Arsenal dropped points once again in the Premier League yesterday, settling for a disappointing 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Liverpool require just three more wins to secure the Premier League title with Arsenal’s challenge faltering in what has been an uncharacteristically one-sided title race.
Despite the likes of Declan Rice impressing against Brentford, many of the other Arsenal squad flattered to deceive at Emirates, with Martin Odegaard in particular receiving criticism for his lacklustre display.
Speaking post-match on NBC Sport, Gary Neville weighed on the Arsenal number eight, highlighting his struggles this season.
“They’ve gone backwards from the start of the season in terms of recruitment. They never covered themselves for the likely injury to Havertz, their only centre forward, you didn’t really fancy Jesus as a centre forward.
“Odegaard’s another big drop-off for them, I think they’ve lost Edu off the pitch, they’ve lost their CEO as well whose obviously going to Tottenham.
Martin Odegaard thinks he hasn’t been ‘good enough’
The Gunners look set to finish second in the league for a third consecutive season and despite hope remaining in their Champions League campaign, Odegaard admitted his personal performances haven’t been up to scratch this year.
Speaking ahead of the Gunners visit to Old Trafford last month, another game in which they drew, the Norwegian told the Arsenal website: “To be honest I’m very used to people speaking about me and judging my performances.
“But I think I do that, I’m very hard on myself and I know I haven’t been good enough, especially in front of goal.
“So that’s normal, I work hard every day to improve it and I know I have the ability and talent to do it and this week was good and hopefully I can score more to end the season.
Odegaard’s worrying stats
Given the Norwegian’s statistics, it’s hard to argue with Odegaard’s ‘not good enough’ claims.
| Martin Odegaard Premier League stats | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
| Goals | 8 | 2 |
| Assists | 11 | 4 |
| Key Passes | 92 | 45 |
| xG | 7.41 | 4.16 |
Whilst Odegaard has of course not completed the season so still has time to improve his numbers, these statistics indicate what Neville and Odegaard himself claimed.
Last season, he was the hub of an impressive Arsenal side which finished on 90 points, their highest total since the invincibles side of 2004 however, he certainly hasn’t looked the same player this season.
His influence in the final third has waned, and Arsenal’s attacking fluidity has suffered as a result.
Arsenal fans will be hoping that this is just a dip in form and that he can return to the levels that saw him awarded the Premier League Player of the Year award at the 2023 London Football Awards.
The post What Martin Odegaard thinks about his Arsenal form this season amid ‘drop-off’ claims from Gary Neville appeared first on HITC.
