After losing three straight games last season, Mikel Arteta's team has won their first three games this year. Following each victory, praise for the London team has been pouring in.
For Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard has been a crucial player.
Mikel Arteta's team received a lot of acclaim for maintaining Arsenal's unblemished record against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Martin Odegaard scored twice in the first 15 minutes to calm any jitters the visitors may have had. Even though he stole the ball off teammate Gabriel Jesus' feet for the second of his two goals, the club captain displayed quick reactions on both occasions.
With a beautiful left-footed finish that gave Cherries goalkeeper Mark Travers no chance, William Saliba secured the victory. And following the game,Both goal scorers left a distinct impression on pundit Jamie Redknapp.
The Arsenal team looked significantly different from how it does now when Arteta took command in north London. Only one player from the starting lineup at the Vitality Stadium took the field for the manager's first victory over the team in January 2020, and that player, Granit Xhaka, had a good chance of quitting on his own.
After Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined the team from Manchester City in the summer, much has been said about their influence. However, two men who traveled quite different roads to get where they are now also contributed significantly to Arteta's proposal.
Odegaard's first arrival was simply a loan, and a subsequent permanent move was not certain. But ever since Arsenal made the necessary payment to Real Madrid to seal the transaction, he has developed into one of the key players on the field.
For Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard has been a crucial player.
Redknapp referred to Odegaard as "a manager on the pitch" during Sky Sports broadcast, repeating remarks he made about him in May. The Norwegian captain, who was one of several contenders to succeed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Arsenal's captain, has done a lot to earn Arteta's trust. Redknapp was impressed—and not for the first time—by it.
Following Arsenal's victory over West Ham United during the close of the previous campaign, Redknapp remarked, "You can see from Mikel Arteta's point of view, he's almost his manager on the pitch." "He is a great player and a decent person, so it could be that he is there for the long term. It's a brilliant move on Arteta's part."
The French defender has been sent out on loan more than once since joining Arsenal from Saint-Etienne, which has slowed down Saliba's ascent. The center-back, though, has appeared at home in the Premier League after being informed by Arteta that he was very much part of his plan this season despite interest from Marseille.
Against Bournemouth, William Saliba scored his first goal in the Premier League.
Saliba said, "I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time," after making his Premier League debut in a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace. "I'm overjoyed to get off to a winning and clean-sheet start in my debut.
"You always have to give your all, and it was good. It's never easy. It's the opening game, so success will boost the team's confidence and help the season get off to a good start.
Redknapp expressed on Sports that Saliba "looks like a Rolls-Royce" and praised the defensive prowess of the Gunners, indicating that he, too, was impressed by what he witnessed on the south coast. The team of Arteta has not trailed at any point in their first three games and has recorded two clean sheets.
The former Liverpool midfielder continued, "It's still early in his career, you don't want to get too high on yourself, but I think going away, studying the game in France and then coming back to Arsenal where he looks like a man now. "I think it has given him so more strength, he is growing more self-assured, he has that aura about him, and defensively they seem so much better," the analyst said.
Arsenal has not yet faced any of their Champions League opponents, but despite the fact that it is still early in the season, they have already earned points in scenarios where they might have struggled in the previous campaign. They did all of this while assuming the appearance of what is unmistakably a Mikel Arteta team.
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