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 evening's game against Liverpool, Martin writes about the challenge the reigning champions will pose, Gabriel's strength of character against Bournemouth and Leandro Trossard winning our Player of the Month. Here is a snippet:
I know that the atmosphere is going to be brilliant again tonight – these are the ones you really look forward to. It’s always special to have these evening games at home against the big clubs. We’ll be ready and I know all of you inside the stadium will be ready too.
We can still remember the disappointment from losing late on against Liverpool at Anfield earlier in the season. It was a tough one to take at that stage of the season but the only thing you can do is move on and make sure you learn from it. We’ve been really consistent and strong in our performances since then, and now we have the chance to beat them at home and get the three points.
We know they are a really good team, even if they haven’t always performed this year like they did last season. Their squad is full of quality players, they are all very good on the ball, so it’s going to be another big test for us. Let’s make sure we are ready for it and carry on like we played against Aston Villa in our last match here.
That was a strong performance, against a team that is always tough to play against. We spoke beforehand about using the opportunity we had to play them again so soon after they had beaten us. We wanted to go on the pitch and show how much we wanted the win and we did that, especially in the second half.
It was good to follow it up at Bournemouth on Saturday with another strong performance. We came back well, especially given the way we started the game, and the way we gave that goal away. For Gabi as well, it’s tough to start a game like that, so for him personally to come back into the game the way he did – and for the team generally – was massive. The way Gabi bounced back to get his goal so soon after the mistake sums up his character.
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He’s so competitive, he always wants to win and wants to do his best every single time for the team. Mistakes are part of the game and especially for the guys at the back and the goalkeepers, when they make a mistake, it’s normally more visible. All credit to Gabi - to just bounce back, get his goal and put on a strong performance and help the team to win is brilliant. That’s how you have to react.
I saw that Leo Trossard has won our Player of the Month award for December, and he really deserves it – he’s a top player. I don’t want to say he’s underrated, because all of us here know what he can do, but on the outside I get the feeling he can go under the radar a bit sometimes. But he’s always performing. He’s so competitive, he wants to win at everything. Even when we play the board game Parchis on the bus, he is desperate to win!
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You can really see that on the pitch as well. He’s always fighting for every ball and he produces a lot - goals and assists, and big moments, he’s always there. He’s a top player for the team, it’s important to have characters like him.
After tonight, we have got four away games in four competitions, which we are all looking forward to. We want to be fighting on all fronts To be honest though that doesn’t change our mindset. We want to win every game, we’re used to travelling and we know the schedule. It’s just about being focused, to be really good at recovery, treating the body and treating the mind. Let’s take this period coming up as another test for us as a group, as a team – it’s a good challenge to have.
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Liverpool programme either around the stadium oronline.
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