Former Arsenal star questions Martin Odegaard's captaincy after PSG defeat - as he suggests Gunners skipper 'isn't as efficient as before'
The Gunners, under the leadership of the midfielder, have failed to win a trophy once again this season, with those hopes coming to an end after their loss in Paris on Wednesday evening.
Elsewhere, they were knockout of the Carabao Cup in the semi-finals, while they suffered an earlier defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the FA Cup. In the Premier League, Liverpool have already been crowned champions.
A number of fans and pundits have had theories over why the Gunners have fallen short for another season, with injuries and a lack of a natural No 9 seemingly contributing to their struggles.
Few, though, have questioned Odegaard. The Norwegian remain his side's chief creator, but has struggled for form since returning from injury earlier on this season.
Ex-Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna, though, has claimed Odegaard hasn't been deserving of his place as captain recently - even though he wouldn't want to take the armband away from him.
'It's a tricky one because Martin Odegaard hasn't been playing well this season,' Sagna, who played for the Gunners between 2007 and 2014, said, via the Mirror. 'Although sometimes there's more behind it. I don't care too much about personal situations but his influence in the club will decrease.
'I don't think the issue is due to the captaincy. Captaincy is given to a player who has good qualities and a strong personality. However, the way the games have been going – I don't think he has been [a strong enough leader]. He isn't as efficient as before.
'If you play without a number nine, it's much more difficult because the captain must organise the game and a lot of the time, he is standing by himself. There is nobody to assist in front of him. I would not remove captaincy from him because he remains a top player.'
The Gunners will likely look to invest in the summer, adding to their squad as they look to either win their first Premier League title since 2004 or first-ever Champions League title.
It was a hurt squad after the PSG loss, Odegaard said after the game, as he admitted side side weren't worthy of as spot in the final over their two semi-final legs.
'We gave it a proper go,' he said. 'We started the game really well. We were on the front foot, had the momentum, a few big chances but in the end it wasn't enough.
'Between the boxes we did well, inside the two over the two games we weren't good enough. Credit to their goalkeeper who made amazing saves. It wasn't enough and that's painful.'
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The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
It's staying home: England's road to Euro 2025 glory
Over little more than three weeks in July, from Zurich via St Gallen, and Lancy to Basel, Guardian writers have followed every step of England's journey across Switzerland during Women's Euro 2025. Under Sarina Wiegman, the Lionesses became the first England team to win a trophy on foreign soil. Here are our favourite pictures coupled with excerpts from our match reports and blogs. GAME 1: GROUP D 5 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND France 2 (Katoto 36, Baltimore 39) England 1 (Walsh 87) England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, right, fails to save a shot by France's Sandy Baltimore as England stumbled in their opening game of the tournament. Photograph above: Michael Buholzer/AP. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. The hour mark was approaching when Sarina Wiegman rolled the dice or, perhaps more accurately, reached for the comfort blanket. A salvage operation of this scale had not been part of anyone's masterplan, but at least Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly knew exactly how to move the dial at a European Championship. They were the history makers at Wembley in England's most recent appearance on this stage; if it was going to be anyone, it surely had to be them. There were to be no heroics this time, even if Selma Bacha's late clearance was ultimately all that came between Wiegman's players and a draw. That statement is, in itself, illusory because the manager must face questions about her selection here. She had plumped for Lauren James's explosive gifts in the No 10 position, sticking to the claim that the Chelsea forward was ready to ramp up her recovery from injury, but the call backfired badly. England were misshapen and leggy where it mattered; the game simply got away from them and so, with another ill-conceived step against the Netherlands, could their Euro 2025 campaign. A positive reading might be that England were sharpened up here: given the jolt reigning champions sometimes Ames GAME 2: GROUP D 9 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND England 4 (James 22 60, Stanway 45, Toone 67) Netherlands 0 England's Georgia Stanway celebrates scoring their second goal with Ella Toone in a resounding performance against fellow heavyweights the Netherlands. Photograph above: Annegret Hilse/Reuters. