Martin Odegaard had a night when Arsenal lost at home to Paris Saint-Germain and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was encouraged to take away the Arband of his captain
Former Liverpool star Mark Lawrenson encouraged Mikel Arteta to remove the bracelet from the captain of Martin Odegaard after the defeat of the Champions League at home at Paris Saint-Germain. Lawrenson believes that the removal of the bracelet would enable Norwegian to concentrate more on his contributions on the field, while the Gunners look at the Parc des Princes.
Arsenal was beaten 1-0 by PSG, with Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the game within five minutes. Some fans remained frustrated by the performance of the skipper when the Mikel Arteta team struggled to create too many clear opportunities at home.
Lawrenson has called on Arteta to give the bracelet to Declan Rice in the future. Midfielder Rice of England has experience with accepting a club to European glory, so that West Ham helps to win the Conference League in 2023, although the Champions League is a different beast.
“The bracelet of the captain must be removed from Martin Ødegaard so that he can concentrate on his performances again,” Lawrenson told Paddy Power. “We all know that he is a good player, but he has just had a six of the 10 season.
“If you were to give the bracelet instead of Declan Rice, imagine that this would not affect his performances, especially in view of the fact that he was a captain at West Ham. I would give it to Rice so that Ødegaard can concentrate on improving his versions.”
Arsenal will be able to call Thomas Partey for the second stage in Paris. Mikel Merino fell back to midfield at home while the Ghanaese was suspended, with Odegaard and Rice also in the middle.
“I think Declan and Mikel were huge,” Manager Arteta told Amazon Prime after the defeat. “Hij[PARTEY[geeftoptieseneenanderedreigingHetgeeftonsflexibiliteitomhetspelteveranderenHetisderustenwehebbeneengrotekansomindefinaletezijn”[Partey[givesoptionsandadifferentthreatItgivesusflexibilitytochangethegameIt'shalf-timeandwehaveabigchancetobeinthefinal”[PARTEY[geeftoptieseneenanderedreigingHetgeeftonsflexibiliteitomhetspelteveranderenHetisderustenwehebbeneengrotekansomindefinaletezijn”[Partey[givesoptionsandadifferentthreatItgivesusflexibilitytochangethegameIt’shalf-timeandwehaveabigchancetobeinthefinal”
PSG star Vitinha also described Pedey as a 'good player', while thinking about the impressive first leg performance of his own team. “It was a great evening, especially for the group,” said the Portugal International.
“It was a very good performance for the team. We had the ball the most matches. We had to adapt to the different circumstances and we did it. We defended well and we attacked well.
The winner of the two -legged draw will be confronted with Barcelona or Inter Milan in the final. Inter surprised their opponents when they took an early 2-0 lead in Montjuic, but Barca fought back to claim a 3-3 draw in the first stage.