Tony Adams: Martin Odegaard has shut me up this season – he’s like Dennis Bergkamp and will captain Arsenal to title

Martin Odegaard will captain Arsenal to Premier League glory this season – despite not being the club’s natural leader.

That is the view of ‘Mr Arsenal’ Tony Adams, who has declared the playmaker has shut him up so far following his summer plea to Mikel Arteta.

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Adams, who captained the Gunners to four top-flight titles spread across three decades, took aim at the Norwegian’s leadership qualities ahead of their first game of the campaign.

The 59-year-old implored Arteta to remove Odegaard as club captain and give the armband to Declan Rice.

He had suggested that the north London giants’ 22-year quest to end their title drought would continue if Odegaard continued to lead out the side.

His comments led Odegaard, who has worn the armband since Alexandre Lacazette’s departure in 2022, to state that he ‘doesn’t care’ what Adams thinks.

Fast forward five months, and Arsenal are sitting pretty at the top of the table by seven points.

While Odegaard is yet to hit fifth gear, he has still chipped in with one goal and six assists from 25 games in all competitions – registering five goal involvements in his last seven league outings.

Despite find the back of the net just once, Adams has heaped praise on Odegaard for his efforts in driving the team up the pitch and being pro-active with the ball.

Ode to joy

During his appearance on the Sunday Edition with Shaun Custis & Henry Winter, Adams was asked whether Arsenal have the right leader in Odegaard.

To which he referenced his previous thoughts on the Norwegian, saying: “They misunderstood it the public did.

“It would have made Odegaard relieved [of captaincy burden], but I think he’s been a better player this year for it than maybe my comments.”

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Reflecting on what he previously said about Odegaard, Adams remarked: “I just said, ‘Maybe it should be Declan,’ and I said this about Harry Kane for the England team as well.

“When you’ve got a forward, sometimes you need to mix it up, you need to change things – put a faster player on or a bigger player for crosses or someone that can create things.

“And he’s [Odegaard] part of that process and he’s a Dennis Bergkamp [type of player], he’s a talented, talented player.

“But he’s not going to be on the pitch 24/7, so I just went for Gabriel [Magalhaes] or Declan Rice [to replace Odegaard as captain], that was my argument.

“He wasn’t positive [with the ball last campaign], but he has been this season, he really does put the ball in now.

“It was like he was hesitating and hesitating and he was slowing play up, but this season, I’ve seen a significant change in him.”

As for whether he believes Odegaard is a good leader, Adams stated: “I think there’s many leaders [in the squad], I think they’ve got a few leaders in there.”

Pressed on whether a skipper needs to be vocal on and off the pitch, Adams said: “I heard within the camp – [and] I’m not in the camp – I hear he’s very good Odegaard, and the lads love him.

“So I can understand why they’re united behind him and that’s absolutely fine.

“And he comes off [when substituted] and he throws the armband to Gabriel at times, most of the time he does to [Bukayo] Saka and throws it to Saka, and then he [Odegaard] gives it back to Gabriel when Saka doesn’t play.

“So I think they’ve got many leaders they’ve got many captains, they’ve got a fantastic squad of players that are going to win the league this year.

“It’s as simple as that so I don’t read anything into it.”

Since Odegaard became captain, the only trophy he has lifted has been in the form of the annual curtain-raiser Community Shield in 2023.

But he could inspire Arsenal to an unprecedented first with the club in the running to win a historic quadruple.

Along with sitting in first place in the Premier League, Arsenal also finished top of the Champions League standings with eight wins from as many matches.

They are also into the FA Cup fourth round, and have one foot in the Carabao Cup final ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final second leg tie at the Emirates.