Football fans have a funny habit. A player can spend years proving exactly who he is, then a few quiet games arrive and suddenly everybody starts asking whether he is still that player.
Martin Ødegaard has spent much of the last two seasons living inside that reality.
He’s been called “missing.” He’s been described as “miles off it.” Arsenal supporters and rival fans alike have questioned whether the captain remains the creative force he was during the title challenges of 2022-23 and 2023-24. Some of that skepticism is understandable. The goals haven’t always come at the same rate, injuries interrupted last season, and Arsenal themselves have repeatedly been linked with attacking midfielders and additional creators.
Yet when you actually look at the underlying numbers, it becomes surprisingly difficult to find evidence that Ødegaard ever fell off in any meaningful sense. If anything, the data points in the opposite direction. Not only has he remained one of Europe’s elite creative midfielders, but he appears to be reaching new heights in several areas of his game this season.
