The debate over who will be crowned PFA Player of the Year this Premier League season has been fascinating.
Unlike recent years, where an obvious candidate emerges (Erling Haaland) or two titans face off (Kevin De Bruyne against Mohamed Salah), the 2023-24 campaign has produced at least six legitimate contenders for the award. which is voted on by the players.
The equivalent Football Writers (FWA) award was awarded to Manchester City striker Phil Foden earlier this month, with Arsenal's Declan Rice finishing second and City's Rodri completing the top three. But one player who was surprisingly not in the fray was Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard.
With Foden, Rice and Rodri ahead of him in the FWA voting, the Norwegian international is eighth in the betting odds for the PFA POTY award behind Foden, Rodri, Rice, Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Haaland, Ollie Aston Villa's Watkins and Saka. That's not just strange; He is downright shocking.
When you consider everything Ødegaard does on the pitch, for a team that has spent a third of the season at the top of the table and can still win the league, it is incredible that he is not a leader given how integral he is in all aspects. aspects of the game. Arsenal's move.
Here's why you should win it.
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Get involved early
Mikel Arteta's team seeks to control games, and a key principle to achieve this is to keep the ball. Arsenal average 58.1% possession in Premier League games and that starts from the back, with short goal kicks and build-up play that the midfielders have to dig deep and help orchestrate.
Jorginho is considered to be the signal-caller in deeper areas but has only started 10 Premier League games this season. Rice began the campaign as the deepest midfielder, but struggled to direct play from the base of midfield and had greater success moving forward, leading to Ødegaard taking on a larger role in the first phase.
Despite essentially operating as a No. 8/No. 10, has continued to carry that tension throughout the season. He can and will do so to receive early passes from centre-backs, release the pressure and move forward; or simply play your role in a circuit that avoids opponent pressure.
The fact that he has received 1,791 passes (excluding crosses) in the league this season (third most at the club behind William Saliba and Rice, but more than Gabriel Magalhães and Ben White) is indicative of how involved he is from the start. principle. .
He makes everything work
Once Arsenal get through the first phase, Ødegaard really comes to life. You can see the gears in his mind starting to turn as he figures out how to open up an opponent's defense and regularly heads to the bench during breaks in the game to theorize with Arteta about game strategy.
He is almost always Saliba's first passing option out of defense, tipping the ball to the right side. Ødegaard can then activate the White-Saka combination and see them slalom down the flank, or receive the ball inside and switch play to the other side of the field.
He has made the most progressive passes (361) of any Arsenal player, with Rice (336) trailing in second, and is second in the league overall, with only Rodri (496) ahead of him. He has also attempted by far the most through balls (39), not only in the team, but in the entire Premier League.
There is a huge tendency towards Arsenal's right side when they have the ball and while Saka plays a part in that, the main factor is that play is channeled through Ødegaard. He can also carry the ball himself from the middle third to the final third; He has done it 79 times this season, more than any other Arsenal player. Having that ability to step away from a marker, or go shoulder to shoulder and hold onto the ball, adds an extra layer to his game.
he is a creative master
Things take a step further when Ødegaard takes the ball in the final third. He does things that make the Emirates Stadium gasp in surprise or fall into a collective, bewildered silence. He sees passes that no one else sees and creates opportunities that shouldn't exist.
“The public appreciate him because they know he will lead and deliver,” says TNT Premier League commentator Lucy Ward. “He has a knack for finding a relationship with every player on the field, especially with the right, and making it work. He is a sumptuous player.”
Watching him operate 20-25 yards from goal is special; He resembles Manchester City's legendary David Silva at his best, whether playing incredible reverse passes into the box with his left foot or calmly circulating the ball in an attempt to constantly strangle the opponent into submission.
Once again, the statistics back up his brilliance: Ødegaard has completed the most passes into the penalty area (152) of any Premier League player, with Saka and Son Heung-Min in second place (103). He is also the best in shot creation actions (207), surpassing Bruno Fernandes (200) in that area.
His tally of eight goals is a healthy contribution to an attack that is firing on all cylinders, never asking too much from any source. He scored almost double that amount (15) last season in the league, but that doesn't mean he's regressed; It's more that the team needed him to shoulder the goal-scoring burden last year, and he did. This year his team needs him to be creative, and that's how it is.
Martin Odegaard 🪄 pic.twitter.com/yecDHKSJi9
—Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 13, 2024
He tries a lot
Over the years we have accepted that the players who hold the key to unlocking opponents and putting up big numbers on offense tend to be light on defense and don't go all out. But that's okay, since someone else will do the hard work, leaving you free to conserve your energy for more important things. Ødegaard no. Not only does he do all of the above, but he also leads and dictates Arsenal's pressing strategy.
The Gunners always funnel opponents to their left side to build, pushing the ball towards Ødegaard and Saka, who are brilliant at creating turnovers. The Norwegian is constantly deciding which player to pick, when not to focus on the next one, and balancing the desire to press with the danger of leaving his midfield teammates exposed.
Ødegaard has totaled 10 tackles in the attacking third, second only to Saka (20) at Arsenal, suggesting that the combination of pressing down the right side does a decent amount of damage.
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Arteta praises captain Odegaard's leadership after Luton win
Mikel Arteta highlights Martin Odegaard's leadership after Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Luton Town in the Premier League.
He is a leader who sets the rules.
The amount of stamina this ridiculously wide scope of responsibility requires is remarkable, but Ødegaard doesn't often miss games due to injury. He is on the court 95% of the time, contributing everywhere and almost coaching his team in every phase.
He has completed 90 minutes in 28 of his 34 league games this season, and in two of the six in which he came up short, he played 89. That is probably why Arteta gave him the captain's armband and, although initially it was more of a “advantage of example,” Ødegaard's leadership qualities have grown significantly over the past two years.
He constantly pumps up the crowd and makes the Emirates roar; he took the first penalty in the shootout victory against FC Porto in the Champions League round of 16 to set the tone; and gave a penalty to Kai Havertz against AFC Bournemouth in September, getting the German striker to score for Arsenal and giving his team-mate a confidence boost when he needed it most.
These are subtle, small, unquantifiable things, but they add up to create the full picture of what Ødegaard is: the most important player on this Arsenal team. He is the most functional, but also the most exciting; the quietest, though often the most vocal; and he is by far the smartest and most influential player on the field for them.
Given the level of consistency with which he has achieved all of this, he should definitely be in the running for the PFA Player of the Year award. Others certainly have a case (Foden's impact at City, Palmer's 31 goal contributions in 32 games for Chelsea, or Watkins' 19 goals to help Villa reach Europe), but it's hard to argue that it's better than yours.