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. From shambolic to sublime, England brushed off fears of a group-stage exit with a thrilling and clinical defeat of the Netherlands. England know how to win knockout matches and that was the territory they had entered a little earlier than planned. They also know how to shake off a defeat against top-level teams, their 2-1 Nations League loss to France in May 2024 followed by a 2-1 win over the same opposition in Saint-Étienne four days later. They also knew they had lost opening games and gone far at the World Cup in 2015 and the Euros in 2009. Messages came in from former Lionesses to remind them of those things, the Euro 2022 group chat still active. The difference between the sloppy and slightly shellshocked play against France and the focused and aggressive football played against the Netherlands in a sunny Stadion Letzigrund was night and day. The threat of an exit had sharpened the minds and the passing significantly, and Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone dictated play from the middle and increased the potency of Lauren Hemp and Lauren James out wide as Andries Jonker's side got narrower and narrower. England's title defence is well and truly alive, but they will be cautious. Suzanne Wrack GAME 3: GROUP D 13 JULY, ARENA ST GALLEN England 6 (Stanway 13pen, Toone 22, Hemp 30, Russo 44, Mead 72, Beever-Jones 89 Wales 1 Cain 76 Ella Toone scores England's second goal against Wales in a widely-expected demolition job that sealed their place in the knock-out stages. Photograph above: Annegret Hilse/Reuters. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Sarina Wiegman said her Lionesses side found a sense of 'urgency' to book their place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Wales. 'This urgency comes [after the France defeat],' the England head coach said. 'You could see the togetherness of our team. We knew today would be a different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot. I'm very happy with the performance. We knew that Wales really wanted to fight and we tried to stay out of it. I think in most of the moments we did but in the beginning we were sloppy.' A key part of England's improved form during a tough Group D was a shift in gameplan from Wiegman and the coaching staff . One change has been the introduction of Ella Toone back into the No 10 role against the Netherlands with the ever-creative Lauren James moving out to the right. Keira Walsh, the Uefa player of the match, credited Toone for England's change in fortunes. 'She's come in and done an incredible job,' she said. 'People speak about her off ensively, but the defensive work she does for me and Georgia [Stanway] when she's in [the No 10 role] is incredible. She covers a lot of spaces that we can't.' Sophie Downey GAME 4: QUARTER-FINAL 17 JULY, STADION LETZIGRUND Sweden 2 (Asllani 2, Blackstenius 25) England 2 (Bronze 79, Agyemang 81) AET England won 3-2 on penalties England's Lucy Bronze scores a penalty past Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk during the shootout after an epic comeback from two goals down. Photograph above: Martin Meissner/AP. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. The Letzigrund looks gorgeous under a pale pastel evening sun. The noise washes over the athletics track where Carl Lewis and Asafa Powell once broke the world record, and where Sweden are now flying out of the blocks and leaving England trailing in their dust. We do not yet know that in many ways this is simply the prologue, that this devastating early two-goal flurry is actually relatively benign in comparison with the carnage that will follow. We do not yet know that Lauren James will end up playing almost an hour in a double pivot. We do not yet know that Lucy Bronze will end up wearing the captain's armband on her wrist and kicking a giant credit card advert. Hannah Hampton, nose still unbloodied, has not the faintest inkling that this will end up being the greatest night of her career. But they all know something. Even if they're not entirely conscious of it. Even as an utterly shambolic England trail Sweden 2-0 and the obituaries for their campaign are being scribbled, there is a little knot of refusal there, a team with an entirely unwarranted calmness at its core, a team that against all the available visual evidence still trusts that everything is going to work out. Perhaps the hallmark of certain great teams is in sensing almost subconsciously when they are allowed to play badly and when they are not, when the level needs to be raised, when the stakes are at their sharpest. Jonathan Liew GAME 5: SEMI-FINAL 22 JULY, STADE DE GENÈVE England 2 (Agyemang 90+5, Kelly 120) Italy 1 (Bonansea 33) England won in extra time Chloe Kelly celebrates with Michelle Agyemang after scoring the winning goal late in extra-time. Photograph above: Jose Breton/NurPhoto/Shutterstock. Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Chloe Kelly said England's saviour Michelle Agyemang has the 'world at her feet' after the 19-year-old striker's late leveller rescued the defending champions in their nerve-jangling semi-final victory against Italy. England's remarkably late comeback, with Agyemang scoring in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time before Kelly's winner in the penultimate minute of extra time, booked the Lionesses a place in their third consecutive major tournament final. 'Big Mich at it again!' Kelly said to ITV Sport, discussing Agyemang's third goal in four senior international games since her April debut. 'She's unbelievable and she should have scored again: that one that hit the crossbar. She's an unbelievable player and she's got the world at her feet, a young player with a bright future and I'm absolutely buzzing for her.' The match was played two days after Jess Carter revealed she had received what the England team described as poisonous racist abuse on social media. The Lionesses said they were not going to take the knee before the game. Instead, the substitutes stood arm in arm on the touchline before kick-off, including Kelly, who said: 'I'm so proud to stand side by side with the girls in this team; Jess Carter and every single player in this team.' Tom Garry GAME 6: FINAL 27 JULY, ST JAKOB-PARK England 1 (Russo 57) Spain 1 (Caldentey 25) AET England won 3-1 on penalties Click on the images below to reveal further captions. Penalties: England 2-1 Spain (in the shootout). Now the pressure is on Spain and who else but Aitana Bonmatí? She steps up but Hannah Hampton saves!! Penalties: England 2-1 Spain. Now the pressure really is on Spain but England cannot afford to slip up here. For England it's Leah Williamson. The captain misses. Penalties: England 2-1 Spain. So Spain have a chance to level it again here. It's Salma Paralluelo and she misses. Penalties: England 3-1 Spain. Oh my word. These shootouts. If England score here they win the tournament. It's Chloe Kelly. Huge pressure on her shoulders and she scores. ENGLAND HAVE WON THE EUROS ON PENALTIES Wow. Oh my word. What have we just watched? Kelly clutch. Hannah Hampton unbelievable. Niamh Charles coming on in that second half of extra time and scoring a cracking penalty. The whole team able to stay present after saves from both goalkeepers. Sarina Wiegman has been an international manager for three Euros. She has won every single one. Sarah Rendell
Scottish Sun
9 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Rangers transfer latest as Mikey Moore could be first of THREE wingers to join club – and why he was compared to NEYMAR
RANGERS' quest to reach the Champions League ramps up a notch this week as they face Panathinaikos again. Alongside that, the quest to bolster the squad at Ibrox continues on as well! Advertisement 6 Russell Martin is busy adding to his squad Credit: Willie Vass 6 Mikey Moore is close to joining Rangers Credit: Getty 6 SunSport broke the news of the Gers' interest in Jesurun Rak-Sakyi Credit: Getty 6 One Rangers target has been compared to NEYMAR Credit: Getty Rangers are in Athens to take on Panathinaikos in the second leg of their second qualifying round encounter. Advertisement The Gers have a 2-0 lead from the first leg thanks to Findlay Curtis and Djeidi Gassama striking a couple of crackers last week. Russell Martin will, of course, be hoping to lead his team to the next around and he'll be hoping to call upon some new faces if he gets them there. The Light Blues are in the market for wingers and they're currently chasing THREE players in that position. The Gers boss will also be keen to move players OUT of his bloated squad - and there could be movement right around the corner. SunSport's sports content editor David Friel and reporter Andy Devlin - on location in Greece - have all the latest. Advertisement MIKEY MOORE Andy Devlin It's pretty close. I think the issue Rangers had in the last 48 hours was just convincing Spurs that Ibrox was the right place for him to go to. Spurs until eight hours ago weren't entirely sure whether they wanted the young lad to go out on loan anywhere, he's