More than two months later, Mikel Arteta was able to count on his captain Martin Odegaard to start last weekend’s match against Chelsea in which he pulled out his ‘wand’ to assist Martinelli in the 0-1 draw that subsequently ended equaling Pedro Neto. But, despite having traveled to Norway for this national team break, the Gunners’ ‘8’ has returned to London to finish getting ready.
“After speaking with the national team’s medical staff, we have unfortunately come to the conclusion that the situation is not good enough to play these matches,” Odegaard confessed in a note issued on the Norwegian Federation’s website.
Let us remember that Martin suffered an ankle injury during the September break. More specifically, in the clash against Austria in which he had to be substituted in the second half. Since then, he remained away from the playing field for 13 games in which Arsenal have fallen out of the Premier League. He reappeared in a testimonial against Inter Milan before completing the match against Chelsea. “I don’t know another player who is capable of playing 90 minutes at that level after six weeks out,” Arteta said.
“I’ve been through a long recovery period and when you haven’t played football in the last nine weeks, it’s natural to not be 100% yet. I need to listen to my body, complete this rehabilitation process and get my foot back in good shape,” Odegaard continued.
Arteta is breathing… but not so much by coach Stale Solbakken, who is playing during this break for first place that could catapult Norway to League A of the Nations League. They will face Slovakia at home to close the ‘liguilla’ in Kazakhstan. At the moment, they lead the group… but there is a three-way tie with Austria and Slovakia.
“We knew there was a risk that Martin would not be ready. He really wanted to participate in the games, but we cannot risk his health,” Solbakken admitted.
