morning.
The only place to start this morning is with the injury suffered by Martin Odegaard in Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria. The captain’s foot was caught in a challenge and if you watch the video you can see that his ankle was twisted just below it.
Ødegaard out with serious injury. Yelling in pain. Not looking good at all.
I really hate foreigners 🤬🤬pic.twitter.com/SfRgnRoEAn
— 🇳🇴 kimmoFC (@kimmoFC) September 9, 2024
He obviously knew it was bad and came off after some treatment. There is not much to say now as it is still too early after the injury. It may take a day or two to get the information we need, but it did not look good at all and it would be amazing if he comes off without damaging any ankle ligaments. It would also be amazing if he is fit for Sunday’s North London derby. It will add to Mikel Arteta’s midfield headache.
Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken later said on TV, quite cheerfully:
I know it’s a sprained ankle. If you’re lucky it won’t be a torn ligament, but I’m not sure Arteta will call you tonight to give you his compliments.
There has been some discussion about how to build a team without Declan Rice since he was sent off against Brighton, but the idea that he could be without him and Odegaard seems pretty brutal. With Fabio Vieira out after his loan to Porto was approved and Mikel Merino injured after an unfortunate collision in training, the options are limited. Enter Ethan Nwaneri. If you look at the squad and see who can come in and do something similar to what the captain does, he is the most obvious choice. But it’s too much to ask of a 17-year-old and the midfield discussion will undoubtedly continue throughout the week.
I’ve seen a lot of talk about how Arsenal should never have allowed Odegaard to leave with Norway after the nasty kick in the Brighton game. I completely understand that. I wish we were a little more cynical about that, but it’s important to acknowledge that this is a two-way street. Players want to play for their country, and if you insist on resting them when they feel they can play, you risk ruining your relationship with them.
Despite all the talk about what other clubs are doing about it, Man City have had their only striker play two games in Norway during this break. Maybe Erling Haaland was lucky not to get injured, maybe Odegaard was unlucky to get injured, but you can’t just ignore the player’s wishes. We might have to be more persuasive, we might have to do more, but it’s not as simple as just saying ‘no’. And I think it’s important to recognize that the player has some responsibility as well.
The bigger question for me is why do we need these internationals for just 3 games in the new season and why there is still no mechanism to hold national associations accountable for player welfare. Clubs pay tens of millions of pounds in transfer fees to footballers on top of huge wages/bonuses etc and then get dragged into a setup that is in some cases nothing more than amateur.
Managers and coaches don’t have to worry about whether Martin Odegaard will be available for the derby, the first Champions League away game in Atlanta, or the away game against Manchester City next weekend. That is, if he is available for the next international game. It is surprising that there is no way for clubs to properly compensate players for injuries sustained during international matches. Why is there no checklist for assessing risk for players, clubs and national associations? If a national team decides to field a player who is injured or playing in some degree of pain, they are taking a huge financial risk if that player is injured and out of the club.
I know it’s the kind of thing that can easily be abused because all parties have to be fully open all the time, but when we have these conversations about player welfare, this kind of thing has to be included. The reality is that we’re going to be playing less football than we do now. Football as a money-making machine demands more and more from the clubs and UEFA, FIFA and the like. If we’re going to criticise the expanded Champions League format and the Club World Cup and all these meaningless international matches as increasing demands on players, we have to acknowledge that the clubs who play ‘friendly matches’ in pre-season as money-making exercises are also part of this. There are some elements that are worse than others, but this is something that everyone working in the game has to take some responsibility for.
This was discussed on Arsecast Extra yesterday, the only real solution is a bigger squad. This is something Mikel Arteta has said many times, because he knows he can’t put the genie back in the bottle. So, pragmatically speaking, a bigger squad is all that is realistically required. I think it’s abundantly clear that the current schedule is asking too much of the best players in the 25-man squad era. Despite the ability to use more substitutes, and even improvements in fitness/individual training etc, the game is asking too much of them and the sad reality is that the players are paying the price.
The club and the fans will feel that they are suffering, and rightly so, but ultimately, the player who suffers the ankle sprain, the ACL tear, the hamstring strain is the one who really suffers. He is a player who wants to play, and a player whose career can take a left turn in one second on the pitch. Let’s also not ignore the fact that we always want the best quality football, and we are demanding that players who are down on the ground perform at a high level every game. That is not realistic either. The overall quality of the game is also a factor to consider, if you want to step back a little.
So all we can do this morning is hope that Odegaard’s injury isn’t as serious as it looks, and that the players we have left for international matches can finish the games safely. I don’t understand how we can have a serious conversation about all this after that, because there are so many stakeholders moving in the opposite direction.
But I have to get up, I have to get up soon, but I won’t hold my breath. Until tomorrow.
