Former West Ham manager David Moyes and ex-Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker spoke on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast about the possible reasons behind Arsenal’s three-game winless run in the Premier League.
Reo-Coker: “Martin Odegaard is a big miss for them because he orchestrates everything they do. I’m not saying they’re a one-man team, but when you have a player than can be so influential in controlling the flow of a game, that’s not something easily replaced.
“And I still personally believe that they’re missing that striker.”
Moyes: “The one thing I would always say is the manager knows better than anybody else. He knows what it’s like on the training ground, how the players are performing and if it works.
“Mikel will know that if Arsenal need a striker, I’m sure they will get one.
“But it’s easy for people in the media and supporters to say ‘we need a new striker’ – actually finding one at the moment is so difficult. The Lewandowskis, the Lukakus, the people who were known for lots of goals, they’re getting to the end of their careers. At the moment there are fewer strikers stepping up.
“Odegaard makes such a difference to how Arsenal play and playing against them in the last few years, Odegaard was always the one that was a real problem to deal with.
“Mikel will look at it and say they have to win games without this one player, because he could lose him again for any reason. Even when you bring him back after a semi-lengthy injury, you might not expect him to be right back at his best straight away.
“Mikel will find a way and I think Arsenal will be very close [to the title] again. They’ve got a top team.”
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