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 Manchester United, Martin writes about the ebbs and flows of the title race, what the squad get up to on their travels and understanding the history of our rivalry with United. Here is a snippet:
Our last league game was away to Nottingham Forest last Saturday, and that turned out to be a frustrating afternoon for us.
We weren’t at our best on the day, and of course we wanted to take advantage of the other results. We gave everything for the win, but it wasn’t to be. I think we created enough to score the goal we needed, while also not giving them anything at all at the other end, but we know we could have done a lot better there. On those occasions, you need to be able to do enough to squeeze the win from your performance, and we can improve on that.
So it’s frustrating we didn’t take the three points, but at the same time we take the point and move on. Looking at that weekend overall, we gained a point on the teams around us, so that’s the positive side. It you look at the results in the Premier League over the past few weeks, it’s a great example of what we say a lot – anyone can take points from anyone in this league. It’s why you can’t afford to let your standards drop for a single moment.
Every game is a huge challenge, a big test, where you need to be right at your best. Teams will drop points, we know that, but really that doesn’t affect how we approach games ourselves. We are in a strong position, so let’s keep it going.
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As I said, we had four away games in the past couple of weeks, a lot of travelling, so we spent a lot of time together as a squad, and it's been great. We are all used to it now anyway, but everyone has their own way of dealing with routines and recovery techniques and everything else. It’s a good group to be around, to spend time together with, and we all get along really well. When you spend that much time together, you have to have a good group!
We try to enjoy ourselves away from the football too, we play games and have a bit of fun on the trips as well. I normally like to play Parchis on the team bus. There are four of us who play – myself, Kai, Ben and Leo. We usually play two against two and there is a nice bit of competition there at the moment! The others like to play card games, Uno, things like that. There’s a lot going on during those bus trips usually! It makes the travel a lot more enjoyable.
But it’s always great to be back home, and we come back to the Emirates for a big one today. Like a lot of you, I grew up watching Arsenal v Man United matches, it’s always a big game in English football. We have got a good record against them lately, and that can definitely help when you go into the matches.
You have a good feeling that you have beaten them before, so it gives you confidence that you can do it again. We’ve had some good experiences against them and it’s always nice to take that into the games. They are always really intense games, always a big battle, and a game we all love to play in. I know all the supporters look forward to it as well, the atmosphere will be top, I’m sure.
Every game we play is another opportunity, another chance to make a statement. We want to make sure we do that. We know what the game means to the supporters with all the history behind it, and to ourselves as well. It’s a big one, another big test, we're really excited for it.
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.
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