Odegaard proving doubters wrong
Looking back on exactly when Arsenal clicked into this free-flowing attacking force that we have seen in recent months, the correlation between that and Martin Odegaard 's return to the team is impossible to miss.
It seems strange to think now but after a difficult start to his permanent time in North London, the Norwegian found himself out of the team and was benched for much of October and November.
Since then though he has bounced back to become probably the most important player in the Gunners side.
What can this be put down to?
Well, part of it is probably the 23-year-old's desire not be viewed as the failure so many had written him off as. Following his high profile move to Real Madrid at the age of just 16, Odegaard had never really managed to live up to the expectation on a consistent basis, and as a result had been prematurely consigned to the history books as a flop in the same overhyped category as Cherno Samba or Freddy Adu.
This determination is evident in every game he now plays for Arsenal. Having been stuck in the passenger seat for most of his nascent career so far, the Norwegian is both literally and metaphorically driving the Gunners towards top four.
He is not willing to accept anything less than excellence and can be constantly seen demanding more from his teammates as he continues on his quest to prove the world wrong.
Another key factor is the areas of the pitch in which Odegaard is operating.
At the beginning of this season, the 23-year-old was asked to replicate the old Granit Xhaka role on the left side of Mikel Arteta 's early experiments with a 4-3-3 when the Swiss was out with suspension and injury.
Unsurprisingly, when operating in a much deeper area of the pitch, his influence on the game was far less.
Now though, that has undoubtedly changed.
Playing high up on the right of the hybrid 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 Arsenal are now playing, he is the funnel through which all Gunners attacks flow.
He also seems much more trusting of deeper-lying players like Thomas Partey to progress the ball forward from defence and is spotted far less dropping deep to receive as was often the case last season.
Functioning in the final third he is probably Arsenal's most important and significant threat, and in the 13 Premier League games he's played the role this season the Gunners have averaged 2.38 goals per game in comparison to the average of 0.77 goals in the 12 matches where he hasn't.
He led the way in terms of key passes (4- double that of any other Arsenal player as per WhoScored) and through balls (1), while the backheel to Bukayo Saka in the build up to his opening goal was Mesut Ozil-esque. What sets Odegaard apart from his predecessor though is his all round game as he ended the match with more tackles than any of his teammates.
It seems remarkable now that the Gunners were able to sign him relatively unchallenged for around just £30million in the summer, but the rest of the footballing world's loss is most certainly Arsenal's gain.
Bukayo Saka spells out Arsenal dream
As much as we can eulogise about Odegaard though, we can't ignore his partner in crime down the Arsenal right.
The technical ability shown by Bukayo Saka to provide Odegaard with the assist for the opener and to link up with Alexandre Lacazette for his own strike later in the game was sublime, and with those two actions he moved clear as the Premier League player under the age of 21 with the most goal involvements this season.
At this point it's becoming tricky to come up with new ways of conveying just how good the England international is, so instead let's focus in on his career trajectory.
After going through an experience at the age of 19 more crushing than most players come across in their entire careers last summer, there was real scope for the Hale Ender to fall away.
Following a slow to start to this season, questions began to be asked over whether that trauma would be so severe that it would be fatal to his chances of reaching his potential.
Thankfully though, Arsenal and the entire footballing community were able to incubate an environment just right to allow him to flourish again.
Having worked so hard to restore his prized asset you could forgive Mikel Arteta for wanting ensure that Saka's upward curve is not disturbed.
"It's about leaving him that space," the Spaniard said after Sunday's match of the youngster's development.
"What he is already doing is phenomenal and he needs that room, you know? Don't read too much, do what you do.
"Football is his priority in life and you can see that every day in training and he needs to continue to behave and live the way that he is doing."
Try as he might though Arteta will be able to do little to stop the speculation around the 20-year-old's future from swirling. Come the summer he will have just two years left on his contract and football.london understands that agreeing an extension to that will be high on Edu's list of priorities.
Luckily though for them, it seems that Saka has little intention of leaving.
As indicated in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, his main focus instead is on delivering Champions League football back to the Emirates Stadium and being firmly a part of the Arsenal picture next campaign.
"Of course, of course," he said when asked if he was excited over the Gunners' top four chances.
"This is our dream for next year to be in the top four and playing Champions League football. You have to stay humble and focused for now, and think about it at the end of the season."
Defensive concerns for Arteta
Having spent plenty of time focusing on the attacking brilliance of some of Arsenal's individuals, it's equally important to devote some attention to the concerning display of their defensive collective.
Watford are a team who prior to this fixture had managed just three goals in their previous nine Premier League matches, yet they ended Sunday's clash with seven shots on target and 1.42 expected goals to the Gunners' 0.94 (as per the xG philosophy).
Perhaps it was the psychology of knowing they were strong favourites to come away with the points, but Arsenal's approach to their defensive responsibilities for much of this game was lax at best.
That prompted fury from Mikel Arteta down on the Vicarage Road touchline.
He could be seen yelling instructions to his players in terms of positioning, screaming at Kieran Tierney for not getting out to Cucho Hernandez quick enough at one point in the first half, and reeling away to complain to Albert Stuivenberg in a mixture of anger and disgust after Gabriel Martinelli neglected his defensive position to make an attacking run when covering for the Scottish full back.
The Spaniard's disappointment at the overall display was not something that he wanted to hide after the game either.
"We were really good going forward and we had all the right intention and the energy to do it," he said. "We scored three magnificent goals but we didn’t have the same energy and commitment defensively.
"When that happens, to win a game from home, you’re going to suffer. That’s why we suffered today - because defensively we didn’t have the right structure. We didn’t detect with enough urgency the moments where they could activate certain spaces that we knew.
"That’s why we suffered. We conceded two and we could have conceded another one or two."
His assessment was far from wrong.
Emmanuel Dennis was only inches away from having the Hornets in front after just 20 seconds, and if the Nigerian had had his shooting boots on at the back post with a second half opportunity this could easily have been two crucial points dropped.
The irony of Arsenal looking most like an Arsene Wenger-era team since the Frenchman left on the day where his former captain provided something of an assist for Martinelli's second half strike by helping Bukayo Saka take a quick throw in will not have been lost on many.
One of the big things Arteta has looked to implement is a defensive security that provides a more solid platform for his teams to attack.
That was very much missing at Vicarage Road on Sunday and if Arsenal find themselves lacking against teams with better quality finishing, then they could find themselves throwing away a golden chance for Champions League qualification.
Arsenal officially top four
What makes this such a good opportunity to qualify for the Champions League next season is that Arsenal now find themselves fourth in the Premier League table at the end of a gameweek for the first time since November.
To make this even sweeter, the teams immediately below them, Manchester United and West Ham, both lost this weekend, and have both played three games more.
As is expected Mikel Arteta is not focusing too much on how the league table looks right now though.
"To be fair, I don’t like to look at the table a lot because we have games in hand, we’re going to play different fixtures and I know the objective and it’s only one, to try and improve tomorrow on what we’ve done today and go into the next match and that’s it," the Spaniard said in his post match press conference.
"I cannot control results and I cannot predict which matches we are going to win, draw or lose, it’s impossible.
"If I start to do that I think we’re going to lose focus in what we want to do."
His focus now will be firmly on three tricky games against Leicester, Liverpool and Aston Villa in the space of six days next week that provide Arteta with the first real test in terms of rotating his squad that he's had in quite some time.
Finding the balance to make sure his side are at their sharpest to take as many points as possible from those games will be tough, and it's a week that could well define where the Gunners end up come May.
