Arsenal attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard got his third goal in as many games against Southampton at the weekend.
The Norwegian international could have easily had a couple of assists to his name as well, but there are still concerns over the playmaker’s lack of consistency.
Some fans on Twitter were critical about the number of times that Odegaard gave away the ball, while others believed that the midfielder put in a very good performance:
Thought he was poor in terms of passing but worked hard and was involved in our goals to be fair I just think he is a very poor mans prime Ozil they have similar styles apart from odegaards pressing but in terms of passing and creativity it is not even close.
— Ben Davis (@Ben1802d) December 11, 2021
Started off slowly but was phenomenal after the 15 minute mark. On another day he walks away with a goal and 2/3 assists. A player like that will always give the ball away as he’s trying to make things happen.
— AFCDank (@AFCDank) December 11, 2021
Whoa! You guys are easily impressed. He is doing the bare minimum of what he is suppose to do. I hope he improves though, he won’t even make the bench when compared to our past midfielders of recent memory.
— Manifresh Deltan (@EsuzorManikel7) December 11, 2021
He gave some good balls… If we have some good finishers.. He will probably gets lot of assists
— Alan (@Alan17737311) December 11, 2021
Sorry mate, but ball retention is extremely important. He needs to learn when to play forward and when to keep the ball.
— 🇵🇰Waseem Ahmed🇵🇸 (@Wasi_03) December 11, 2021
If he plays like this in every game.
I won’t say a word against him if he had a single bad game👍— MR SAM (@SamuelA13284266) December 11, 2021
Let me inform you he’s still below average, Arsenal need a better creative player
— Ínzö jr (@inzo63557094) December 11, 2021
Thought he had a really uneven game today, sometimes his passing is just inexplicably poor in key moments. But he’s getting in good positions and his scoring streak is obviously a great development !
— goon squad (@NashGunner) December 11, 2021
It has to be pointed out that Odegaard is only 22 years of age. He is not the finished article so expecting him to be perfect throughout the 90 minutes isn’t really fair.
The Norwegian’s job is to make things happen for his team, and that means he will force passes when the ball isn’t on at times. However, he is beginning to show signs that he can become the main fulcrum in the Gunners’ attack.
Odegaard was excellent around the opposition penalty box, for the most part, and he was at the heart of most of the team’s best attacking moments.