Before every game at Emirates Stadium, Martin Odegaard lifts the lid on the mood in the camp via his captain’s notes published in the matchday programme.
Ahead of tonight's game against Manchester United,
Against West Ham at the weekend, the first half was completely crazy! We started so well, dominated every aspect of the game, went 4-0 up and then out of nothing they scored two goals. It was a bit of a weird feeling, but after that again we controlled it.
When Bukayo was fouled for the first penalty, we had a discussion and I said I wanted to take it. It wasn’t something we planned, it was just in the moment, and he said yes. It was perfect because I scored that one, and then when we got another one, he was ready to take it, so he scored as well. It’s always good to get your first goal of the season, so I enjoyed that. Obviously I only played a few games before my injury, so it feels like a really long time since I scored, even if it wasn’t that many games.
In a way, it’s good to have that warning of conceding goals in a game we’ve won. In the last two games we’ve seen that if you switch off even a little bit it means you concede at this level. It’s a good lesson for us to take and to learn from, even though we’ve played so well lately. There is still room for improvement, we want to be ruthless and we’ll take that into the next few games.
It’s always a massive game against Manchester United, and with a new manager as well we know they will be confident, especially after winning their last two games. I’m sure they will be a bit different to the last time we played them, but also it can take a bit of time for a new manager to change the style.
The formation will be different though, and as a midfielder it changes my role a bit when we play against wing backs. It can change who we press when they have possession, who will press us and technical details like that. We’ve faced it before though with different teams, so we’ll be well prepared for what’s coming. We just need to make sure we are ready for them and that we play our usual game.
I saw that this is the 500th men's competitive game at Emirates Stadium, and I’ve got lots of happy memories of playing here so far. For me the main thing is just the incredible atmosphere and the energy we feel from all of you every single time we play. You will all have your own good memories of the stadium, and there are some games that stand out – the late win over Bournemouth a couple of seasons ago, the win over Liverpool last season, the penalty win over Porto in the Champions League are just three.
They are all great memories, but we want to build more – I’m sure there is much more to come. It’s a special place - you feel at home, you feel powerful and always excited to play here. Let’s make more memories together tonight and for the rest of the season.
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Manchester United programme either around the stadium oronline - orget a subscription to receive every edition through your door.
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