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.
As we return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest, Martin reflects on our recent games, international success, what to expect from a new-look opponent and his own fresh style! Here is a snippet:
We showed last time here at Emirates Stadium how dangerous we can be going forward when we are on our game. We started a bit slowly against Leeds, but then took control and got the goals we deserved. There were some great goals too, so in the end it was a good day.
It was great for Viktor to get his two goals, I think he was waiting for that, because as a striker you want to get your first goals early, so that’s a real confidence boost. The first goal was really strong. He showed all his qualities on the ball and his physicality – you could see his desire and how much he wanted to score. I’m sure we’re going to be seeing that a
lot more this season.
He took the penalty really well too. We have lots of options for penalty takers in the team now, so between us we’ll have a list of who will take them. But also, as we’ve done before, it depends on the feeling on the pitch at that moment as well. So if someone is feeling up for it at that moment, we know they can step up. There’s always a discussion on the pitch and we know how to handle it.
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Also on the day of the Leeds game ,it was great to see Ebz coming out onto the pitch after he joined us – what a smile he had! Everyone can see how happy he is to be here and sign for us. I think it shows how much every player really wants to come and join us, so that’s a good sign too.
He’s a great guy, he’s really enjoying it so far and has been great in training. We’ve only seen about 20 minutes from him on the pitch so far, so we’re all excited to see more from him, and I’m sure the supporters are too.
I had to go off with a shoulder injury in that Leeds match. I landed on it and it was pretty painful. I thought I could carry on but in the end I had to pull up with it. It’s fully recovered now though, I felt fit at Anfield and played twice for Norway last week.
We have won five out of five now in the qualifiers, so we’re in a strong position. It's been the big goal for us for a long time to get to a major tournament. We haven't been there since Euro 2000 and the World Cup in 1998. For us, it would be massive if we can get there this time. It's one of my biggest dreams as well to get into a tournament with Norway. Hopefully, this time we can make it happen.
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A lot of our players had positive experiences last week – Mikel is buzzing after his hat-trick for Spain! A lot of players got goals and assists, and I think that helps to get the mood back up after we’ve been away from the club for a couple of weeks. This is the part of the season where the games keep coming every three or four days, so let’s make sure we keep going and keep pushing.
Let’s start by making a statement against Nottingham Forest today. They have changed their manager recently of course, but we will be ready and know what’s coming. Our coaching staff will have us prepared for what we will face, so for us as players, it doesn’t make a lot of difference when there is a new manager. It’s just down to us to show our character and belief, and make an impact.
Finally, you might have seen my new haircut last week on international duty! There’s not really a story behind it, basically I just wanted a change. I always wanted to try and go a bit shorter, and one of the guys in the national team is a barber as well, and he convinced me to do it, so we just went for it! It turned out well in the last game on Tuesday, so hopefully it continues like that!
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Nottingham Forest programme either around the stadium oronline, or subscribe to get every editiondelivered to your door.
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