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 this afternoon's game against Brighton & Hove Albion, our captain reflects on the demands of the festive period, what we've worked on recently at the training ground, and what he expects from the Seagulls. Here is a snippet:
We trained on Christmas Day and Boxing Day to prepare for today’s game. I personally love playing football at this time of year. Christmas football is a big part of the tradition of English football, and it’s a busy period, but also a really special one because a lot of people are together. I have my family over to visit as well, so we enjoy it. People get a lot out of watching the games around Christmas too, so hopefully we can make it a special game together today.
We are used to playing twice a week anyway, and this time of year you don’t really look at the days, it’s just the schedule, and we are feeling good. Before the Everton game there wasn’t a midweek match, and it’s not very often you have a full week of training, so that was good for us too. I don’t think we had done that since the first month of the season, with internationals as well.
We used that period as a good chance to train and practice together, to go through ideas and work on things as a group. When you play every three days, it’s more about recovery and you can’t do too much else, so we wanted to make the most of it. It also helps you recover too – both your body and your mind. As I said, I love playing every three days, but I also realise you need those moments to refresh as well, and get ready for this really intensive period we are going to have again.
[Read more
Odegaard & Timber take on the 10 Minute Challenge](https://www.arsenal.com/news/odegaard-timber-take-10-minute-challenge?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
We have a quick turnaround for the next game against Aston Villa after playing Brighton today, and this is when you really need to look after your body and make sure you prepare well. Everyone buys into that in the team – the players and the staff – to make sure we are all doing the right things at this time of year.
It’s about being professional, doing the right things, and there is a lot of work that goes into that behind the scenes, to make sure we’re ready to play every few days. People might not see that side of it as much, but that’s a big part of my job as well, to make sure we prepare and take care of the body. It’s not just about the games, or training, it’s all the time in between as well.
I enjoy that side of it, enjoy doing the recovery process and taking care of my body. It’s a big part of the job.
Also, you have to stay really focused when there are this many games, and not look too far ahead. The mindset is always the same, and that’s to win. You have to be ruthless, lock in and make sure you have done everything you can. Get ready mentally and physically and be ready to go again and again.
We play Brighton today, and that’s always a really tough game. We will need to be at our best again. Every game is so important throughout the season and we want to keep building momentum in the league. We relish the fight and know what is at stake, so we have to leave absolutely everything out there and play from the first whistle to the last in every single game.
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion programme either around the stadium oronline, or subscribe to get every editiondelivered to your door.
[Read more
Preview: Arsenal v Crystal Palace](https://www.arsenal.com/news/preview-arsenal-v-crystal-palace-4?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.