Alex Walsh on Martin Odegaard: Our silent but beautiful leader

Martin Ødegaard might not be the most vocal player on the pitch, but his demeanor and style of play resemble that of a masterful conductor guiding an orchestra. 

He leads by example week in, week out - and that’s exactly what he did in our most recent game against Manchester United, that Arsenal won with two late goals.

For 76 minutes Odegaard led the Arsenal press and even when other wasn’t joining in, he didn’t stop running.

When he equalized in the 28th minute, I observed that he only celebrated briefly before promptly urging his teammates to get ready to go again.

His leadership truly propelled Arsenal forward in every single minute he was on the pitch.

I couldn’t stop myself looking at the captain of the other team, Bruno Fernandes. In my view, he stands in stark contrast to Ødegaard and embodies so many bad traits that a captain shouldn’t.

First of all, he is always overplaying tackles, then he’s constantly in the referees ear and generally just has a really poor attitude.

Watching Ødegaard and Bruno trully made me appreciate the Arsenal captain even more than I already did.

His class on the field radiates to all his teammates and it undeniably lifts them.