so highly rated. He's only 17, there will be a lot of expectation, a lot of pressure. Major Mikey Moore Rangers loan doubts & 'strange situation' at Celtic + transfer news Go Ballistic You just look at the testimonies about him, his ability, Ange Postecolgou rates him so highly. Advertisement There's been a lot of interest from Championship clubs in him as well but it's looking like Rangers are in the box seat to secure his signature which would be on a season long loan with no option to buy because the boy has an obvious future at Tottenham, it's another exciting signing for the Ranges support. The lad himself is wanting the move to Rangers. Championship wont give him European football, Rangers will do that. He's had some appearances last season for Spurs in run to the Europa League Final, 21 in total, so not as if he hasn't played first team football. He's used to that environment. He is one that despite his age, he will be ready to come in and play a part in the Rangers team. David Friel Advertisement It looks as if it'll be Rangers, he's a really interesting player, a special talent. As Andy says, you only have to see how much Ange Postecoglou admired him. After a game in Europe, James Maddison compared him to Neymar in terms of his dribbling skills. With certain players, their development comes at different times. I think Spurs feel his development is fast tracked to the extent there's no point in him coming on for five/ten minutes here and there every other Premier League game. They want him to play meaningful football, at a good level, under scrutiny and he'll get that at Rangers. Advertisement I get the risk - it's a first loan for him, he's a young player, sometimes it's eays ot burst onto the scene and make that impact. I wouldn't expect absolute miracles from Mikey Moore immediately but he can help Rangers and Rangers can help him. Russell Martin has a track record of working with young players. I think it's a good fit. 6 Oliver Antman is another Rangers target Credit: Getty OLIVER ANTMAN David Friel Advertisement He's got an interesting background, good experience, has been playing really well in Holland. He has taken a bit of a strange route, he's had a couple of knock-backs in his career, he's gone for moves, he's a product of Nordsjaelland system - Diomande, Nygren, they're really good at developing players. He went to Groningen on loan, he's come back and ended up going to Go Ahead Eagles for just over £1million which for Go Ahead Eagles is a lot of money, at that time I think he was one of their record signings. He's really done well, good experience with the Finnish national team as well. He's a player who I think would be a shrewd one, it'd be a permanent move as well. Advertisement If Rangers can get the balance between getting these loans in they can feel benefit the team but then getting the long-term signings that you want to build your team around for the next few years and that one ticks the box. JESURUN RAK-SAKYI David Friel I think it might be one Rangers need to be a bit patient with. Crystal Palace's stance, by all accounts, is that they are probably somewhere down the line open to a loan move for him but they would rather just sell him now. If the money being talked about - £10million - I can't really see Rangers sanctioning that for Rak-Sakyi. Advertisement I don't think any of the noises coming from Rangers is that they would entertain that or even try to go to that. I wonder if it's a bit of wait and see with Rak-Sakyi. Clearly Russell Martin has been talking about how much he admires him, he clearly wants him in. I don't think this is dependent on the other wings that we've spoken about - Gassama's in the door, they want Antman, they're very close to Mikey Moore - but I think it's just another winger that Russell Martin wants. Clearly he wants options. If you look at the modern game, the front three tends to change after an hour. Advertisement You basically use six forwards in every game and Rangers have got so many games. Rak-Sakyi is one Rangers have clearly targeted but they might need to be a bit patient with how it pans out and what other interest comes in. If Palace do get the permanent bid he'll probably go elsewhere but Rangers are clearly in the conversation and all the noises are that he'd be quite keen to come to Rangers, I think he's excited about what Russell Martin is doing. I'd never, ever rule that out. I think Rangers are right in the mix but it might depend on what other clubs go. Advertisement I think Russell Martin will look at the formation he plays, you would want four strong wingers. That's before we even talk about guys like Oscar Cortes who's still there. I think he's looking at it and being quite ambitious, for me. It might even end up being two loans - for Moore and Rak-Sakyi. 