Arsenal have been accused of “negligence” by journalist Henry Winter with Martin Odegaard losing “10 per cent of his game” in recent weeks.
The Gunners are having a decent season in the Premier League but Mikel Arteta’s side now seem destined to finish as runners-up for the third season running.
A 1-0 home defeat to West Ham and a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest in their last two fixtures has seen Arsenal drop further behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal are now 13 points adrift of Arne Slot’s leaders and it would take a momumental collapse from Liverpool to allow the Gunners to challenge from here.
One of their main problems in recent weeks has been their lack of strikers with injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz earlier this year leaving them without a recognised centre-forward.
Arsenal attempted to buy a new striker in the January transfer window but eventually settled with what they’ve got, before Havertz was injured in warm-weather training in Dubai.
And former chief football writer for The Times, Winter, thinks “negligence” at Arsenal has cost them a shot at the title with Odegaard hit hardest by the Gunners not signing a striker.
Winter said on the Back Pages Podcast: “[Riccardo] Calafiori, who was brought in as a left-back, was their most attacking and threatening player in the first half. He actually sort of got the ball onto his right foot and hit the post.
“I mean, this is ranked negligence by Arsenal. Their fans have been saying – not since this pre-season, but probably a couple of previous pre-seasons as well – that they need a No. 9.
“I totally agree with David [Ornstein] alluding to the fact that Saka is not there, and when Bukayo Saka is not there, Martin Odegaard loses about 10 per cent of his excellent game.”
Former Premier League striker Darren Bent recently criticised Odegaard for his performances for Arsenal this season with the midfielder “appalling” in their 1-0 defeat to West Ham last weekend.
Bent said on talkSPORT: “He was appalling against West Ham. He hasn’t been good since coming back from injury. He had a little flirt where he looked like he might be back but two Premier League goals this season, three in total.
“His performances haven’t been good enough. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a wonderful footballer but there’s too much flicks and these little scoop passes, just shoot!”
Martin Keown thinks Declan Rice and Odegaard should shoulder some blame for the lack of cutting edge up front at Arsenal.
Keown told talkSPORT: There are five injuries at Arsenal and four of them are at the front of the team, so that’s an issue.
“It’s about that creativity, who are you giving the ball to and getting that right balance. But yeah, they’ve got to chip in [with goals], that’s the thing, you need everyone to chip in – set pieces is an area where they can do that.
“But if you don’t keep teams under pressure – I think at the weekend there was only one corner come half-time. So it’s about the manner of your play, the build-up of your play, trying to apply pressure.
“Of course Declan [should score more], Merino grabbed a couple of goals last week [against Leicester], everyone – [including Thomas] Partey – has to do more.
“Because even the defenders, I saw Gabriel charging forward at the end of the game trying to dig in and score goals. It’s not ideal, but those players need to contribute.”