Michael Dawson feels Martin Odegaard can ‘do what he wants’ after an audacious piece of a skill as Arsenal faced Brentford, speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (19/02, 15:49).
Odegaard left Dawson gushing with praise late in the first-half during the Gunners’ Premier League meeting with the Bees. Mikel Arteta awarded the Norway playmaker his 21st game of the top-flight season so far during Saturday’s London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
Brentford managed to keep Arsenal out in the opening 45-minutes whilst the hosts enjoyed most of the ball. Yet Bees goalkeeper David Raya would have felt relaxed as the Gunners failed to create as many clear chances as their time in possession warrants most weeks.
Arsenal did enjoy a late chance before heading back down the tunnel for half-time, though. Great work from Odegaard left Bukayo Saka to break, while enthralling ex-Spurs Dawson.
“The cheek of Odegaard, he’s been the best player on the pitch,” Dawson said. “The ball starts at Cedric, comes down and it looks like he’s going to play it. He’s facing the touchline and he goes to boot it – no he doesn’t.
“He leaves the ball, it goes past him, it goes into Saka and he goes inside and it then comes to an opportunity. Do you know what, the audacity and cheek of him is incredible. But the way he’s played in this half? He can do what he wants.”
Odegaard pulled the strings without direct Arsenal first-half role vs Brentford
Arsenal created a staggering 16 chances during the first-half against Brentford on Saturday. Yet Arteta’s side could only hit two on target with the Bees blocking seven, per WhoScored.
Odegaard directly created one of Arsenal’s attempts against Brentford, while also trying his luck twice with blocked strikes. He went into the game without a goal in his last six Premier League appearances. The 23-year-old had also failed to record an assist in his prior three.
Arteta’s £34m summer signing from Real Madrid enjoyed a flurry of involvements through December. He hit three of his four goals for the season and all three assists from the 2nd to Boxing Day. Arteta will hope he can continue to build his tally in search of a top-four finish.
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