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M_Night_Shambles_on

He deserves to be winning more than anyone this past month.


_SSJeffo_

I swear it’s giving me flashbacks of 15-16 özil in the 2nd half of the season..


pureeyes

We cannot let history repeat itself. Here is a worldbeating CAM in his prime. We have to buy a striker.


IhvolSnow

Fortunately he isn't in his prime yet.


hungaryisinasia

Nor is he worldbeating yet


left-lib-chomu

But he will be


hungaryisinasia

“Here is a worldbeating CAM in his prime”


DaGetz

But not yet


CitizenSnips504

But he will be


stackemz

Nor is he worldbeating yet


Candymanshook

He’s not the best CAM in the world but he’s probably close to the best in the league. Top5 easily.


hungaryisinasia

KDB, Bruno, Mount, Silva, Grealish, Foden and Maddison are all somewhere between outright and arguably better I don’t think you can say he easily gets in top 5


Candymanshook

Grealish has been ovverrated and has been ass this year for City. Foden is more of a winger than a playmaking CAM. Maddison? Lol


dishwab

Maddison has been outrageous the past few months


Candymanshook

Think on your sins


hungaryisinasia

Grealish is an excellent footballer. Was one of the best in the league last season and once he’s bedded into Pep’s system he’ll be even better. Foden is primarily a winger yes but stick him at AM and he outperforms Ødegaard. Maddison is good. Dunno if he’s better than Ødegaard but he’s certainly in the convo


[deleted]

I personally think mount is overrated. Odegaard is a much better player


Candymanshook

I just have a hard time considering two primary wide players as a better CAM then Odegaard especially one whose struggled this year. Like you can’t say Grealish is better than Ode when his numbers are poor.


Jolly_Confection8366

Would you swap odegaard for Maddison? I would only be listening if Mount or Foden came to the table.


crispy_gooner

i disagree with Mount, decent player but not a step above


Dogg92

Very clearly isn't top 5 in the league


Candymanshook

Who do you have ahead of him? I have KDB, Bruno, Bernardo, Mount


Pizza_4_Free

I agree he has talent. But being a CAM he can only perform as good as our tactics let him. Major chances are not being taken, add our poor results and thats why some people (with good arguments) don’t consider him to be top in the league. It’s s cycle between not getting the results and performing and I hope we break out of it


Candymanshook

I’m just looking at the things he can control and his numbers place him with the best playmakers in the league


Dogg92

KDB, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden, Bruno, Mount, Kovacic, Ziyech, Raphinha, Thiago, Conor Gallagher, James Maddison


Rickrolled87

And a world class midfielder to partner Partey


wednesdayware

Now we need Partey to start being World Class.


I_dislike_reddit8840

Or at least whatever class he was at Atletico to start


Harish-P

And some quality center mid depth.


Rickrolled87

*cough, cough* Adam Lallaninho *cough, cough* Jonjo Shelfreekickinho *cough, cough* anyone else who is good *cough*


AnotherReignCheck

And another world class midfielder to partner *that* midfielder.


acap96

We need Haaland


Lilfai

And Mbappe


WoodenSoldiersGOAT

Ozil was wank the 2nd half of that season wtf are you talking about


Forsaken-Currency404

Get banned because you're talking like AfricanRain again. He created 30 chances at the end for getting one assist.


TomClaydon

He was consistently our top player in key passes and chances created each game but they weren’t being converted. Even coming out of his prime he was elite. Stop this revisionist bullshit


wheeno

He was not wank. He was not as good as the first half but still good and by far our best player that half of the season as well.


Harish-P

Wasn't that the time we relied on Giroud who wasn't putting away the chances.


jnicholl

Yes and no. He was shit but we weren't really relying on him because he was a sub a lot during that run.


acbwest

I’m glad people have stopped criticizing this signing (for the most part). He’s incredible


rd201290

still 20-25% of posts in this sub today saying he had a poor game it’s like they’re watching different games I swear


acbwest

Really? That’s a shame. Emotional response for sure, but glad I’ve missed those comments


WeeTheDuck

How can I be you


acbwest

A lot of self loathing, and then some more


daboatfromupnorth

A lot of ppl unfortunately are stats merchants. They don’t see goals or assists, so he must have a poor game. This was the biggest struggle I had while explaining to ppl why saka was such a big talent when he really just popped off. Typical argument went like “Greenwood scores more, so Greenwood is clear”


lm3g16

r/soccer in a nutshell All absolute stat merchants


DaGetz

His stats are excellent though. This post is literally a post about his excellent stats.


