It’s been almost four years since Real Madrid signed Norwegian wonderkid Martin Odegaard
from Strømsgodset. He was 16 at the time, and
throughout the past few years, despite just being a teenager,
Odegaard has suffered heavy criticism for his ‘slow progress’. Even before he was
19, media outlets called began referring to him as a ‘failed
galactico’ and a ‘disaster’. But Odegaard’s development since his £3.6m
move to has actually been steady. The Norwegian has
taken a leap in each of his seasons since signing with Real Madrid Castilla, and this
season at Vitesse, where he’s on loan, has been a breakout
year for the attacking midfielder. While Frenkie de
Jong, Mathijs de Ligt, and other Ajax players get all the plaudits in the Eredivisie, Odegaard
has quietly put up some of the best chance-creation statistics in the entire league.
He generates 3.4 key passes per game -- only Feyenood’s Steven Berghuis at 3.5, and Ajax’s
Hakim Ziyech at 3.7, create more. He is also highly
proficient in tight spaces. His 2.7 completed dribbles per
game -- by far the highest in the Vitesse squad -- allows him to suck in defenders and
find open teammates on the counter-attack. Odegaard
also delivers an excellent set-piece, and he leads
his team with nine assists this season. It did take him time to hit his stride and
it wasn’t until the game against Heracles in October where the
Norwegian cemented his place as a starter. Now, he’s an integral part of the team,
starting 28 Eredivisie matches.
Vitesse head coach Leonid Slutsky, who took charge of the club in 2018, describes Odegaard
as ‘a big player’. He has also praised the Norwegian
for the filling the gap left by Mason Mount, who departed
the club last summer after an excellent loan spell.
Slutsky has allowed Odegaard a certain freedom offensively. While Odegaard plays as a right
winger, he does tend to conserve his energy by staying
high up the pitch when opponents are attacking Vitesse,
allowing him to remain as an outlet in transition. When Vitesse recover the ball, they immediately
look for Odegaard, who receives the ball in either
a central or wide area. From there, he carries the ball up the
pitch, releases a through-ball, or gets into a good shooting position.
When Vitesse are playing in a slower-paced match, with possession oriented build-ups,
Odegaard can slither his way out of tight spaces and whip
in a cross, make a diagonal, line-breaking pass, or cut in for
a left-footed shot. Opposing defensive lines shift their focus
to Odegaard on the flank, and the Norwegian’s ability to
quickly get the ball out of his feet and resist the pressure can free his teammates into goal-scoring
positions. Stylistically, he bears comparison to Mesut
Ozil and Lionel Messi. Odegaard is quicker than Ozil and a
more polished dribbler, but his passing is not nearly as developed. And, while clearly
stratospheres away from Messi’s standing in the game, the two
do share similar, positional traits. Odegaard is best utilised
from from the right wing, ideally free from deep defensive duties, and prefers to cut
infield onto his left foot, playing line-breaking passes, creating
space with his dribbling, and hitting diagonal balls to
the full-back on the far side. Like Mason Mount, his predecessor at Vitesse,
Odegaard may develop to play in a deeper role, but he’ll
need to be surrounded by a defensively strong team in order to play in a central midfield
position -- or play in a similar role to the one occupied
by Bernardo Silva at Manchester City, in a packed midfield,
where the scheme focuses on possession and counter-pressing as their form of defending
and creating chances.
While some of Odegaard’s offensive freedom is by design, there are scenarios where he
needs to help defensively and struggles to do so. Like Toni
Kroos, he jogs back in transition, and one of his biggest
weaknesses is helping his full-back defend overloads. Both Norway and Vitesse have conceded
goals from Odegaard’s failure to recognize his
defensive responsibilities on the right side. If Odegaard returns to Real Madrid -- a team
that relies heavily on their wing-backs joining the attack --
Odegaard will need to develop defensive traits to play as a two-way winger. If he plays in
a deeper central midfield role, expectations will be
high, as that’s where Luka Modric has been so instrumental as
a box-to-box presence. As yet, Odegaard has not shown that he can
perform that kind of function, but there are examples of
players transitioning into deeper roles. James Rodriguez for example, emerged as a star in
Monaco playing as a right winger, and is now comfortable playing as a deeper central
midfielder at Bayern Munich when needed. “I’ve scored more and assisted more than
last season and I think I’ve been improving,” Odegaard said in
April. “Slutsky has given me freedom and confidence.”