Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will be without Martin Odegaard ‘for a while’ after the scans revealed the Norway international had suffered ligament damage to his ankle.
The Spaniard was reticent to talk in detail about the seriousness of Odegaard’s issue either side of the win at Sp*rs but opened up on the subject ahead of Thursday’s Champions League opener with Atalanta having received the results of more scans.
“Recent scans show that he’s got some damage especially on one of the ligaments in the ankle,” Arteta told his pre-game press conference in Bergamo.
“I don’t want to do that [give a timeline] because I’m not a doctor, but it’s something quite significant, so we’re going to lose him for a while. Hopefully not months, but we’ll see.”
Medics associated with the Norway national team, under whose watch he suffered the injury, speculated that Odegaard would be sidelined for at least three weeks. As such, Arsenal fans have been braced for bad news for a while.
Of course, it remains unclear whether Arsenal’s assessment matches that timeline.
While the October Interlull does afford Odegaard a little extra window to recover without missing further domestic matches, he’ll still miss six matches before then.
Asked how his side will cope, Arteta said: “We have to show that [we can], obviously, he’s our captain, he’s one of our biggest players without a doubt, he’s been one of the most consistent players in the last two or three seasons. Our identity is very related to his way of playing and his way of behaving. We’re going to have to deal with that.
“That’s a great test for the team as well, how capable we are to show maybe a different face and the fact that we have other players and other options that can be still very effective.”
Oh boy! Someone else will have to step up or is too late to get a refund for ESR 🙂
Best of luck in recovery, captain Ode!!!
I really, really hate interlulls…
Hearing it’s two months. What a miss. Fecking pocksie nations league shite. Others will step up. It’s time to show the world Nwaneri COYG
I think Ethan is ready!
Lately, I have been looking at teams like Barca give their youth products a chance regardless of their age… I think we should do the same — trust the boys to deliver.
I mean, if Ethan does come in, he has Rice and Partey behind and beside him to cover him. The way he blocked that Son’s shot on Sunday shows he is also not afraid to do the dirty part of the job like our skipper. Let him loose, I say!
Hopefully we’ve found our own lamine yamal! Talk about dropping in at the deep end, Atalanta and City Away…. Good luck Ethan Nwaneri…
Would be very surprised if he plays against city…
It’s Ethan time then
Nwan can do it better than him!
Hope not “Eaten” time.
Love the boy and believe in him though.
Feckity feck
You read my mind
The horrible sinking feeling I felt when Timber went down last season multiplied by a hundred.
Why can’t we just catch a break for once?!
Or stopping catching breaks altogether even!
Especially international breaks
Injuries happen. We were quite lucky last year avoiding anything serious. If you’re truly the best you’ll still win regardless. Let’s see how they deal with this challenge, will tell us a lot about our team.
Grind out the 1-0s. Then go on the rampage wjen he’s fit enough to influence our straightforward 2025 fixtures.
Stadiums are empty, everywhere we goooo!
Stupid pointless international friendlies. So close to the Euros and so far from a tournament. What a waste.
All internationals are pointless. I hate international football.
Indeed, a waste of good footballers.
Oh I’m so glad someone else feels like me! I thought it was just me being too “Club-minded” – well, I know I am really….
I always love the National team medics spouting on……… generally sooooo fucking clueless
If I had a granny, I wouldn’t even send her to a national team doctor for an opinion.
Piss off
Well that’s a shitter.
Fuck all internationals, all over the world, fuck all countries equally
Especially THAT country. They know who they are…
Arsenal must stay in the title until the captain is back. A cursory glance at Arsenal’s next eight matches suggest the gunners can remain in the title fight until about 27 Oct when Liverpool comes to town. But first, a no-loss approach to Man City game on sunday will stand the gunners in good stead
Thanks ChatGPT
That’s something a Cylon would say to throw us off the trail.
I knew it.
The secrecy around the updates for a while from MA tells me the Norway coach was lieing about the injury.
Speedy recovery Martin. If we can survive City away, we should be able to manage the squad without him for other teams.
Seriously
Who cares about internationals.
I know players have to say they love playing for their country and I’m sure some do but it’s about as exciting as watching pro bowling.
Nowhere near the level of the club ball
They say it because if they say otherwise the media and everyone else start pissing down their backs. Only Benny Blanco has had the balls to almost say it as it is.
Fuck interlulls!
Unfortunately ligament damage in the ankle can take a long time to fully heal and can linger even after the player returns. We need to make sure we don’t rush him back as we will need him to stay fit once he returns. Will be interesting to see how Arteta adjusts. Does Nwaneri get a shot ever, will have Havertz move back into midfield for the majority of the time, can Trossard adapt to an attacking mid role, maybe Saka or even Zinchenko could get a chance in attacking mid. No matter what the adjustments are we are greatly going… Read more »
Is Zinchenko ever available for pick?
Sell him in January and pick up some decent cover for MO.
So with ankle ligaments, what’s the timeline? If he’s back by end of oct, then it’s not too bad. But if this stretches to Nov/Dec, we are so screwed.
It’s time for this young boy Ethan to show what he can do. I can only assume that the reason why Arteta let ESR go without replacing him was that he believed that EN was ready. We’ll see now.
I just hope that Havertz doesn’t get injured: we don’t have a single striker in the squad.
I think we will be ok. With the best defence in the league, and Raya in goal, we will not let in many goals, sometimes one, very rarely two. With Saka, Havertz, GJ, Sterling, Trussard and the other lads we will always score quite a few. Maybe we will not have as many 3-0 and 4-0 wins as we would like, but we will win and win.
That said, get well Martin!
It was a great result at Spuds but we badly missed Odegaard. There was a severe lack of creativity in the middle of the park. This injury will badly hurt the team.
Let’s hope Ethan can step up big time.
I don’t disagree, but I trust Arteta has something in mind regarding this new face. Maybe Saka comes inside?
Trossard didn’t work and I believe he is actually just a wonderful sub who comes on with 20/25 left and creates. He doesn’t do it enough when he starts.
If you saw the images this is not a surprise. My only surprise is he didn’t break any bones. “Ankle ligament injury” is not much more informative than “ankle injury.” Because if you injured your ankle, it’s either bone or ligament. There are several ligaments that hold the bones of the foot to the bones of the lower leg. And each of them can be damaged a little or completely avulsed from the bone one either end. The severity and time scale is totally dependent on these factors plus individual patient factors such as degree and length of inflammation, and… Read more »
In other words, he might be out a long time depending on how bad his ankle sprain is. Right. Got it.
Sarcasm noted.
Thanks, Doc!
Vieira should have stayed. Thank goodness we brought sterling in.
Why? Viera is shite. ESR on the other hand…
Will be interesting to see how Saka’s game is affected by this…
No more “great test” please with injuries!
I remember De Bruyne picking up an injury at the beginning of last season. We hoped that will hamper City’s form. Of course it did not. Big teams find a way even without their absolute best players. If we are to compete at that same level, then we must find a way to play without our captain. We can’t replace him like for like, but I trust Arteta and the team in this one.