6 Advertisement KIERAN DOWELL David Friel I think there's a wait and see element with Rangers being successful being in that attacking area. I think Russell Martin's been quite clever in the sense that he's looked at the squad, looked at Dowell's experience and clearly knows the player, and he's thinking 'I'm going to need him for these qualifiers at the very least.' I think he's been quite clever to say to Kieran Dowell 'let's just see how things go, do as well as you can, I'm going to give you a pivotal role for these next few weeks, I really need you.' Long term, do I think Kieran Dowell is the answer for Rangers? Advertisement No, I think the last few years have probably just damaged his reputation with the fans because it's never really worked out. He'll always start on that negative point. He would probably say he's not had that many chances, or a prolonged run in the team. He's just got so much to prove and he'd have to play so well to win the fans over that long term I don't think he's going to be the answer. In the short term, Rangers probably need that experience. Advertisement CONOR COADY It's not looking likely but I would never say never on it. We spoke about moving parts, it's probably the same with what are Leicester going to do? It goes back to wages, the fee, all sorts of stuff. I'd never say never but the longer it goes on I wonder if Rangers really are starting to look elsewhere. Have YOU got a point for Kris Boyd? Kris Boyd and Roger Hannah chew over the big talking points each week SOMETHING you've just got to get off your chest from the weekend action? A burning Scottish football talking point you can't wait to bring up with Kris Boyd and Roger Hannah? SunSport's GoBallistic show wants to hear from you! So why not help set the Scottish football agenda for the week ahead! Have your say on the game's big topics by emailing us on: GoBallistic@ It's YOUR turn to Go Ballistic! Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Chelsea bag remarkable fee for Joao Felix as £42.7m misfit seals Saudi Arabia transfer after making just 20 appearances
Joao Felix has left Chelsea to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr on a permanent deal. The 25-year-old Portugal international moved to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid last summer, having had an earlier spell with the Blues on loan in 2023. He made 20 appearances for Enzo Maresca 's side in the first half of the season - but started only three Premier League games - before leaving for AC Milan on loan in January. 'We thank Joao for his efforts across his two spells at the club and wish him well for the future,' Chelsea said in the statement. Felix has signed a two-year contract with his new club. Al-Nassr have reportedly paid an initial £26million transfer fee, although add-ons could see that rise as high as £43million - close to the sum Chelsea paid Atletico for his services last summer. He joins his Portugal team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, who announced his arrival with a short video on social media in which Felix said: 'I am here to spread joy. Let's win together.' Felix had been linked with a return to his boyhood club Benfica, but a move didn't materialise. Chelsea are also believed to be open to offers for Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling, who are surplus to requirements under Enzo Maresca. Meanwhile the Blues have been edging closer to the completion of a move for RB Leipzig's 22-year-old attacking midfielder Xavi Simons. He's expected to leave the German side after they failed to secure Champions League football for the upcoming season. Simons only joined Leipzig on a permanent basis last summer in a deal worth an initial £43m, with a further £26m possible in add-ons. He had previously spent two seasons on loan at the club from French giants PSG, while the former Barcelona academy prospect had also spent a year at PSV. The 22-year-old is believed to be open to a move to Chelsea this summer, with the Blues having held initial talks with his representatives. Chelsea have already strengthened heavily in attacking areas during the transfer window, with strikers Joao Pedro and Liam Delap joining for £60m and £30m respectively. They've already sold Noni Madueke to Arsenal in a £52m deal earlier his month. Chelsea boss Maresca admitted last month that Christopher Nkunku may leave the club this summer. The west London side appear open to his departure despite signing the 27-year-old on a six-year deal for a hefty £52.7million just two years ago. Striker Nicolas Jackson has too been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after the arrival of Delap from Ipswich Town.
