Without further ado, let's take a look at the game screen:
It was an attacking opportunity for Arsenal that happened in the 26th minute of the game.
Havertz, as a centre-forward, stepped down a little and pinpointedly into the heart of Bayern's centre-back and midfield, but Odegaard failed to handle the ball in the fleeting space.
In this goal, the best level of personal ability is to shoot directly with his left foot, and this happens to be Odegaard's smooth direction. Of course, there is a big difference between playing well and not playing well, but at the time, being able to shoot directly with his left foot showed the confidence of the players in the trajectory of the ball and the technical accuracy of the feet.
One level lower, that is, to directly use the left foot to the Martinelli inserted from the wing, so as to retain the momentum of the attack, but the opponent will also have more time to settle and defend, and the probability of attacking will be reduced, but at least the ball can be kept at his feet.
However, Odegaard opted to stop the ball, only for the physically strong Goretzka to squeeze back and convert possession.
The reason why we deliberately took out this clip is because it clearly shows what Odegaard is unable to play as an attacking second man.
The game was not the end of the first and second halves, and the individual quality of the opposition players was very strong, which clearly showed Odegaard's ceiling.
And Odegaard's ceiling is actually Arsenal's ceiling.
After the 2-2 end of the first leg, many Arsenal fans believe that the team only needs to adopt a defensive counterattack strategy when they arrive at the away stadium, and use a small victory to complete the goal of winning away games and advancing to the semi-finals.
However, Odegaard, as the core player and the second attacking player, this kind of performance could not support Arsenal's counter-attacking strategy to play a steady stream of counter-attacking threats, so as to bring back the victory away from home.
Odegaard is better at this kind of scenario:
There are connections to the front and back, left and right, so as to open up space for him, and he can show his characteristics and give opportunities to his teammates. The comparison of these two scenarios actually directly determines that Arsenal will not be able to play the so-called defensive counterattack when they are away from home.
Real Madrid can use two or three people to counterattack and even score, and for Arsenal, not only Odegaard can't play such an attack, but the center forwards are players like Havertz who should not be placed in a forward position, and it is even more difficult to rely on these two people, plus the wingers who need to help the full-backs defend from behind, and it is even more difficult to play a defensive counterattack.
So from this point of view, Arsenal didn't give up possession when they arrived at Allianz, but only dealt with the pressing line and attacking decisions with a little caution, which is the right way to go.
Even if Arsenal have made various adjustments to this, such as using Kenhiro Tomiyasu at left-back, Jorginho and Rice at the back, or even reducing Ben White's assists, Bayern can still threaten:
It just so happens that this is the game scenario that Bayern wants most.
Tuchel's idea of reusing Sane, Musiala and others has lost a lot of games in the league, most of which stems from the poor decision-making of these players in positional battles, giving the opponent the opportunity to defend and attack, using central strikers to suppress Bayern's central defenders, or directly pressing out the mistakes of Bayern's central defenders, or scoring goals with counterattacks in the transition stage.
And in this game, Bayern also exposed this problem in the sporadic positional battle, Musiala was bored and brought into the pile, Sane handled the ball in a mess, and Arsenal did not lack opportunities to convert:
However, the two who should not play as a lone striker are Kai Havertz and Odegaard, who cannot play a second man, and Bukayo Saka and Martinelli, who have the pace, will be pressed all the way to the back line by the opposition's wide attack.
When Saka and Martinelli came up, Bayern would be back in place.
Of course, Odegaard's performance is also limited by objective factors.
According to Arteta's recent games, Odegaard is injured and not in the best physical condition, which of course affects his and Arsenal's attacking efficiency to some extent.
And even in this game, Odegaard's performance was not without merit, not only delivering the threatening passes that his fans valued, but also at certain moments, Odegaard was able to put direct pressure on the opposition midfielders and defenders:
With more performances like this, he is qualified to play in a high position, so that wingers like Saka and Martinelli can be his consumables, take on heavier defensive responsibilities, and be allowed to easily let the opponent go from his side in such a game situation:
However, our evaluation of Odegaard is not based on a few performances.
On 13 March, after Arsenal crossed Porto to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, we briefly analysed Arsenal, who had a good record at the time, and we came to the following conclusions:
With Kai Havertz up front and two strikers, Declan Rice covering and interspersing in front of him, Jorginho behind him, and four centre-backs in the final line to protect him, this is the most conducive tactical system for Odegaard.
Arsenal's ceiling this season will depend on Odegaard's performance and efficiency.
In the six games since, Arsenal have won two, drawn two and lost two, cutting out Luton Town and Brighton, drawing with Manchester City and Bayern Munich, and losing to Villa and Bayern Munich in the past week.
After a month, Arsenal lost the initiative to win the league title and stopped in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and the haze of the four empty was looming over Arsenal's head again.
Of course, if you have to talk about ifs, Arsenal fans can actually say a lot.
If Arsenal hadn't conceded two goals in the first leg, and if Martinelli had taken advantage of Odegaard's chance in this game, including in the conceded round, if Tomiyasu, Martinelli and Rice could have done better:
Arsenal won't lose this game and can do better in their last six games.
However, if this kind of thing is meaningless.
You could say that through these two games, Arsenal still has a lot of shortcomings and shortcomings.
For example, Gabriel and Saliba are difficult to protect themselves when they reach high intensity, and they continue to make mistakes, no one is perfect at left-back, Ben White and Rice are just physical energy, Jorginho's defensive shortcomings cannot be made up, and Martinelli, Havertz, Saka, Jesus and Trossard and other cadres still have room for improvement when they seize opportunities.
However, it is the same group of consumables and role players who have helped Arsenal to the height of competing for the league title for two consecutive seasons, which shows that Arsenal is no longer significantly different from Manchester City at the level of brushing weak teams, and the real difference is the performance and results of the strong dialogue.
This difference not only explains that Arsenal will lose to Bayern Munich, who are not in the best form and mentality in the two legs, but also explains that Arsenal have not even been able to compete for small cup titles such as the League Cup and FA Cup in these two seasons.
So, is this a problem caused by consumables and role players, or is it a problem caused by core players?
The answer is actually not that difficult to come by, but many friends are unwilling to come to it.
Odegaard is a player who is not without his strengths, he is aggressive, he has a good attitude, and he does have good accuracy in the direction of his left foot, but with his ability, he cannot be placed in the position of attacking second man and captain.
So, it's not Odegaard who is wrong, it's Arteta, who lifted Odegaard to this position.
To put it mildly, if Arsenal were to lose all four seasons in a row, and the management decided to carry out a new round of upgrades to the team, with better consumables and role players, would Odegaard still be able to hold it down?
At that time, let alone putting it on the bench, it will be difficult to make the decision to remove the captain's armband, right?
Arsenal's top management was criticised for many years, but in recent years, Arsenal's owners and management have made great strides, from financial support to team management.
It is clear that Arteta has received much more support than Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger in the final years, and he should bring a major trophy to the Arsenal side, whether it is because of the real money invested by the owner or the progress of the club as a whole.
Now that the Champions League is over, Arsenal only have the league to fight for. With the last six games, of course, everything is still possible, but if not, how can Arsenal continue to improve?