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 Aston Villa, the skipper reflects on our derby day win over Tottenham Hotspur, the need to get on a lengthy run of form, and avenging the pain of Villa's victory on our turf last season. Here's a snippet:
It was a massive win for us on Wednesday, for the supporters and for everyone at the club. We know what that game means, and we needed the win as well, so it’s a huge result for us.
Throughout the game we were in control and played some brilliant football. The result was tight in the end, but there is no doubt we deserved the win and the performance overall was great. It should have been more, but the win is what counts, and it’s a massive boost for us after those two cup games at home.
As for my own performance, I feel like I’m getting back to my best level. It’s still not quite there yet, but it’s getting better after the injury earlier in the season, and I had some illness too so I felt rough for a bit. Now I’m feeling great physically and feel like I’m performing well, and creating a lot of chances in the games. I should have scored though, and that’s really annoyed me that I didn’t manage to do it, because I’m looking for that goal.
The atmosphere inside the stadium was absolutely top-class from start to finish. You can see a lot of negativity on social media after the last two games, but when we come to the stadium and feel the support and the energy – it’s massive for us.
How everyone reacted after they scored their goal made a big difference to us. We kept on going and you kept behind us. The atmosphere was top, we loved it and we thank you. We hope we made you proud, and it was a beautiful moment to share that with you all at the final whistle.
We have to go on a run now, like we did at this stage last season. We went out of the FA Cup in the third round last year, and of course everyone is disappointed we have gone out again, but now we have to try and look at it in a different way. Let’s try to use all the positive sides we can - there will be fewer games for us, so let’s do what we did last year and play a very strong second half of the season.
Villa have been very strong for a few years now, and they are in the Champions League now, so they are growing as a team all the time. It’s another big test for us, but we beat them earlier this season and also we still have that feeling within us from last season when they beat us here. We want to put that right, and show that we have learnt from that. We have to be ready for it and make sure we win it this time.
Read the rest of Martin's notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Aston Villa programme either around the stadium or online.
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