Martin Ødegaard is among the smartest players currently playing.

Martin Ødegaard is among the smartest players currently playing.

He is the only one responsible for coordinating Arsenal’s current offensive and defensive formation, so we can see an example of that here.

Ben White feels ecstatic about this. Ødegaard tells him to stay high and drops

Arteta’s perfect rendition of Arsenal’s positional play in the final third is still in place, with Ødegaard deep and White high.

This implies that Arsenal will continue to occupy the right half space between the lines and will have a midfield circulator who can also provide protection during transitions behind them.

In addition to making sure Arsenal’s positional play dynamics were stable, Ødegaard took this action in the first place because White was already high, making it simpler for Ødegaard to drop into midfield.

They then switched places when the action calmed down and it was safe to do so.

They took this action since Ødegaard is inherently a more proficient attacker than White.

Though they picked the ideal time to give in and rotate, it makes more sense for him to be high than it does for White.

But even when they did turn, Ødegaard made sure White stayed in the deep end.

A few moments afterward, Ødegaard launched a deep attack on the box and scored through a cutback. However, notice who is positioned at the edge of the box, prepared to counterpress should play break down before him.

Although Mikel Arteta’s structure is extremely compact, it is crucial that Ødegaard insists on occupying every zone.