Another Arsenal defeat just shows that we simply can't function without Martin Odegaard

Today at 01:16 PM

Arsenal's plan, I'm sure, was to defeat Newcastle, but unfortunately they lost 1-0, raising the question: is anything going as planned these days?

Arsenal faced Newcastle at St. James Park hoping to bounce back to winning ways in the league after suffering a 2-0 loss to Bournemouth and a 1-1 draw to Liverpool in their last two matches.

Alexander Isak's 12-minute header goal from an Anthony Gordon cross gave the Magpies an early lead, which they held on to, and it marked their first win in five games. As much as the Gunners had 80 minutes to turn things around and try to pull off a comeback win, they didn't do much to trouble the Magpies, who defended really well with a low block whenever they weren't in possession.

Much has been said about that game, but what really stood out is that, without Martin Odegaard, this Mikel Arteta team lacks creativity in the final third; we lack the key to unlock low blocks and certainly lack our first line of press.

For over two months, Mikel Arteta has been stubborn not to trust Ethan Nwaneri to offer his team what Odegaard does.

When he entered the game, Nwaneri showed promise; however, his impact was not as significant as his outstanding performance during the 2-0 Carabao Cup round of 16 victory against Preston.

If anyone ever doubted Ødegaard, I hope they watched that game. There was no creativity whatsoever, and we didn't even look like scoring. We had just one shot on target.

Leandro Trossard, who purportedly has replaced Odegaard in the starting 11, had his worst perfomance versus Newcastle. He was nonexistent, especially in the first half.

Given that Odegaard is expected to return this week, I certainly expect him to return to the starting 11, and Trossard shouldn't complain.

Remember when Arteta said, "The impact Martin has in everything that we do, it was too big to try to replicate it with one player.

"We've tried to do it in a different way, adapting a few things, using players' qualities, players that can play in different positions and with the right chemistry around them.

"Maybe it took a game or two, but then things started to flow a bit better. We found a way, but we still miss him."

12 points dropped. Arsenal can't drop more, and with Super Martin Odegaard back, hopefully that will be the case.

Darren N

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