Despite crafting a deft assist for Arsenal teammate Declan Rice against Bournemouth, Martin Odegaard was once again questioned by home fans.
Odegaard has by and large been excellent since Arsenal recruited their new captain from Real Madrid, however, one or two Gunners fans are becoming frustrated of late.
Among the Arsenal fanbase there are murmurs of Odegaard’s poor decision-making or ability to perform in the club’s most important matches.
Arsenal fans have criticised Odegaard quite profusely of late, even if Mikel Arteta doesn’t seem concerned at all.
Odegaard is Arteta’s captain who leads by example both on and off the pitch, the kind of player he’s not going to drop during the club’s most important games of the season.
Martin Odegaard’s Arsenal warning ahead of PSG
That being said, and with Odegaard poised to captain Arsenal against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, the Norwegian made some worrying comments after defeat to Bournemouth.
Despite Odegaard’s assist for Rice, the Gunners ultimately lost 2-1 after failing to double their lead on more than one occasion.
And when speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Odegaard admitted that his side lost control immediately after conceding — a worrying statement ahead of facing a side of PSG’s quality.
Arsenal will have to be perfect in Paris to progress to their first Champions League final since 2006, but Odegaard admitted that they suffered a big mental lapse at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League.
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Speaking about the game, Odegaard said: “Massive disappointment. I think we started the game pretty well – we got the goal and felt like we controlled pretty much everything, but they score and we lose control of the game.
“We never find the rhythm after that, it is too chaotic and too sloppy from us. The second half is not acceptable.
“We have to move on as we have a massive game coming up. We have to get ready for that and analyse this game as well.
“This is what we want – we want to compete in every competition. We wanted to come here and do a good game and win, but that wasn’t the case.
“It is a massive game on Wednesday, but we have to use today to be ready and beat PSG on Wednesday.”
Jurrien Timber is a doubt against PSG
As mentioned, some Arsenal fans might prefer Odegaard to be dropped in France but that’s an unthinkable prospect in reality — Arteta is never going to ditch his captain.
But Arsenal do now have an issue at right-back where Ben White would presumably replace Jurrien Timber were he not fit for the game.
After missing the clash with Bournemouth owing to injury Arteta was asked if he was confident of Timber featuring.
Arteta replied: “No. Confident? At the moment, no, because he wasn’t able to play here and we played him for four days.”
Of course, Arteta would have White to come in as mentioned but it’s hardly an ideal scenario.
A tricky game and one that Arsenal can definitely win, but everything will need to go right on Wednesday night.
