Thread by @jcperez_

With the #Odegaard move to #Arsenal about to be completed and my graph making the rounds on Arsenal Twitter, it's a good moment for a quick thread to my Gunner friends on what to expect from the Norwegian playmaker, with some images, video, articles, and data on him.

https://twitter.com/AFTVMedia/status/1352587206599340032

WHY IS ØDEGAARD GOING ON LOAN?

From what I've seen on my timeline, fans in the Real Madrid environment are not happy with this move. Real Madrid have suffered chance creation issues for several years already, and Ø seemed like a great fit to help with these issues

As explained in this great piece by @OmVAsports for @managingmadrid, Ø seemed like a great option to evolve and improve Real’s attacking structure. But that would have required Zidane to change his approach…and he didn't. managingmadrid.com/2020/8/14/2136…

At the start of the 2020/21 season, Ø got two starts in which he did not play poorly but was not at his best. Zidane moved back to his usual midfield picks, and soon after Ø picked a series of minor injuries that interrupted his playing time (see @TMuk_news injury history below)

While Ø was injured, Zidane settled into a clear starting XI and has mostly refused to rotate because results when rotating have been poor (Zidane's fault or the players'...?)

Ø barely got minutes after recovering from injuries, which led to the current scenario of him leaving.

The @fbref match logs below show the Real Madrid games in which Ø started and also the games in which he was left on the bench.

In six games over the last month, Ø only saw 6 minutes of action.

INJURY ISSUES

On that topic, the biggest gamble you take upon signing Ø right now is the injuries, which greatly affected his performance over 2020. In the video below, @3cbPerformance explains the details of his chronic knee condition.

This knee condition is not career-ending by any means but tricky to manage. As explained in the video, Rafa Nadal had to manage a similar injury and despite the occasional tournament missed, he still had an awesome career.

SOME KEY ØDEGAARD METRICS

That popular graph where Ø ranked alongside Messi paints an incomplete picture, but it's a good reminder that in the first 6 months of #LaLiga 19/20, he was arguably among the five most impactful attacking players in the league.

https://twitter.com/jcperez_/status/1215226713157840898?s=20

I updated the graph to account for all matchdays and passing+carrying actions. Ø still shows up as a top 10% player in #LaLiga moving the ball into danger zones, despite his decline in the 2nd half of the season due to the injury problems discussed earlier

https://twitter.com/jcperez_/status/1352607818994606088?s=20

By the way, I don't think he's a shot assist specialist like Ziyech, James, or Özil, but back in the Eredivisie, playing RW at Vitesse, Ø was posting some impressive key passing numbers too.

https://twitter.com/jcperez_/status/1102384564364808193?s=20

HOW ØDEGAARD PLAYS

To give you an idea of what Ø can do at this best, below is an analysis thread of a 2019 game vs Mallorca. It's just one game, but representative of how he played at Real Sociedad week in, week out during the 1st half of the season.

https://twitter.com/jcperez_/status/1166240204132405249?s=20

To summarize his role, Ø is an attacking playmaker, left-footer who likes to operate on the right side of the pitch, either as a midfielder or as a winger. At Vitesse, he played RW, and at Real Sociedad, he played RCM in a 4-3-3 setup.

Real Soc. coach Imanol Alguacil gave Ø free reign to decide where and how to intervene in the team's possession play: he could show up deep in the buildup phase, receive in between the lines, quick 1-2 combo with a teammate in the final third, make runs into the channels.

I don't see him as a "pure chance creator" like James or Özil, but a more hybrid 8/10 profile like Modrić or Iniesta. At Real Sociedad, he averaged 1 goal or assist every 3 games, more in line with Modrić / Iniesta numbers.

He can probably produce more if played at RW, though.

And just like Modrić at RMA, instead of confining Ø to just receiving in between the lines, the Norweigan is at his best when given freedom to move up and down the right halfspace and be involved in different zones (playing out of the back, in between lines, final third, etc).

Ø is not a good defensive player when it comes to tracking back, winning duels, defending in a deep block, but he’s good for pressing! Here’s the @StatsBomb radar showing how frequently he pressed when playing the right winger role at Vitesse.

https://twitter.com/StatsBomb/status/1088452713988292608?s=20

At Real Sociedad, there was a decrease in his pressing numbers, likely due to him being used in a deeper midfield role. But even there, you could often see situations where Odegaard not just pressed, but he instructed teammates where to press.

https://twitter.com/jcperez_/status/1166240251767136257?s=20

And that's all I have for now, #Arsenal fans. Hope this #Odegaard content dump was useful for you to understand what kind of player he is and what can he contribute to your team.