21:00 on October 4th, Arsenal vs West Ham: Odegaard and the new look of the 'Gunners'

04/10/2025 07:17:00 GoalGuru

Arsenal is reshaping their attacking approach with bold passing from Martin Odegaard and a strong forward leading the line, Viktor Gyokeres.

Odegaard played a key role in both goals against Olympiacos for Arsenal. Coach Arteta granted the 26-year-old player "full freedom" to express his skills after a season start interrupted by a shoulder injury.

"I believe creativity is Odegaard’s natural trait," said the Spanish coach. "This doesn’t pressure him because it’s his strongest ability to create things few players can achieve. Odegaard has my complete freedom to explore and take risks, sensing movements to open up spaces."

Odegaard returned as a substitute in the dramatic 2-1 win over Newcastle. He took the injury-time corner that allowed defender Gabriel to score with a header, securing all three points at St James' Park.

In the match against Olympiacos, besides creating chances, he was also denied a goal by an excellent save from Konstantinos Tzolakis and a subsequent block from defender Panagiotis Retsos.

A notable point is that Odegaard is taking more risks with decisive passes than before. Previously, Arsenal depended on Odegaard and Saka to suffocate opponents in the final third, but now Odegaard is willing to play early through balls to exploit Gyokeres’s speed — a striker who has swept through defenses in Portugal and Europe. Arsenal’s opening goal is a prime example; although Gyokeres couldn’t beat the Olympiacos keeper, Martinelli was there in time to score.

Odegaard has adopted a riskier style of play, which benefits Arsenal.

The same pattern repeated in the 30th minute. Odegaard’s creative pass bypassed four opposing players as Gyokeres broke free. If the Swedish striker had passed to Martinelli, Arsenal’s second goal would have come earlier.

In his pursuit of “killer passes,” Odegaard is willing to sacrifice ball control. On average in his Arsenal career, he has an 87% pass accuracy rate, but in the first half against Olympiacos, when playing most boldly, this dropped to 77%. This is precisely the positive aspect, as Odegaard helps Gyokeres and Martinelli in different ways rather than forcing opponents to retreat and defend deeply.

Like many top clubs, Arsenal this season is aiming for a more direct, faster style of attack, delivering the ball into dangerous zones before opponents can set up their defense.

This style somewhat resembles basketball, sometimes leaving the defense vulnerable, but with solid defenders and extremely dangerous forwards exploiting space, it’s understandable why Arteta wants to pursue this approach.

What some are dissatisfied with is Gyokeres’s impatience, missing chances that would relieve pressure. With 3 goals in 9 matches, Gyokeres has yet to demonstrate truly impressive scoring efficiency, but there is still plenty of time for him to prove himself.

And it is very likely that Odegaard will be the one to help Arsenal “unlock” the striker who recently won the Gerd Müller award with his “killer” passes.

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