has struggled with the pressure of being almost solely responsible for breaking down defences since the turn of the year – especially with the form of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard fluctuating wildly, and Raheem Sterling contributing very little at all.”Odegaard has had too much creative responsibility in the team,” former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit told pokerfirma.com. “At the moment, he is the only guy who can be creative from midfield, he’s alone in that. That has to change.”One of the reasons why Martin’s game hasn’t been as good as we know it can be is because he’s looking for movement in front of him, and it’s just not coming.”In that sense, Saka’s return could not be better timed, as Arsenal’s season is still salvageable, particularly with Odegaard showing some signs of life in recent weeks.

AFPOnus on Odegaard to step upArsenal’s Premier League title hopes may effectively be dead at this stage but the Champions League dream is very much still alive, and the club’s fans took a huge amount of encouragement out of Odegaard’s sensational display in Norway’s Nations League clash with Israel during the international break, with the playmaker racking up a hat-trick of assists in a 4-2 win in Hungary.He once again toiled in last week’s 2-1 win over Fulham but the hope is that the visit of Madrid, coupled with Saka’s presence on the right flank, will belatedly bring the best out of Odegaard, who understandably retains the unwavering support of Arsenal’s supporters, players and coach. His talent is beyond dispute, after all, while Arteta is always at pains to hail the 26-year-old’s captaincy qualities.Still, it’s hardly a surprise that Odegaard’s credentials as a supposed world-class player and a truly inspirational leader are presently coming under more scrutiny than ever before. We’re talking about a player that has yet to make any kind of impression on the business end of the Champions League or win any major trophies since joining Arsenal four years ago.This, then, feels like the ideal time for the player Ancelotti never wanted to show why everyone at the Emirates remains utterly convinced that Perez’s PR signing is now the real deal.