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 big Premier League clash against Manchester City, the skipper discusses his current injury status, playing with familair faces again, how he felt looking at our squad photo and the test of playing City. Here is a snippet:
First, a quick update on my fitness. My shoulder was very sore, but I’ve just been taking it day by day this week, working hard to hopefully be ready in time for today’s game. It’s the same shoulder that I hurt in the Leeds United game, pretty much the same injury again, so it’s just really bad luck.
The first injury had healed really well, I was over it – but then the same thing happened again. It had never happened to me in 11 years, but then it happens twice in two weeks so it’s a strange one, and very unfortunate.
The challenge itself was fine. I think three of us went for the same ball, and I felt something connect with my foot which kind of flipped me forward, and I couldn’t do anything about how I landed.
It was really tough to come off because I was excited to be playing at home again, feeling good after the internationals and really wanting to be out there after coming off in the Leeds game.
But it was a really solid performance from us against Nottingham Forest. We scored some great goals and didn’t concede any chances at all which is what you want.
Zubi’s first goal was incredible, it’s so difficult to finish like that. You need to have a perfect connection with the ball, be well balanced, and the timing – everything has to be perfect. It’s great technique from him, because it was really tough to score there.
Talking of Zubi, it was great to line up with him and Mikel Merino in midfield – like we did five years ago for Real Sociedad! We were talking about that, we saw the pictures of us together back then – it’s a rare situation for sure. I had a really good connection with them before and it’s great to play with them.
We played together back in 2020 in La Liga, it was during the Covid time, so it was all a bit weird with no fans there. I played with Mikel quite a few times that season when I was on loan there, but Zubi got into the team more at the end of the season just before I left.If You’re Reading From Phoenix Click On Read Original To Read Full Article
I think knowing people really well like that makes it easier, especially in midfield, so even though Zubi is new, the connection is already there and that’s a strength for us.
If you look at the squad, there are a lot of players who have played together before in their national teams too, and so it feels like we have known each other a long time already.
We had our squad photo on Wednesday, and looking at that with everyone together reminds you of the quality we have in the group now. I think it’s a bigger group than we’ve had in the last few years, and the level is unbelievable. We see that every day in training, it’s a lot more competitive, and in the end, everyone wants the same thing.
We want to win trophies here and to do that we need everyone to work together and everyone to be on the same page. We’re all in this together and we all want the same thing, so we need to make the most out of it.
That’s the mindset going into every game, including today against Manchester City. Our win over them here last season was great, because it’s always tough to play them. It’s always very tactical with a lot of things you need to adapt to during the game.
You need to be really sharp for the whole 90 minutes. I think in the last few games against them we have shown we are ready to do that and hopefully we can have another great night like last year, and beat them again.
Read the rest of Martin’s notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Manchester City programme either around the stadium or online, or subscribe to get every edition delivered to your door.
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