Arsenal picked up a 2-1 win over Fulham yesterday which turned out to be a rather comfortable outing for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s side went 2-0 up through goals from Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino, as Rodrigo Muniz’s stoppage time goal only proved to be a consolation for Fulham.
The game saw two Norway teammates – Martin Odegaard and Sander Berge go against each other.
After the tie, Fulham’s Berge spoke to ViaPlay and he had some very interesting praise for Arsenal and the way they operate on the pitch.
He said: “I’ve seen it a lot now, their 4 -4 -2. Without the ball, it seems so compact, and they seem so comfortable with lying there.”
“But still it feels like somebody’s sitting up on the 50th row and remotely controlling everybody. They seem so compact and everybody’s hitting the right metres all the time, so it’s kind of hard to figure out how to kind of attack them and where to press them.”
Berge also revealed that he spoke to Odegaard during the international break about how the game between the two sides could pan out.
He said: “We’ve talked a little, sort of. I think it’s just cool to hear a little about their everyday lives and how they do things, and then he asks a little about how it’s going with us and individually. And so, yes, it’s cool to know a little.”
Clearly, Berge is quite fascinated by how Arsenal operate from a structural perspective and that did make it difficult for Fulham during the game. That is due credit to how Arteta organises them on the pitch.
The Gunners are nine points behind league leaders Liverpool and only a dramatic dip in form from the Reds can help Arsenal to a Premier League title win.
Their goal in the next few weeks will be to focus on the Champions League as they take on Real Madrid in the quarter-final of the competition.