Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defends 'tactical' Martin Odegaard substitution against Everton as Arne Slot hails Liverpool character in Fulham draw

14 December 2024, 20:03 | Updated: 15 December 2024, 09:01

Mikel Arteta defended his decision to substitute Martin Odegaard as Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Everton and missed the chance to close the gap to leaders Liverpool.

Arsenal captain Odegaard was withdrawn along with Declan Rice after 62 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, with Ethan Nwaneri and Jorginho introduced in their places.

But while Rice's substitution was put down to a niggling injury, Arteta confirmed afterwards that the decision to take off Odegaard was down to "tactical reasons" and not fitness-related.

The Gunners struggled to create chances without the Norway international during the closing stages as they failed to capitalise on Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham at Anfield.

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"With Declan, I had to take him out because he was feeling something," said Arteta. "And with Martin it was a tactical decision to try to change their rhythm, especially on that side.

"If Ethan comes in and scores a goal, is he a great sub? If he doesn't, you have taken your captain out. That's football.

"[His reaction] was the same reaction as [Gabriel] Martinelli, as anybody. I'm sure that they want to continue to play the 90 minutes. But that's why we have the subs. To try to help the team."

Odegaard had not been at his best during the game, spurning a couple of presentable opportunities in the first half and not creating any chances as Arsenal failed to make their dominance count for the second consecutive league game following their 1-1 draw with Fulham.

But it was still surprising to see him taken off, given his importance, and the changes did not have the desired impact for Arteta, with Arsenal unable to create any clear scoring opportunities in the closing stages as the Jordan Pickford-inspired visitors held out for a hard-earned point.

"I feel very disappointed not to win the game, because obviously there is only one team which deserves to win, which is Arsenal," added Arteta. "We gave nothing away, no shots conceded, dominated the direct play, didn't allow them to run, no set-pieces, our high-press was excellent.

"We generated the chances, but in the last 20 metres the goals were missing the goals, which is what you have to do with all the dominance. But I cannot ask much more of the boys, apart from putting the ball in the net."

Slot delighted by Liverpool's character

Meanwhile at Anfield, Liverpool fought back to claim a 2-2 draw, thanks to Diogo Jota's late equaliser, after Andrew Robertson was sent off for a last-man foul in the 17th minute.

Arne Slot was delighted by his side's character as they preserved their six-point lead on Arsenal and said Robertson was punished for playing on with an injury.

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"The character the team showed, that is what Robbo showed," said Slot. "If you get a kick like this, two studs on a knee, that can hurt for a few minutes. If you keep running and it gets better and better, that is what we were hoping for.

"I only had one defender on the bench, who is not a left full-back, so you are hoping he was managing to come through it and did quite well.

"But the moment I noticed he wasn't completely himself was the one time they put the ball in behind and he started running and was just able to head back to Ali (Alisson Becker).

"I felt 'Hmm, OK, let's see how this continues' and I think it was quite soon afterwards he conceded the red card.

"Nothing to blame him, the character showed in wanting to continue because he got quite a hard knock with two studs. Unfortunately, it led to a deserved red card."

Slot praised his players, who stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points, with second-placed Chelsea playing Brentford on Sunday.

"I think it is exactly the opposite from Girona (the midweek Champions League win) where I was pleased but not the performance," he added.

"Here I am very happy about the performance, I couldn't have asked for more, but of course not with the result because if you drop points in a home game against Fulham that is definitely not what you expect and what you want.

"But yeah, being a goal down twice, it's all going against you, except for one thing, which is our players and our fans, I thought we were outstanding."

(c) Sky Sports 2024: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defends 'tactical' Martin Odegaard substitution against Everton as Arne Slot hails Liverpool character in Fulham draw