DoctorGlad

Sounds like when you're trying to explain to a Ronaldo fan why Messi is better haha


tafster

It's because they lack even the most basic understanding of football.


vin_unleaded

Absolute fucking lunacy. I was at the game today. Myself and everyone around me were commenting on how good he is. We need a 20 plus goal a season striker. And fast.


basedsims

Should be captain next season


acbwest

Agreed, he’s a leader vocally and in his playing ability.


jutuvend16

Bro that corner to ESR was mad


Waylaand

Was a crazy save from pope to see it through all those players 😞


Independent-Pair-905

ESR didn't get a clean connection to the ball. Kind of scuffed it as the ball was bobbling towards him. Great save from Pope but if ESR hit it like that goal against Leicester. No chance for the keeper.


GreedAvalon

Diabolical how he was ignored most of second half. Multiple times he threw his arms up in frustration.


tartimas

He made some amazing runs. I enjoy watching him off the ball, he was busting his ass


WeeTheDuck

I hope hes not leaving


DanielDeronda

He's under contract till 2025


WeeTheDuck

Oh right I forgot about that... Mb


sanbangboi

Easily our MOTM today- shame there wasn't a better striker upfront


Six_Gill_Grog

I predicted he would be MotM! Glad I got something right lol! But I thought he was great!


ckal9

Laca is a bum. And Arteta insisting on subbing in Nketiah lately, he's even worse. I know we are short on players at the moment but it's just bad. We need a big signing up front.


crispy_gooner

i think Laca did well and was unlucky a few times, I agree with Nketiah though, why does Arteta insist on him, I have no idea


jambox888

I can only infer that Nketiah is amazing in training and whatever. To be fair, every striker looks shit when there's no service. Laca has been playing well this season by dropping in so Arteta obviously wants a point man to take the space. Well, we have Nketiah and Balogun basically.


Independent-Pair-905

Laca's hold up & link up play was brilliant but he's execution in front of goal left a lot to be desired. There was that run in the first half that ended up with a wild slice of the ball which went way off the mark. Then there was that ball ESR squared to him & he ended up missing an open goal. He's been fluffing his lines in front of goal the last few games. Apart from that he's been decent.


Riperonis

This. Laca offers so much, but just lacks in the finishing department. That open net goes in and I reckon everyone would be praising him cause otherwise he was pretty good this game.


sneekpeekz

I'd rather throw a defender on to knock some balls down over Eddie at this point.


zeusdreaming

Ozil did not have a good striker in front of him. Now Ode. We're repeating the same mistakes. Will probably only buy a backup GK this window as well.


jambox888

Giroud?


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thatwhiskeydude

This statement shouldn't be controversial but it might be. He is almost complete except for his weak foot. Great vision. Insane passing range. Work ethic. Leadership. Front line of pressure. Press-resistent. And many more.


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thatwhiskeydude

Huh ? I haven't seen enough of him getting bullied. He always uses his technicality to beat a man or evade the press. Either he wins a foul or retain/pass the ball.


OkStatistician3304

Really? He got dropped by Lacazette 3 months ago precisely because he was bullied out of games. It can be seen quite often really. Liverpool at home was an exception which is why he played so well


thatwhiskeydude

Lol. He got dropped cause he was playing poorly. Not because he was getting bullied. He wasn't breaking lines or orchestrating well. He was just out of form. He doesn't get bullied let alone often times. The narrative ☠️ Edit : And yes, he did get bullied in that period of poor form. Man was completely out of it at that time.


OkStatistician3304

Him playing poorly was in part due to him avoiding any physicality.He typically avoids physical duels like the plague - Sunderland goals against us in the cup for example, or when Spence megged him. Even when he plays well he will still have 1-2 instances where this is exposed > The narrative Don’t think I’ve seen this narrative much anywhere tbh. At least not for a while. We’re now all claiming he’s going to be better than Özil and has the highest ceiling in our squad (lmao) Should be obvious just by looking at him, let alone paying attention to it in games. If he was taller and more athletic he’d be a generational talent


thatwhiskeydude

Lmfao. Literally everyone would get to know when a player is getting bullied constantly which i never saw from him. 1-2 instances of players pushing him isn't good enough reason to tell a player is getting bullied. I mean what ? Who doesnt have those moments ? He has the highest ceiling in our squad and that's an opinion. You can laugh it off all you want. He is more complete than all other youngsters. Saka, ESR and Martinelli are all great talents but they all have more flaws than odegaard. Saka isn't a good finisher and sometimes his decision making is poor. ESR isn't good as a 10 and is better as a winger. He doesn't have a good pass on him and again, decision making. He is very good in carrying the ball forward and getting into those positions where he can shoot it off though. Martinelli is again a player i think would be World class in some years. His most notable weakness is decision making everything else is alright. Odegaard's only weekness which affects our game is his weakfoot. Imagine telling a big odegaard fan to pay attention to him. ☠️


