He has improved his frame tons though (naturally since he was 15 when he broke through), but he lacks in top speed.
Picture of Ødegaard with Drogba, back when he was 17(!):
Martin Ødegaard - Next season
- Thread starter sun_tzu
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Picture of Ødegaard with Drogba, back when he was 17(!):
I know that he was hyped up from a much earlier age than our Januzaj, but I feel that he will have a similar career trajectory to him.
Now I am not saying that Januzaj 100% can't become a fantastic player but I feel a lot of the problems stem from the same source that they got too much money and attention too soon.
Now I am not saying that Januzaj 100% can't become a fantastic player but I feel a lot of the problems stem from the same source that they got too much money and attention too soon.
Which speaks against a career as a winger, but not so much against one in CM. From what I've seen, I can imagine him as a player in a Modric or Iniesta role later on. Judging by this video from last month, he seems to like operating from both central and deeper areas anyway.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I think he'll become more of a #10 or more likely a creative midfielder with a bit of power like Pogba, not saying he'll be of the same quality, obviously, just the general role.
When he broke through, most in Norway from what I can remember thought he'd become a 10 (4-2-3-1 was popular still), being shifted to the wings had more to do with putting him up against wingbacks instead of centrebacks due to needing physical development (after all, he was 15). His training as reported also sounds more like someone training to spot passes and make them rather than someone made to beat his man and hit a cross/shoot for the far post.
I like to watch that guy, hope he makes it.
I didn't rate Eriksen much at the same age tbf despite the hype, and now I think he's probably the best winger / no.10 in the league (I consider De Bruyne a CM). Odegaard's clearly got something about him with his passing and close control, although he's got a really awkward looking running style, whereas Eriksen floats around looking comfortable even when it's not going for him. Give him 3 or 4 more years and we'll know his level I reckon.
Amazing how people wrote him off as a 16-17-year old on here, no?
Just a bit. Look at Lingard, only became a Manchester United level player at 25!Amazing how people wrote him off as a 16-17-year old on here, no?
As amazing as people framing him as the "next Messi" when he was 15, no?Amazing how people wrote him off as a 16-17-year old on here, no?
Oh absolutely. No kid or talent should ever be put under the pressure of reaching the heights of the best players of all time, regardless of how talented they may be.As amazing as people framing him as the "next Messi" when he was 15, no?
I honestly think those terms are nothing more than hurtful towards the talents chances of reaching their potential.
Tons of kids tour around Europe to see what fits them the best. He was just hyped up high enough for the tour to be news.
If you don't fuel your hype you'll get less paid and less offers. All I see in your post is bitterness and a wish to justify speaking negatively about a kid who has done nothing to warrant it.
Was actually referring more to endurance and lower body strength
Tonnes might, but they don't make huge demands like Ödegaard, there's the difference.
Why wouldn’t he make huge demands? Is he supposed to sell himself short and leave money on the table?
I think he would appear in the top 50 young talents list. He's only just 19, many young players are only making their first senior appearances at that age.
Agreed. He'd easily make a top 50.
SIXTEEN year olds shouldn't be in a position to make huge demands.
Tons don't get huge offers either.
Do you expect a kid to turn down top money that sets him up for life as if he's already made it so all he has to think about for his future is enjoying football?
Should we talk shit about every other player who make demands?
Fair point. Thought you meant in general.
Why is something only you can answer, but that's all that comes through to me from your earlier post.
He didn't necessarily want the attention (he's spoken up against it as a bother to Norwegian media in the past by the way), but the Norwegian media and as such the world media was amazed at a 15-year old not only playing with adults but easily being one of the best players while 15 years old. There is a reason the hype was there, and it was due to his performances for his age at the time.
He's one talent out of many out there, he can make it big, average or not at all. Putting him on another pedestal above others just because he was in the spotlight earlier in his life than the average noticed talent is just impatience. Give him time before slagging him off.
