‘Not quite’: Gary Lineker says ‘incredible’ Arsenal man has looked like a different player recently

Arsenal have had a difficult period as of late in the Premier League.

Indeed, Arsenal have dropped points in each of their last two league games, and the title race is over according to some after Liverpool opened up a big gap to the Gunners.

However, Arsenal looked back to their best in the Champions League this week as they knocked seven past PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal were hailed for their performance vs PSV, and the man of the hour after that game was Martin Odegaard.

Odegaard has been criticised recently, but against PSV, he very much looked back to his best.

Speaking on The Rest is Football, Gary Lineker has been discussing Odegaard’s performance vs PSV and his recent form, and he says that the Norwegian hasn’t quite been the same player recently, but this showing will do his confidence the world of good.

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Martin Odegaard has looked different recently

Lineker shared his verdict on Odegaard and his recent performances.

The pundit says that the midfielder hasn’t been as good as he was the past couple of seasons, but this showing against PSV may help him get back to his best.

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer labelled Odegaard as incredible, stating that he will improve off the back of this showing.

Interestingly, Darren Bent tipped Odegaard to improve just before this match.

“Odegaard coming back to form, you mentioned him there and you said it was easy for him, but it would do his confidence a lot of good because he’s not quite been the Odegaard that we’ve seen so consistently over the last couple of seasons,” Lineker said.

“Yeah, that will do him the world of good. But as I said, he did have the freedom of Eindhoven. It was just incredible how much space they gave him,” Shearer said.

Martin Odegaard this season compared to last season

Lineker says Odegaard hasn’t been the same player as of late, and he’s not wrong.

Indeed, at his best, Odegaard is a world-class player, but, frustratingly, we haven’t seen much of that in recent times.

The Norwegian’s stats this season show just how far off the pace he has been.

Odegaard’s goal and assist numbers are way down on where they were last season, and there may be a simple explanation for that.

Odegaard had a bad injury earlier this season, so that may have affected his overall form, while his assist numbers may be down due to Arsenal’s ongoing injury crisis.

Kai Havertz is out for the season, while Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus have all been sidelined recently, so Odegaard probably has been affected by the fact he’s playing in such an unfamiliar and disjointed attack.