Since returning to the Arsenal team in November, Martin Odegaard has started all but four of 29 matches. In one of those, he was ill. Out of choice, Mikel Arteta has selected the club captain from the off in almost every single other fixture.
Odegaard was used as a substitute in each the three games he started on the bench. Away at Brighton in early January he was needed to try and bring energy and creativity to a stumbling performance. On Wednesday night against PSV Eindhoven it was about keeping him sharp, presumably, because otherwise there was no other reason to risk him or ask him to feature with nothing to play for.
His first appearance back after a lengthy setback due to an ankle injury was brief and in vain at San Siro with Inter leading 1-0. Odegaard was on his way back to fitness at that stage. The PSV clash was different.
Odegaard got a much-needed 75 minutes with his feet up at the Emirates Stadium against PSV. It will have been time for contemplation as well as rest. Without the support of Bukayo Saka (missing for all but six of the past 18 weeks), Odegaard has been the sole creative hub for Arsenal but with ever-diminishing output.
In the absence of Saka, Arteta has had to rely even more on Odegaard than usual. 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri has played a role way above his pay grade in a bid to ease the burden but it has been largely in vain when it comes to the Premier League.
Nwaneri has been impressive and continues to step up at each new level but he hasn't been able to maintain the club's title fight or deliver cup success. This is not the responsibility of someone so young.
Kai Havertz's injury and the loss of Gabriel Jesus in January have left Odegaard as the only senior attacking force with any bite in this Arsenal team. His slide-rule passes and dinked lay-ups have found makeshift forwards or ones out of form and confidence.
Gabriel Martinelli has not been at his best for most of the past year-and-a-half whilst Leandro Trossard still struggles for consistency. Even at their best, Havertz and Jesus aren't lethal enough to reward Odegaard when his work is good.
In normal circumstances this would have been a lot to deal with for Odegaard. He has been part of a cohesive and dangerous unit for so much of the last three years that losing integral cogs to the system is just as damaging as the individual quality drop off. Ben White's own injury from November has been impactful as well.
It has meant Odegaard is stranded as an elite player surrounded by more functional pieces. His personal displays have also fallen below par.
That is largely understandable. Not only has the team failed to meet their very high standards but Odegaard has seemed to physically feel the pain.
After a bright return from injury - with two assists and a goal in his first three league matches back - he has only contributed to two in the 14 appearances since. If things were hard enough with a striker, they have been near-impossible to solve with Havertz and Jesus sidelined.
Odegaard, meanwhile, has not been shielded from the spotlight. As a leader for the team and now aged 26, it isn't a surprise but he has been without the cover which others of his standing are often afforded. Arteta hasn't had the luxury within his squad to rest Odegaard more even when he has been off his best and now it has taken its toll.
In PSV for the Champions League first leg he did get the plaudits which had been deserved for steadily improving showing. The draw to Manchester United on Sunday only exaggerated the problems Odegaard has had for most of this season, though.
A lack of penetration and intent from Arsenal has been problematic for a while. Odegaard is the most adventurous midfielder in the team but needs more movement and energy around him. There just isn't the same connection with Odegaard and those in the team right now.
This Sunday provides a chance to go again. It was in the reverse fixture against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that he marked his Premier League return with a delightful assist to Martinelli. Operating in the sort of spaces which often go undetected, Chelsea were scared to press Odegaard from the defence and didn't wish to drop their midfield in order to mark him.
Allowed time to pick a ball, his chip to Martinelli was exactly what had been coming for Arsenal. On the night it looked like Odegaard was about to inject Arsenal's season with something it had been missing.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta needs Martin Odegaard back at his best
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta needs Martin Odegaard back at his best (Image: (John Walton/PA Wire))
He picked up where he had been prior to the injury and Arsenal won three in a row after the November internationals which followed the trip to Chelsea. As the fixtures came thick and fast, Odegaard soon began to find himself being less and less effective.
Arteta took him off early in back-to-back draws at the start of December and was soon resting him on the south coast. Results were steady but not enough to compete with Liverpool right at the top.
The reality is that he has been dragged down with the mental and physical strain attached to this season. The promise of Saka's return after the international break and then a Champions League quarter-final tie to relish against Real Madrid should be enough to get Odegaard in the mood once more, though. It certainly needs to be.
On Sunday he will have the chance to revisit the memories of causing Chelsea problems throughout a 1-1 draw. It would be the perfect time to rediscover his deft best when it matters most.
A victory would almost certainly secure what already looks like an extremely strong position in the top five. It would also help to build form ahead of games after the break.
Odegaard, like Saka, will be targeting the matches against Madrid. That will extend the season with anything meaningful for Arsenal and is a tie which will need the world-class players to stand up.
Odegaard is in that bracket even if he hasn't had a season to reflect it. The quality he does possess was on show against Chelsea five months ago and must be fostered and found again.
If he can do it this weekend then it will inspire confidence into the whole squad that Arsenal can yet make something of a frustrating campaign all round.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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