Calm down fellas, I was simply agreeing that @PedroMendez is bang on here. Ödegaard gets treated differently because of those demands, that's life.
Same goes for Paul Pogba for example, fans and the press treat him so much harsher because of his wages and huge fee.
I have no issues with him making demands at all.
How can you treat a talent differently? All talents have to spend time developing.
It's not the same as developed players.
I know it's a sensitive one for such a big Ødegaard fan, but it's just life mate. Pedro nailed it:
He toured around Europe visiting all major clubs, joined Real Madrid at a very young age, earned a lot of money and demanded to train (and play, if possible) with the first team. Of course he gets judged differently compared to your normal youngster. One can complain about the media, but he did everything to fuel the hype around him and he capitalised on it.
Freddy Adu did something similar and was also treated differently, of course, that's the way of the World.
That's the thing, I'm not a big Ødegaard fan. I'm a big believer in giving talents time before saying they won't become anything. Ødegaard happens to be Norwegian which is why I make notes about him. As for my alias on here it's down to Haxball stuff, not about being a fan of the player.
The hype surrounding him back then was crazy, almost every big clubs were interested in him hence the 'parading around'. So it's only normal that His father demanded a crazy money. Supply and demand.
I wouldn't say He has failed at Real Madrid, considering He's still only 19.
I wouldn't say He has failed at Real Madrid, considering He's still only 19.
Yes you are, every single post you have made about the player on these boards has been positive and it's extremely obvious that you're a big fan. Just embrace it man.
Bitterness then.
You are wrong. Taking interest in someones development is different from fandom.
I'm a fan of Martial, Rashford, TFM, Tuanzebe & McTominay.
I'm interested in Ødegaards development purely because he is Norwegian and I get information on him through Norwegian news-channels.
Why?
Just got him in MyClub silver ball on PES2018.
He's a bit shit (74 rating), so not sure whether to turn him into a trainer, Lv75 potential though probably could train him up to be like a 87/88 rating player.
He's a bit shit (74 rating), so not sure whether to turn him into a trainer, Lv75 potential though probably could train him up to be like a 87/88 rating player.
Everyone develops at different rates but the concern i'd have with Odegaard is he was already excelling in mens football aged 15, granted in the Norwegian league, so his progress is much more concerning than say other players who are still breaking through into mens football. Particularly when he's playing in the Dutch league which isn't so high on quality and is usually very conducive to young players excelling. Already you see in the Dutch league there's already a few players his age now outshining him.
At the moment he seems to be following the path of the likes of Bojan who were superstars at 17 then declined (though Bojan had a much better senior season than Odegaard has ever had).
At the moment he seems to be following the path of the likes of Bojan who were superstars at 17 then declined (though Bojan had a much better senior season than Odegaard has ever had).
I haven't said I'm neutral, I'm a Norwegian so for Norways sake I hope he develops well & i'm fed more information about him due to living in Norway and reading Norwegian media. If they push a narrative of him developing well then that gets held back by how he is still far away from the Real Madrid first team or blowing up the dutch league.
I haven't talked about biases either.
I've said I think it's wrong to put someone on a pedestal because of early hype based on their age of becoming known, and that I follow Ødegaard more than the average non-united talent because he is Norwegian and I get news on his development more than people outside of Norway because he's reported on a lot here.
I've explained my name on here a thousand times and people have backed up that story.
I played Haxball with caf-people, but used MrEriksen (which alludes to my real name, and people have mistaken that for me being a Christian Eriksen fan as well) back then. I changed my Haxball name when I started playing in leagues because I didn't want to use my real name there and had @Damien change my name on here to reflect that (because the redcafe Haxball room demands we use our redcafe name on there). I chose Ødegaard as a name because I was considered talented at Haxball but far from polished by the established league players, which at the time was what I thought of Ødegaard. When playing Haxball you also provide a flag to show where you are from so it was natural to pick a Norwegian player.
