Arsenal star told to ‘come to party’ vs Paris Saint-Germain amid claim he ‘can’t go to world-class level’
Ex-Arsenal defender William Gallas has told one of Mikel Arteta’s players to “come to the party” against PSG in the Champions League semi-finals.
Arsenal’s focus is on the Champions League as they are set to finish second in the Premier League for the third consecutive season.
Injuries have ravaged the Gunners this season, but they have come good in the Champions League and emphatically beat Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round.
Declan Rice stepped up against Real Madrid and Bukayo Saka was another star performer, but Gallas thinks another player needs to turn up against PSG as Martin Odegaard needs to “come to the party”.
“It’s not just him on Tuesday – it has to be other players. Declan Rice produced a world-class performance against Real Madrid, and if he can’t repeat it, another player has to take the responsibility and step up with a match-winning performance,” Gallas said.
“Odegaard, can he do this? At the moment, he looks like he can’t go to that level at the moment.
“The level Declan Rice reached, and Saka – he had a great performance, in the first game, the second game against Madrid.
“I want to see Odegaard come to the party. He’s been quiet this season, but we know that he has the potential to be a match-winner, a world-class player.
“On Tuesday, it will be very interesting to see what is going to happen between Saka and Nuno Mendes, because he can play top-level stuff too. It’s going to be a good challenge for Saka.”
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An ankle injury impacted Odegaard at the start of this campaign as his form has dipped this season compared to previous campaigns.
Ahead of the PSG match, Odegaard insisted the Gunners have proven that they can “step up for the big matches”.
“We’ve shown already this season that we can step up for the big matches. That’s a result of the way we’ve been working over the past few years and the way we prepare for these big moments,” Odegaard said.
“We’ve been working together as a group for a long time and everyone is really confident in each other. We trust each other. We know what to do on the pitch, and when it comes to games like this, we know what it means and how important it is.
“These are the games you dream of your whole life. It’s a great feeling. I think it’s just a special occasion and everyone is really up for that.
“Nights like this give you a lot of energy, especially when we are here at home. Above all, we really want to win something. There is so much motivation around, and we are determined to show what we can do.”
