Arsenal have another big worry after what Bernardo Silva did to Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard was seen limping towards the Norway team bus on Sunday night after being recklessly fouled by Bernardo Silva during the Scandinavian nation's match against Portugal in the Nations League.
Rarely do you see Arsenal's well-mannered captain riled up, but Silva managed to provoke an ill-tempered reaction from the playmaker. The former Manchester City man's needless late tackle on Odegaard in stoppage time of a meaningless international match speaks volumes about the character of the Real Madrid star, and the Norwegian had every right to lose his head.
Odegaard revealed after the game that he is in a bit of discomfort, and he will have to carefully monitor his ankle over the coming weeks. Last time the Premier League-winning skipper sustained a serious ankle injury on international duty, he spent two months on the sidelines and struggled to recover from this setback for arguably two years. It's no surprise this unnecessarily reckless foul prompted frustration.
While Odegaard's fitness will be Arsenal's primary concern from this incident, there is arguably a greater issue at play.
Arsenal will be petrified of opposition players' carelessness during international break
Kai Havertz has already gone down injured during this international break and has returned to London Colney for medical assessments. Arsenal will hope this is the only casualty of this interlude in the season, though the chances are slim.
The Gunners have 15 players away on international duty, all of whom have at least two more matches to play before returning to North London. The chances of all of them coming through unscathed are low, and thus, the coaching staff at the Emirates will be preparing for the worst.
However, the Silva-on-Odegaard incident will only increase their fears. The Portuguese midfielder may no longer be a domestic rival to Arsenal, but he is a European foe. The Gunners play Real Madrid in the Champions League in December, and both sides are expected to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Silva therefore has an incentive to harm any Arsenal player he comes up against when playing for his country. While directly accusing a player of going out to injure another player is a fine line to tread, it's difficult to watch the 32-year-old's tackle on Odegaard and think there was no malice or ill-intention behind it.
The 27-year-old released the ball some time before Silva rashly collided with him. It didn't look like there was ever any honest intention to win the ball, particularly given Odegaard wasn't in a threatening position and it was in the dying embers, so there was no reason for Silva to go flying in desperately.
The worry for Arsenal is that this incident incentivises other players from rival clubs to put in nasty tackles on their stars during this break. If Silva can essentially get away with it, why would they not try a similar thing?
Even if it's subconscious, players may have observed Silva's tackle and may then opt to leave a bit more on their club rivals in upcoming matches. In the Premier League, the threat of suspension generally prevents players from doing this. That same jepordy does not exist in these international fixtures.
On Saturday, Arsenal's Three Lions will face Josko Gvardiol's Croatia. The Gunners' Spanish stars play Gvardiol's team twice. Christos Tzolis will play a Netherlands side packed with Liverpool players. Riccardo Calafiori is set to face Rayan Cherki and France. Odegaard may even meet Silva again if he's fit enough to do so.
Few players go out intending to hurt rival players, but humankind means this malice can certainly filter into their subconscious, as shown by Silva's antics on Sunday.
