It is clear that something is different. Martin Ødegaard, who was long criticized for not being “dry enough” with the ball, has scored seven goals this season in the Premier League. He has already matched his number from last season. He is the top scorer in an Arsenal team that leads the league. Even when he was wreaking havoc as a 15-year-old in the Eliteserien, he scored as often as now. With five assists in addition, the captain is one of the league’s most productive players. All the scores are not random. They are largely due to a strategic change that has transformed Ødegaard – and Arsenal – completely. Simple goals As a player, Ødegaard has not changed very much. He is involved in the game about as often as before. He creates a few more chances, and has more confidence in the game. But he shoots a lot more than last season. The number of completions per 90 minutes has gone up from 1.72 to 2.66, according to the website FBref. This is not just a long shot. If you look at “expected goals” per 90 minutes, Ødegaard has gone up from 0.17 to 0.33. In short, it shows that he not only gets more chances, but that these are also bigger. MORE AND BIGGER CHANCES: The Drammenser shoots much more than last season and gets more and bigger chances. Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP Ødegaard mentioned part of the reason for this in a recent interview with news. Often when he has been criticized, it has been that he does not contribute directly to scoring goals. – Goals and assists are what you are measured on in my position, and even more the way football has become now. You can play as well as you want, but if you don’t score or assist, no one recognizes you in the same way, said Ødegaard. So he’s been working on it. – The reason why I have scored more goals now is that I have become much better at being in the right areas and getting into the box more. Some of the goals I have scored have been relatively simple, said Ødegaard, and added: – It is something I have focused on and talked a lot with the coaches here about. I have watched a lot of clips and worked on it in the field. Such simple goals are a high scorer’s livelihood. The statistic that most reflects this change is the number of ball touches inside the field. There, Ødegaard had 1.88 touches per 90 minutes last season; now he is at 3.81. This suggests that the time Ødegaard spends in the field has more than doubled. All the work has paid off. But much of the credit must also be shared with coach Mikel Arteta. Arteta’s call Arteta has long asked Ødegaard to become more “decisive”, i.e. to contribute directly to goals. Arteta himself has been looking for the role that will get the most out of the dramatic man. This has taken time. MORE DECISION: Arteta has cracked the code to get more direct goals from Ødegaard. Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP In October last season, he actually benched Ødegaard. Arteta changed to 4-4-2, a system in which the 24-year-old had no natural role. Ødegaard had not been a goal threat anyway. He had fired three finishes from open play in the first 10 league games, which is extremely low. Arteta then changed to 4-2-3-1 with Ødegaard just behind the striker. Then Ødegaard suddenly scored three goals in three games, all inside the field. He came more often on the runs Arteta had called for. – Now he understands why we encourage him to do it, said Arteta. But the goals quickly dried up. For Ødegaard to really become a goal threat, he had to be drawn even deeper into the pitch. Central full-backs This season, Arteta has switched to 4-3-3. On paper, it seems like a small change: Ødegaard has been moved down as a right inside runner next to Granit Xhaka, while Thomas Partey is behind the two. The rest of the team is as before. And much is the same as before. The wings Bukayo Saka (right) and Gabriel Martinelli (left) still start wide in the field before running into the box as the attacks are to end. If you look at the duo’s number of ball touches inside the box, they have hardly changed. Saka has actually spent less time inside the box, even though Arsenal are scoring more than before. But indoor runners have completely new roles. Apart from Ødegaard, Xhaka has gone from being a harmless midfield anchor to scoring seven goals. His touches of the ball inside the box per 90 minutes have jumped from 1.27 to 3.33. GOAL DUO: Both Xhaka and Ødegaard have increased their goal percentages considerably. Photo: DAVID KLEIN / Reuters How can Xhaka and Ødegaard be so offensive without destroying the balance in the team? Because Arteta has adjusted the side-backs. When Arsenal end attacks, Oleksandr Zinchenko (left) and Ben White (right) often pull into the pitch alongside Partey. This way, Arsenal can send their three forwards and two inside runners into the field, and at the same time have three players just outside, ready to win the ball back. An example of this move came in Arsenal’s first goal against Brighton on New Year’s Eve. First Zinchenko and Partey won the ball back in the center of the field, then Saka scored. As the ball went into the goal, Arsenal had five players in the box, including Ødegaard. Outside the field, three players stood ready to stop a possible counterattack. The exception to the usual system was that Zinchenko ran into the box, while Xhaka held back. Arsenal were thus lined up in a kind of 2-3-5. GUARDIOLA’S IDEA: When Saka scored Arsenal’s first goal against Brighton on New Year’s Eve, Arsenal had five players in the box and three stoppers outside ready to stop any counterattack. Photo: TONY OBRIEN / Reuters This is an idea Arteta almost certainly got from Pep Guardiola, for whom he was an assistant at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019. Guardiola has been experimenting with “inward backs” for almost 10 years. Also in City, the move means that the midfielders, especially Kevin De Bruyne, get more freedom. In Arsenal, it is Ødegaard and Xhaka who profit the most from it. Arteta helped Guardiola win two league titles at City. Now he can use Guardiola’s own trick to bring the title to Arsenal.
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The moves behind Ødegaard’s transformation – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