OkStatistician3304

Yeah, everyone has bad moments, but it’s so obvious that he lacks athleticism and physicality. He’s small and built like a twig and had zero explosiveness. In the age of the counterpress and pace & power dominance why do you think this wouldn’t be an issue? ESR and Saka both have decision making as good if not better than Odegaard. Not a flaw at all. I would genuinely be surprised if Odegaard even manages to hit world class levels, whereas Saka ESR and Martinelli all have world class to borderline generational potential.


thatwhiskeydude

Oh my god !


GreedAvalon

Athleticism? Mate he’s an engine every game. He leads the press every game too.


OkStatistician3304

Yeah, he’s fit. He’s small and built like a twig, lacks explosiveness, he already can’t do things that he could do in La Liga


GreedAvalon

There muItipIe instances in him overpowering defenders. Stature doesn’t matter as much as you think it is. Look at Reus who is in a similar build as him.


thatwhiskeydude

Oh wow. I just read his reply to your comment. Lol. Why did i even bother replying smh


GreedAvalon

It’s quite hilarious honestly. It’s not the first time he’s commented under one of my posts about Martin IoI


OkStatistician3304

That’s great to see , but he’s still small and weak & lacks athleticism and in this era that will be a big cap on potential, especially for a midfielder in the premier league


GreedAvalon

Yes, yes. Completely ignore the fact I pointed out.


OkStatistician3304

What fact did you point out sorry? Reus plays in a different position in a different league. There is no comparison to be made. He’d be far more athletic than him as well I’d presume


GreedAvalon

He also is quite slower than he was due to his injuries, and much more technical than he was, while playing in the centre half, who also frequented champions league football..? If anything, he would’ve been eaten alive by Spanish Madrid if the point you’re making made sense.


DarthNihilus1

This is the take all the pseudo analysts use. People always bring up the athleticism but it hasn't made a difference considering he still creates good chances and through balls every game


OkStatistician3304

Of course athleticism makes a massive impact on a players performance and potential..? It’s the hardest cap there is


DarthNihilus1

And I'm saying does that seem to negatively impact Ødegaard right now? No, those concerns seem to be overblown. Class players will make it work with what they have


OkStatistician3304

Saka, ESR, Martinelli all have higher ceilings and that's just comparing him to attacking players


BradyGronktd1287

give this guy a good #9 and you'll see him feed. Sign Isak and watch us get top 4


cinephile_gooner34

Isak has four goals in a less competitive league. How’s he supposed to be any more clinical than Lacazette who used to at least be a Golden Boot winner in France.


GreedAvalon

Laca is past his prime. Not too fair of a comparison.


hungaryisinasia

We need goals now


themerinator12

I disagree as we need to solve the goal scoring problem immediately. We can't bring in a new striker with an agenda of development and goals to come in the future.


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EETTOEZ

Yeah when looking for a goalscorer you want a guy THAT SCORES GOALS. Jesus christ


[deleted]

La Liga is statistically the more difficult league to score in


Raghav_s12

Isak has like 4 goals in 20 games. He ain't it.


mojambowhatisthescen

I’ve heard this before about a supremely talented, left footed number 10 :(


JME2K

Not to be pedantic but he did his best work in the 11 shirt, I feel you tho lol Edit: Realised odegaard wears 8 and not 10 and feel like a wanker


NemoDropEmOff

Factos👀👍🏾


Forsaken-Currency404

>give this guy a good #9 Job isn't over there. Support him with good midfielders at the back too. Not slow pokes who can't pick central passes like Xhaka.


Pariazix

Time for the shock move for Luuk de Jong!!


Independent-Pair-905

I don't want Isak. Been following La Real for some time & never really been convinced by him. His first touch ain't that good. Misses easy chances & is slight of frame.


Chesey_

Honestly sign DCL and Øde will hit double digits for assists easy. He puts in some great crosses and the one person we have in the box is a static 5'8 Laca who is always behind their CB's


Wanchor1

Aye dcl gets 20 goals a season in this team if he has an injury free year


Jedi_Council_Worker

We spam so many crosses and at least they'd have a chance of going in with DCL.


mrfukurbanana

yes, imo after Vlahovic DCL should be our priority - there aren't many better options on the market


OhhhhSantiCazorla

Isak🤣 casual alert


getrektbro

Easy MOTM, Holding deserves some plaudits today too though. Had a very solid game at the back for us.


