“Even against Sheffield today, I’m still going to substitute him like other matches because…”- Arsenal manager Mikel explains why he will keep substituting Martin odegard and collecting the captain armband from him

Mikel Arteta explains why he keeps substituting Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard

Mikel Arteta has explained why he has been substituting Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard in recent weeks.

Odegaard was a key part of the north Londoners’ Premier League title challenge last season, registering 15 goals and eight assists across 37 games.

But he has faced some criticism this term, with his performances taking a clear dip.

Arteta replaced Odegaard on 73 minutes last time out as Arsenal recorded a 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League.

Odegaard was hauled off after 78 minutes in the match before that – a 2-2 draw at Chelsea – with former Gunner Emmanuel Petit accusing the 24-year-old of his ‘worst performance in an Arsenal shirt’.

The Norway international also only lasted 80 minutes during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to RC Lens earlier this month.

Arteta was quizzed about subbing Odegaard on Friday ahead of this weekend’s home match against Sheffield United and said: ‘It can be in relation to performance.

It can [also] be in relation to tactics or how the game is shifting to a type of game that I think somebody else is going to be more suited.

‘Sometimes it is to get more freshness in the team because we have played a lot of games and we need a lot of energy in the last few minutes.

‘We discussed that. To get to the level that our front players performed is very difficult to see.

It hasn’t happened in the Premier League. So we need to be conscious of that.

‘That’s about form and about putting him in better positions and doing things better in certain areas to help him to have the game that exploits his qualities.

‘Yeah, they have played as well a lot of minutes and that’s a consequence of that.’