When Martin Odegaard joined Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid, he revealed that Cesc Fabregas was one of his Premier League idols.
“I liked his ideas, the way he sees football and also the way he is,” said the Norwegian.
“The way he controls the game, the way he dictated the game, his ability to give assists and also score goals.
“Everything about his game. I tried to learn as much as possible when I grew up watching him. He was the top player.”
As we approach the two-year anniversary of those quotes, Odegaard has done much to suggest he’s a perfect student of Fabrgeas’ game.
Not only has he established himself as the beating heart of Arsenal’s midfield, he’s also inherited the captain’s armband at a young age.
For his part, Fabregas, who was at the Emirates on Saturday providing analysis of the north London derby for BT Sport, is happy to see his predecessor flourishing.
“I like his style, his intelligence, the way he moves and finds always these little pockets where you can make the difference,” said Cesc.
“In football nowadays you don’t have a lot of space and he’s very tricky and has a good eye for the final ball.
“Also, a lot of responsibility. He was 15 when he made his debut for Norway, he’s the captain of Norway. Now a very young captain of Arsenal. It’s not an easy task for him and he’s responding very well. I’m very happy for him.
“He reminds me a little bit of me when I took the armband at 21. It’s not easy. It’s a big, big club.”
Nice words from Cesc which Odegaard will no doubt be chuffed to hear.
After the win over Sp*rs, the Norwegian spoke bullishly about Arsenal’s ambitions for the rest of the season. Still top of the table after eight games, he believes the Gunners should be taken seriously by the rest of the league.
“We’ve started out very well. Things are flowing well. We’re showing that we have to be taken into account this season, and it feels good,” he told compatriot Jan Age Fjortoft in a post-game interview on Viaplay Fotball.
“I feel like we’re growing in every way. We have young players taking up more space [on the team], getting more experience. I feel like that’s showing now. And it’s sweet to show it in a big game. As I said, we showed [with the win over Sp*rs] that we’ll be up there on the league table fighting.
He added: “Our feet aren’t leaving the ground. There’s a lot of the season left. There are a couple of other good teams up there as well, so that’ll be tough. We’ll fight every game as if it’s the last one we’re playing, and then we’ll see how it ends up.”
Love Odegaard, and love his optimism, but I’d rather absolutely no one took us seriously for any of the remaining 30 games of this PL season, thank you very much.
Exactly. Long may the pundits position us as the underdogs. Their predictions always end up the wrong one anyways.
An Ode from Cesc.
Brilliant.
Great a-cesc-ment of ode
I love the fight in the team. Everyone tries to give 100% when they are on the field. That explains why they are top of the table; it is no fluke.
Leicester kept going like this – one game at a time – until IT happened.
They didn’t have a near-perfect City to contend with, I know, but nobody knows what the injury gods have in store. I remember Haaland was quite injury-prone last season.
If we’re still top at Christmas I’ll entertain the thought, but it would probably still require Haaland to sit out quite a few games.
Just to add, something wonderful at the moment is that I don’t even bother checking rivals results, it just doesn’t interest me. I am perfectly happy focusing only on what we’re doing, win, lose, or draw, and see where this journey takes us.
For info then, we’re 8pts ahead of Chelsea, 9 in front of united and 11 to the good of liverpool.
Oh and we are a point ahead of man city.
In other news North London is red
Read your comment five times. It was really fun reading it.
So, things really are going splendidly!
If we are still top or thereabouts at Xmas we should should really consider buying the 2 or so players needed to really make a strong sustainable title challenge.
Must say, I disagree. We are where we are due to prudent squad planning compared to previous regimens, I would like us to stick to the plan. If the right player is available in January, then fair enough.
I watched City make United look like a League One side in a cup match, with a final score that completely flattered United. I don’t see any chance that someone else can win the league, even with a Haaland injury.
They sure did, but so did Brentford. Plus, they still only get 3 points no matter how many goals he scores.
Don’t throw up the flag like Conte on Saturday’s NLD.
City are still a massive threat regardless of whether haaland plays or not,some of you guys are acting like City wasn’t scoring goals before he came which is extremely false.
Fantastic position we are in, young/highly motivated team, hope we have no/few injuries so we can keep it going.
Plus we sign up all the youngsters (Saka, Saliba, Martinelli etc – though Saka getting a box at the Emirates is a good sign…) and keep the team moving ahead.
What does that mean Saka getting a box at the Emirates?
Getting a private area for friends and family to watch matches.
Wow. That’s news to me. Nice
Two people who need to be back at Arsenal –
Wenger, undoubtedly. Cesc, not so sure. I totally adored him when he played for us, but they way he forced his way out of the club has burnt many bridges.
1.aAsene but only if he wants it, his given enough already.
2. Santi
3. Tech billionaire Mathieu Flamini
…
Cesc relinquished his statue when he gave in to his supposed Barca DNA
He still has the odor of Chelshit wafting from him.
Read his interviews since then. I’ve no issues with Cesc the guy was immense for us and only ever speaks highly of Arsenal. If Granit can be given the olive branch then Cesc should be too.
I agree. Listen to the Arseblog interview with him. He was right, out of the whole squad only Nasri and RVP were on his level in his last season, and v Persie was always injured. We made him play with Chamakh and Squillaci. After Barca he only wanted Arsenal. It’s a tragedy he left, but we can write a new chapter. Arsenal are the club of his heart. #CescIn
Man City will comfortably win the Premier League this season. With Liverpool in real trouble now, we can finish as high as second; but I just can’t see anybody stopping City. They have the best striker in the division and easily the best squad in terms of depth. I fear that when the injuries kick in after the World Cup we will struggle. Partey, Tierney and Tomiyasu are all injury prone, and a lengthy injury to Jesus would leave us in real trouble. But so far it’s been a great season. We’ve played some fantastic football and are winning again.… Read more »
Welcome to the light my friend.
Don’t forget Saka will be going to the WC too. We won’t know in what condition he’ll return in and how long he’ll take to adjust post-WC.
He’ll be back in early December, don’t you worry.
For his part, Fabregas, who was at the Emirates on Saturday providing analysis of the north London derby for BT Sport, is happy to see his predecessor flourishing.
Errm, Cesc would be the predecessor here, right? 🙂
Yes. Should be his successor, inheritor or scion
+1 for scion. And Fabregas should be renamed as his forebear.
Love it and at the same time nooo. Cant have Martin being sold a lie, abandoning a project at the cusp of greatness and then later turning out for a rival He charts his own path
Sorry, the wounds run deep with Cesc
😄
Grammar 101😄
Odegaard and the Gang means business this season. Just bring it on.
On a slightly different note…..I think the Dunford song (which I like), is completely the wrong song to play immediately before kick off. The atmosphere was electric and when that was played, it ripped the atmosphere right out of the stadium. Something more upbeat please. And play that some other time.
Really impressive to keep going the way we are.