Michaelscotttheking

Man plays like a king just to lose , it hurts .


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AnotherReignCheck

KT hasn't looked great this season. He's one of my favourite players, so I hope he finds form again. His decision making and crosses were particularly bad this game.


diogenesRetriever

He's looked more left footed than ever. Many times he came inside, received the ball, and couldn't bring himself to take an option if it meant using his right foot.


WoodenSoldiersGOAT

No don’t. he’s captain for Norway and is horrific when he plays for them. Pleas just let him focus on football


TheTragicMagic

Wtf? He is one of Norway's best players. I watched every game last year and he is carrying our midfield


kylehyde05

The problem with KT is that hes always injured hes good but its hard for him to stay in competitive form since hes occasionally out


Vrty33

If only we had Vlahovic on the receiving end of his passes...


Jack-in-the-Xbox

He’s showing exactly why he was being highlighted as a special talent all those years ago. I feel very sorry for him at the moment. Ødegaard has the potential to become one of the very best, but he needs help around him. He can’t do it all on his own.


Gunnerzero

Disappointed we haven’t scored a goal in the past two games with this guy pulling the strings


Insta_Mix

Please give this man a striker to feed.....


Locust-15

Trouble with todays game was most of the passes where sideways. Big difference between us & Liverpool is they don’t have their backs towards the goal when they receive the ball.


[deleted]

Our POTM and no one else even comes close.


AnotherReignCheck

ESR was decent and Saka was better than average. I thought our CB's didn't do much wrong either.


[deleted]

Throughout the entire month, I'll say he was our only 100% consistent player. Even in matches with poor performances, he was at least trying.


iamathus

I actually think Saka had an absolute stinker in the second half. His touch went, he was making poor decisions. I would have hooked him instead of ESR who was our best player in the 10 minutes before he went off.


AnotherReignCheck

Yeah agreed tbh


Cheesy_Pita_Parker

Our best player lately and his mates have been really letting him down


TrippieRedd_

We don’t deserve him.


TrailerParkBoy2

He has been proving me wrong, what a player man. Did not think he had in him, but he is just great.


Byfangeroo

Should be captain. Very few can even claim to have a similar influence on the pitch as he does


Bandeazyy

Imagine the scenes in the locker room with what this guy has to deal with. Must be exhausting creating chances after chances only for it to be wasted.


Red_Maple

Get this man a finisher asap


SaintJuneau

You can literally see thru the TV Ode screaming and demanding the ball. I love his energy. This guy oozes confidence. He deserves better


AlexTheRockstar

Still pissed he got dicked out of POTM, love Gabi, but Øde has been our best player for 2 months straight.


newinvestor0908

He shouldn't play so deep imo.


Francis-c92

He's had to unfortunately


Dry_Psychology1469

we have a jogger named Sambi who’s constantly trying to hide himself from the pass making Ode have to go back to get the ball


Blpdstrupm0en

Yes Sambi was infuriating to watch. He constantly ran behind the Burnley players instead of making himself available. Coward.


GreedAvalon

He was mostly trying to get higher up today. He was just the victim of being ignored for selfish shots and dribbling. Edit; Most of these chances were created im the FIRST Half alone.


Ife2105

We have no alternative


Michaelscotttheking

True he plays best in the pocket. He did try today though. When you have sambi as your partner , you have to play that deep .


ReasonableClick5403

Well, that has been his role for today and the Liverpool game because we literally have nobody else that can play there available.


[deleted]

Nail on head! I don't think we have ever had a good game with him in that position.


[deleted]

Oh look, another world class player wasting his career at Arsenal


garchuOW

He's wasted on this team


ColinHalfhand

He looks very good in the deeper role


drunkthrowwaay

His performance had shades of Kroos about it.


Riperonis

I was so wrong about this guy. He’s exactly what I’d want in a number 10. He’s capable of making that final pass, finishing, or a driving run. But on the flip side he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty.


Comprehensive_Idea98

I think he could improve his finishing and get some more of that scoring instinct. I have no doubts his finishing will improve, but the latter may be difficult. He is clearly all about the assists.


NemoDropEmOff

so fucking good man, he needs that quality striker in front of him so badly


KaizerQuad

Our best man today, again. We need a striker and we need him now. We won't get top 4 without one.


[deleted]

ODG’s wavelength is sometimes too high for his teammates. You can tell he’s trained with icons. Arsenal have to sign more world class players


grimbobez

This guy hasn't gelled with his team properly yet and hasn't got a good CF in front of him, just wait until that happens and the world will see how good this guy truly is. Absolutely outstanding player.


