Mikel Arteta singled out Martin Odegaard for special praise after he continued his good form with a strong display in Arsenal’s 5-0 thrashing of Norwich City on Boxing Day.
The Norway international has been in impressive form in recent weeks and he notched up two assists in the Gunners’ dominant away win on Boxing Day as they kept their top-four bid on track.
Odegaard, 23, has now scored four goals and made three assists in 17 Premier League games this season and is starting to show why the Gunners opted to sign him on a permanent deal from Real Madrid in the summer following his loan spell last term.
The former Real Madrid star set up Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney for both of Arsenal’s goals in the first half against the Canaries. Saka, Alexandre Lacazette and Emile Smith Rowe all then found the net in the second half as the Gunners made it four wins on the spin on the spin in the top flight.
Arteta has been delighted by Odegaard’s recent performances for the Gunners as he also praised his side for their dominant display at Carrow Road.
Asked about Odegaard after Sunday’s win, Arteta said: “I think he is playing fantastically well. He helps us a lot, he glides the team together and I am really pleased with him.”
Arteta continued: “It was very good [today]. A really traditional day in this country and to play football in this atmosphere, it was great.
“I think we performed and played really good, we were really consistent and a real threat throughout the game and I am really pleased with the way we attacked and defended.”
Arsenal do not have long to recover as they prepare to host Wolves on Tuesday at The Emirates in their next Premier League game.
“There’s no time to recover [ahead of the Wolves game] but we will do our best to keep the spirit, the mindset and physically the team in the best possible condition to play in front of our crowd, which we will need a lot from to give us energy in the game and try to win the game,” he added.
Arteta also gave no hint as to when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be back in action for the Gunners, with the Gabon international having been left out completely once again following a disciplinary breach earlier in the month.
“He wasn’t selected for today’s match. We’ll take it game by game,” Arteta said of Aubameyang, who was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy this month as a result of the disciplinary issue. “That was the decision.”