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 today's game against Everton, the skipper discusses our midweek win against Monaco, his relationship with Bukayo Saka and his good record against the Toffees and the confidence that brings:
I think we all feel we can do something special this season, we all have belief in what we are doing and have confidence in what we do as a team.
We learned a few good lessons last season. Of course we wanted to go all the way but we didn’t, so we have to take those lessons and use them this year. Let’s keep getting better – our last two results in the Champions League have been really positive, so we want to make sure we keep the momentum.
Bukayo scored two more goals on Wednesday, and he’s in great form right now. Like all of us, he’s growing and learning all the time as he gets older. It’s a real pleasure to play with him, he
keeps proving himself on the pitch and is becoming a leader as well.
We’ve played together for a long time now, close to each other on the right side of the pitch, so we know each other well. We have a great connection on the pitch, and also off it we are good friends. I think that’s the case for a lot of the players in the team – we are really close off the pitch as well, and that helps us find those connections and understand each other when we’re playing. We’re on a good run at Emirates Stadium now, we love playing here in front of you and we want to keep making it a really difficult place to visit.
It’s another big challenge for us at home today. I’ve got some good memories of playing against Everton – I’ve scored a few times against them since I’ve been in England, and got a couple of assists too, so I’d love to continue that run today. It's a nice feeling, going into a game when you have a good record against a team, but It doesn’t change anything in terms of how we approach it though. We always want to win, and we know how important this one is as well.
They didn’t play last weekend, or in midweek, so they have had a bit of rest too coming into this game. You never know if that’s an advantage or not though, because we are in the rhythm of playing every few days, and we’re pretty used to that now. They might have the rest, but we have the rhythm, so in the end I don’t think it will make much difference.
We have to focus on ourselves, make sure we do our job, and get back to winning by using that fire in our belly.
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Everton programme either around the stadium oronline - orget a subscription to receive every edition through your door.
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