Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard delivered the perfect response to Tony Adams’ recent demands for him to be stripped of the armband. The midfielder produced a display worthy of the skipper’s role in Sunday’s narrow victory over Manchester United. The Gunners made the journey to Old Trafford shortly after club icon Adams claimed Arsenal are ‘not going to win the league with Odegaard as captain’.
The former defender, who secured four league titles with Arsenal and wore the armband for 14 years, argued that Odegaard lacks the qualities to end the club’s Premier League barren spell. During a recent live recording of the Indo Sport podcast, Adams declared: “I’m seeing Declan Rice as a captain, but I’m saying to [Mikel] Arteta: ‘Come on, step up now. It’s your time to be a winning manager and a fantastic manager, because you’re not going to win the league with Odegaard as captain’.”
Odegaard has subsequently addressed those remarks and offered glimpses into his leadership approach. Nevertheless, he reserved his most fitting response for Sunday’s encounter at Old Trafford, where he produced a captain’s performance under enormous pressure.
The 26-year-old was instrumental in extricating Arsenal from various tight situations and launching his team forward through swift counter-attacks.
He also registered five clearances, with only William Saliba managing more amongst Arsenal players, and excelled at steadying the ship when United threatened to rattle their visitors. Arteta has also rallied behind his skipper following the decision to retain Odegaard as captain.
He recently disclosed the matter was settled through a club-wide ballot, with overwhelming support for the former Real Madrid star to continue leading the side.
“My opinion is clear and it’s not just my opinion, it’s all the staff and especially the players,” said Arteta ahead of his side’s Premier League opener.
“I asked them to vote [for] the captain and I got the result yesterday. By a mile away, by a big, big 100 miles, everybody was choosing the same person, Martin Odegaard, which is the most clear sign that you can have.
“It’s how they feel about who has to be their captain to defend, improve and win the matches that we want to win, so there’s no question about that.
“There is [a vote] every year especially because we change [personnel] a lot, and we change the leadership groups, because a lot of the players that were there are now gone.
“So we need to re-establish that and because it gives you so much information, how they feel about themselves and how they see [the captain] as a leader. It was really interesting to analyse all the data and to gather information.”
Sunday’s win over United was just the first step for Odegaard to genuinely demonstrate that he is the right man to guide Arsenal to trophies. However, a triumph away against one of the club’s fiercest rivals on the opening weekend is an excellent foundation to build on.
In a conversation with Sky Sports before his visit to Old Trafford, Odegaard responded to Adams’ criticism in a typically composed manner.
“It’s a lot to be fair, it’s a lot of small things,” he said, explaining his leadership role. “It’s hard to describe it, it’s more like a constant role you do.
“There’s always these small things you have to do. In general it’s just how I see it is to get the best out of the team and how to give the team the right mindset. Help the players around you, get the best mindset in everyone.
“I think before the game just on the pitch I do a little one [team talk] and inside the dressing room we have different people talking. It’s not just me there’s a lot of people sharing the responsibility and the manager does a lot as well. It’s a shared thing. It’s not just me all the time.”
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