Mikel Arteta: Martin Odegaard Has Been Playing Through Pain

By The Editor
on 28th October 2023

Mikel Arteta rested Martin Odegaard…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that skipper Martin Odegaard has been playing through pain in recent weeks after naming the Norwegian on the bench in our thrashing of Sheffield United, via Arsenal.com.

Odegaard was an unused substitute in our 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium with Arteta fully making use of the squad available to him after a tough Champions League trip to Sevilla in midweek.

Emile Smith Rowe was handed his first league start of the season and with the game already one, the boss was able to bring on Fabio Vieira in the closing stages.

The Portuguese playmaker managed to get himself on the scoresheet during his cameo after Eddie Nketiah allowed him to take the penalty the former Porto man was felled for.

Odegaard’s form has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after a string of questionable displays, though Arteta has revealed there were mitigating circumstances that can explain his form.

“We went through all the minutes that everybody that has played in the last few weeks,” Arteta said when asked why the former Real Madrid man remained on the bench.

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“He’d played an enormous amount of minutes. Martin has been carrying a little thing that wasn’t very comfortable in the games. We have players with enormous quality and we have to trust them. We believe it was the right day to do so.”

Journalist Mark Mann-Bryans later reported that Odegaard’s hip has been causing him the issue.