Martin Keown praised Martin Odegaard after the Arsenal captain starred in a 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield. The reigning Premier League champions impressed with a comprehensive victory, leaving new City boss Enzo Maresca with much to consider.
Odegaard's standout performance
First-half goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Kai Havertz set Arsenal on their way, before Odegaard added a superb solo effort just after half-time. The Norway international had a difficult previous campaign due to injury, with Eberechi Eze posing a threat to his starting role.
After a successful World Cup, Odegaard appears back to his best, and his display against City justified his decision to return to pre-season early.
Keown's verdict
“These moments are great for these players because it gives them a new confidence,” Keown told TNT Sports. “I saw Odegaard with a new swagger in his play. For large parts of last year maybe he wasn’t at his best but he certainly looked like it today, some real creativity from him.”
“I talked about his swagger coming back and those connections. There was nutmegs, little changes of direction, it just seems it’s all coming back again. He sat the goalkeeper down beautifully for the goal, a top goalkeeper by the way. He looks like he’s coming back with a new intention, he came back earlier by all accounts.”
Title favourites?
BBC pundit Pat Nevin echoed those sentiments, saying: “Martin Odegaard looked back to his very, very best and it’s like a new, brilliant signing. Eze back up and running, like a new signing as well. Madueke had a number of injuries last season, Kai Havertz as well. They probably only need one more signing and they are, by some distance, the team to beat this season.”
Odegaard himself was delighted with the team’s performance and hungry for more trophies. “We played some brilliant football. Great performance and a great way to start the season. I always want to help the team as much possible with goals and assists. I want to score more goals. We showed our level today. We’re showed we’re ready. We’re serious and we want to do it again. We want to attack it. We want to do it again. When you get a taste of how nice it is you want to do it again. We want to win everything.”