Further more, I didn't touch upon your claim of 50 other bigger talents, because I don't follow every talent out there and rank them, neither am I unable to see that you were just using a figure of speech to throw your view into the mix. I'm not against people saying he's stagnated or not progressed as they believed he should have.
You did say why you are putting him on a pedestal. I said why I disagree with that kind of actions and underlined that when I agreed with someones comment that people who overhyped him and compared him to Messi was just as stupid as those who have given up on his talent.
I'm not saying that people can't complain about talents. I talk negatively about aspects of the players I am a fan of, like Martial's work-rate, Rashfords lack of close-control or dribbling ability, McTominay lacking overall in the quality of his play, or for players I just follow with interest like in this thread about Ødegaards lack of pace to beat a player out wide and his lack of ability to finish. I've also stated before that I think he'd be better off if he had gone to Germany or Ajax back when he first moved, but you can hardly blame a kid for getting the money of a lifetime as long as he still has ways to improve upon his football. I do have issues with those who spout purely negative shit about young talents who still need years to develop before we know if they made it or not.
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I can confirm all this. The name change was like three years ago.
I'm defensive because you throw accusations on me that are incorrect.
Your reasons for being more critical of overhyped talents is something I disagree with, regardless of if we're talking about Ødegaard specifically or not. You are allowed to think the way you do, but you can't expect to not go challenged just because you have a train of thought. As I mentioned in my post, I've myself been criticizing Ødegaard and other talents I genuinely am a fan of. My issues are with over-the-top stuff and I'll call that out when I see it regardless of what talent it's pointed at.
A admin has now also backed up my story surrounding my username, going further with claiming meaning to it is just pathetic at this point.
"Benefited". Managers put pressure on the board when they need to so they get what they want.
Players wait out or until late with their contracts so they get what they want.
It's a entertainment industry, people will want what they can get.
Hating on a kid because he's doing the same as everyone else is just daft.
Also, in what world am I not supposed to go on the defensive? If you go on the offensive, like you've done with your claims, then it's only natural to respond either with being offensive yourself or defending your stance.
Can’t argue with this
This discussion is absolutely rivetting but not nearly as much as those lack of spaces between paragraphs.
The vitriol and hate toward him at times is ridiculous and so bizarre. There are so many posts on here actively hoping he fails.
The criticism of going on trials to clubs is so stupid too, every youth player does it. Feck I even know Canadian players who have done it.
The criticism of going on trials to clubs is so stupid too, every youth player does it. Feck I even know Canadian players who have done it.
Having trials is normal, even Freddy Adu had a trial at United
Oh for sure, but as was also mentioned, not every 15 year demands big wages and more importantly to train with the first team. That put him in the spotlight and was a 15 year old getting a little above his station.
He was completely in his rights to do the above btw, but don't expect him to be judged as lightly as other 19 year olds after that.
Not sure how much is true in regards to different demands:
Extremely talented player, but most already knew that.
However, and as i said at the time, they turned the whole thing into a PR campaign. Young talents training with potential clubs isn't something new, Ødegaard and his father was happy to take advantage of the interest and turning it from "who will offer him a contract" to "who will Ødegaard decide to join". Noggie and foreign press was following them around wherever they went.
It's hardly a surprise that Real Madrid would roll out the red carpet as the natural destination, the PR alone was mint, signing the most highly rated youngster in the world.
It's pretty clear that his development doesn't match the insane hype that surrounded him.
Will be interesting to see where he's off to next.
Extremely talented player, but most already knew that.
However, and as i said at the time, they turned the whole thing into a PR campaign. Young talents training with potential clubs isn't something new, Ødegaard and his father was happy to take advantage of the interest and turning it from "who will offer him a contract" to "who will Ødegaard decide to join". Noggie and foreign press was following them around wherever they went.
It's hardly a surprise that Real Madrid would roll out the red carpet as the natural destination, the PR alone was mint, signing the most highly rated youngster in the world.
It's pretty clear that his development doesn't match the insane hype that surrounded him.
Will be interesting to see where he's off to next.