Ray Parlour has compared Arsenal star Martin Odegaard to one of his former teammates and has urged Mikel Arteta to hand the playmaker a start against Chelsea, even if he’s “only 80 per cent” fit.
Odegaard returned at the very end of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Inter on Wednesday, a game similar to many of the 12 games the Norway international has missed since his injury on international duty in September, in that they struggled to create clear-cut chances.
Arteta hasn’t revealed whether Odegaard will be in from the off against Chelsea, but Parlour believes he should be in the starting XI with defeat potentially leaving them ten points behind league leaders Liverpool, who play Aston Villa on Saturday night.
“He’s got the vision, he’s got that creativity,” Parlour said of Arsenal’s importance on talkSPORT.
“If you look at the midfield area, you’ve got [Thomas] Partey, Declan Rice when he’s playing, [Mikel] Merino’s come into the side as well, very similar players, really.
“All very good players, don’t get me wrong. I’d like to see Declan get forward a little bit more when Partey plays.
“But if Odegaard’s in there, he’s that player who takes the ball in tight little situations. He sees a pass, he creates chances.
“When I watched the Newcastle game, they needed that little bit of creativity because Newcastle were very comfortable sitting in front of the defence. The midfield for Newcastle had done a great job, by the way.
“He just can bring something else from the team, a little bit different to the other players they’ve got. He’s a big miss, but I don’t know how fit he is and if he’s recovered. If he’s 80 per cent, play him for 70 minutes, I would.”
Parlour reckons that while Odegaard isn’t at quite the same level of Bergkamp, whom he shared a dressing with at Arsenal for nine years, he does see similarities in style.
He added: “I look at Bergkamp when I played. I wouldn’t say he [Odegaard] is as good as Bergkamp, but he’s very similar in the way he can see vision and he will create chances.
“What I’m saying is he can get into little areas, he’s a very clever player. You watch his vision when he puts balls through. He knows where the runs are going to come from.
“Against Newcastle, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see the creativity from Arsenal’s midfield. That’s what he can bring to the team if he does come back on the weekend.”
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Paul Merson agreed with Parlour over Odegaard, urging Arteta to “take a chance” on the midfielder.
Asked whether Odegaard should start at Stamford Bridge, Merson replied: “I think that comes down to this weekend and the results.
“Arsenal play second on Super Sunday so they’ll know how Liverpool and City have got on. If they’ve both won then I think Odegaard has got to start the game.
“Ten and nine points, if both those teams win, that’s a lot of points and, for me, it would be a must-win football match and you take a chance [on Odegaard].
“Otherwise, what do you do? Do you bring him on for the last 20-30 minutes and then he goes and plays for Norway for a couple of games in seven or eight days? Unless he’s not going away with Norway and then maybe you sort of save him.
“But if not, I think he’s got to be thrown back in. He’s that important to Arsenal.”
The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima
Aftermath of the Russian attack on the Krasnopillia hromada.