ODEGAARD BROKEN

NORWEGIAN OUT FOR 3 MONTHS

The conclusion to Ball-Gate came fast and hard... a fetid blast of Nordic cod to the cheek. Martin is out... for at least three months.

"The scan showed he has some damage, especially to one of the ligaments in the ankle. I don’t want to 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. Let’s see."

This is sad.

This makes me mad.

But this is the beautiful game if you’re Arsenal. If there’s a weakness in the squad, mark my words, the footballing gods who hate us will notice, and they will act.

Thomas Partey’s injuries cost us early reentry into the Champions League.

William Saliba’s back injury cost us the title.

Jurrien Timber tore his ACL, and it may have cost us the league.

We’re four games into this season, and now the international break has taken down our captain for a quarter of a year.

It’s not fair.

But we have an ambitious plan, and that plan is to make Ethan Nwaneri a man.

I doubt he’s starting for Atalanta or Manchester City anytime soon, but he’ll be blooded after that because Arsenal believe he can be the solution.

Do I like this? Yes and no. I mean, I’d prefer someone with eight years of experience, a few Champions League wins, who could step in and replace Ødegaard directly. But we don’t have that.

Instead, we have a prodigy with a high ceiling.

I have faith this is different from the early Arteta banter years because we have stronger foundations now. Ødegaard joined Arsenal in a crisis; Nwaneri is surrounded by proper experience that can shoulder the extra responsibility required when playing with a teenager.

Barcelona has been integrating kids. Real Madrid has been integrating kids (Endrick, 18; Güler, 19). PSG has been integrating kids (Zaire-Emery, 18; Mbayé, 16; Zague, 18). João Neves, 18, at Benfica.

Look at Tyler Dibling against United this weekend. The Southampton winger was outrageously good in his debut, and he’s only 18 years old!

My point? Ethan Nwaneri had every top club in the world begging for his signature... so either Arteta believes in him, or he doesn’t. My gut says he does. My brain, after injecting toxic positivity between my toes, says Ethan is going to be a bloody sensation.

He has to be.

As for Atalanta – they were one of the few teams to beat Bayer Leverkusen last season, and they did it in the Europa League quarterfinals. A great achievement under a late-blooming manager in Gian Piero Gasperini. They are an underfunded team compared to most Premier League clubs, but they have excellent scouts, top players, and brilliant management.

They generally play man-to-man, they have outrageous work rate, and they break very fast. This match, coming off the back of Spurs, is probably a good thing. They’ll play a similarly gung-ho game against Arsenal, but with a bit more Italian tactical nous. Defensively, they don’t have much structure – their main job when we’re progressing will be to stop our players from turning... but our players are very good. Going one-on-one against a very fit, very fresh Arsenal might end in tears for them.

They’ve got pace in their forward line. De Ketelaere is quick, so is Lookman. Scamacca is injured, which, despite his poor West Ham spell, is good news for us. We can expect a lot of verticality, fast transitions, and some 'zero-fucks-given' football.

A bit like... Spurs.

My guess is we’ll see some Calafiori action in his home country. I expect a sharp return for Declan Rice. In my humble opinion, Jorginho should start because Thomas Partey can’t manage three games a week, and he’ll be needed for the City match. I think we might see Kai drop into midfield, and Gabi Jesus given a start with those beautiful cornrows.

This is a big match, the first of the Super Champions League. No one wants to rest against the Europa League champions. Arteta needs to secure a win and set us on course for the 17 points that should qualify us.

Not to focus too much on Manchester City, but they could only manage a draw at home against an Inter Milan side that out-sang them in their own yard. To be fair, City had 22 shots and did dominate; they just lacked a goal. With 2.45 xG, it’s clear they aren’t exactly blunt heading into the Arsenal match... although KDB did hobble off. They’ve got some kid called Foden who can cover. Who is he?

More of that to come…

Matt and JC did a little Before The Whistle podcast. We normally make these members specials, but we swapped it out this week, so you can hear what BTW are like… if you like podcasts, and the primo writing, sign up on that little button below. As a reminder On The Whistle for European Cup games will only live on our members platforms.