Martin Odegaard’s ‘secret signal’ to decide what kind of corners Arsenal take during games emerges

Martin Odegaard has a secret signal to sign-post what type of corner Arsenal will take, according to one pundit's theory.

Arsenal dismantled an out-of-form Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Emirates to end a run of poor form.

The Gunners opening two goals came from corners as Gabriel headed home the first, before the Brazilian defender forced an own goal off Palace keeper Dean Henderson for the second.

And on Match of the Day, former Wales and Swansea defender Ashley Williams credited the Gunners’ set-piece success in the game to Martin Odegaard, who he believed was signalling to the taker where to place their corner.

In his analysis of the game, Williams explained: “There’s always a trigger for what the movement’s going to be, and we can see they have worked on whether it’s a front-post corner or a back-post corner.

“If you keep an eye on Odegaard, we feel - maybe we’ve had too much time on our hands - but we feel that maybe he’s signalling something to the corner taker.

“He’s in the same place for every corner and he’s playing with his socks. The reason we’re looking for a trigger is because [these things] are worked on.

“There is synchronicity regarded whether they go to the front or the back. Every clip we see here he is doing the same thing where he’s playing with his socks. It might be coincidence, yes.

Match of the Day showed that Ødegaard plays with his socks to secretly signal to the corner taker where to deliver the ball 😂 pic.twitter.com/7faDetUIJw

— ابو (@MAA_Gunner) January 21, 2024

“This one’s interesting because it’s actually a front-post and he does a different thing with his socks, so I understand we might be reaching for something that isn’t there, but it is a big coincidence that he’s always there and always doing something with his sock.

“I think [Arsenal set-piece coach] Nicolas Jover has said ‘We have signals on what set-piece we’re doing”

Arsenal’s win moves them above Aston Villa into third - with the pressure now on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to extend their lead at the top as they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson’s side have won once in 12 matches across all competitions.