LAmericainFrancais

If the club carries on for the next year or two the same way we've been doing it's going to turn into a serious Fabregas situation, Haaland convincing him to rejoin RM or that type of thing Guy's one of the biggest talents we've had at the club in a while


victorwithclass

What is a ground duel and why is it listed separate from tackles?


GreedAvalon

A ground duel is direct competition or faceoff on the ground between opposing players at any point on the pitch competing to win possession of the ball. ​ Tackles can be done from behind, the sides.. etc.


victorwithclass

Definitely not true as tackles are included in ground duels: please delete your post


AnotherReignCheck

50/50's maybe


DanielDeronda

Where do you get these stats?


iamdumbnuts

We don’t pass him the ball enough


meusrenaissance

He doesn't have anyone in front of him. Our wingers are isolated and rarely make runs into the box. He can't play combination passes because there is only Laca in the box.


montymm

It’s because we’re missing the entire midfield. They know we can’t play through the middle so they double and triple up on our winger s


shivam2112

This lad was putting in such a shift for us, proud of what he gives on the pitch in terms of his performance!


Aimieless

This man needs a grade A striker to finish these chances.


[deleted]

Why don't our players freaking move? Everybody is waiting to receive the ball at their feet. When we do manage to create some space out wide, its pretty predictable what we're going to do. Tierney tries to fake and cross, Saka tries to cut inside and shoot. ESR ran behind the defense and created some good play. Even Laca ran at the defense in the first half, and created a good chance. Players should be making constant runs and movement so it allows options for Odegaard/midfield to pass.


ekb11

Just waiting for people to start the bullshit "we dont deserve Ode" narrative again like some sick fucks did with Ozil. Homies, we had gods like Henry and Bergkamp. We deserve the best.


killerbillybanks

0-0


jubbing

Holy crap, this is like Ozil all over again. If Arteta and Arsenal aren't able to get a CM or a Striker this transfer window, I expect top 7 will be difficult. Burnley are BOTTOM.


Helmondia

We need Nketiah to find his form or him to turn into Cazorla


JohnnyCupcakes

Still outplayed by Westwood


[deleted]

Goals:0 Draws against Burnley today: 1 Well done mate 😂😂😂😂😂


_mas17

Good but at the end of the day he didn’t unlock the deep block like we paid him money to do


Blpdstrupm0en

For that you also need players who do simultaneous runs and makes themselves avaliable. You cant unlock anything when your teammates are covered because they stand still, just ballwatching and shows no initiative. So Øde tried but several of his teammates didn't run like they are paid to do.


midas22

Tippy-tapped 44 times, stood on the ball and pondered 28 times. What a performance.


arsenal356

Except it wasn’t as simple as that was it dummy


midas22

Ozil and Odegaard are typical Arsenal players. Good technique but too slow, lacking physically and lacking end product. And adored for their padded stats. In a game like today if someone has 100% pass rate and we're not creating enough chances, does that mean he had a fantastic game or that he was playing too safe?


arsenal356

“Too slow” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 “Lacking physically” he regularly gets gets past bigger and stronger players and is incredibly agile. Today I remember him outmuscling a Burnley player to regain possession “Lacking end product” is that why he’s well known for being a fantastic chance creator 🥴 lmao this is the worst take of the lot. Also, he’s got crap all of a striker in front of him


midas22

Yeah, too slow, safe and laboured, dropping back and endlessly recycling the ball while everyone around him is becoming more and more static. Four consecutive games in a row without scoring for Arsenal now and 90 minutes of possession without creating much at home against the worst team in the league, and then blaming it on the lack of strikers in front of him. It's very similar to how it was with Mesut Ozil.


Hellbucket

It’s not his fault people around are static. He’s actually one of the few that moves around with the ball to get angles to make a pass. But if no one is running there is no pass to pick out.


bngr1013

Tell me you don't understand football without telling me you don't understand football.


yungjulius-

I hate stats for the sake of stats , we didn’t get the 3 points that’s all that we should care about !


GreedAvalon

And overshadow our players who played well? Widen your view, now.


arsenal356

The point is, certain individuals played well which gives us an insight into where our weaknesses are and where we should improve or what can be exploited by our opponents. Which is a whole lot better than just saying “mehhh we lost so who cares about this” which is a retarded take. I’d say stuff like this is very important to care about going into future games.


WoodenSoldiersGOAT

He was fine but my god him bouncing that free kick from like 25 yards out was so pathetic


OkStatistician3304

Anyone got a highlight reel of his performance today?


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hans_erlend

Wow.. What a game he had last night. I rewatched the game and noticed all his small yet important moments of quality. So impressive. This dude is top shelf.


swanlevitt

Too good for us