It’s no longer a secret how good Arsenal are. Last season the Gunners caught the Premier League by surprise with a title challenge that few saw coming. A year on though things could not be more different. Equipped with probably football’s worst kept secret after confirming the signing of Declan Rice, expectations are high at the Emirates. The further additions of Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber have done little to temper those. Pandora’s box is open, and the pressure is on. The Gunners though, don’t seem like a team with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Their early preseason training camps in Nuremberg and Washington D.C. have exuded the kind of joy and confidence that comes with a genuine sense of ease with where they find themselves. Few personify that more than their captain Martin Odegaard.
Martin Odegaard said: “I think that’s more from the outside though. I felt really confident and excited for the season last year. The preseason that we had last year was amazing. We had some great results and played some great football so I was confident that we were gonna do well. So I think it’s more from the outside. Now with the new signings and what we did last year I think the expectations are gonna go up. That’s part of the game and we have to deal with it. All we can do is focus on our jobs and continue to work hard every day and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The settled atmosphere around the group has been crucial to allowing Arsenal’s £200m-worth of additions to settle quickly. Havertz has already made his debut against F.C. Nurnberg, while Rice and Timber could follow on Thursday against the MLS All-Stars. As captain Odegaard says he has made a point of ensuring that the newbies get quickly up to speed with the demands of the club.
Martin Odegaard said: “I try to speak to them to see if they need something or if I need to explain something to them on the pitch about how we do things. Just making sure that they feel welcome and to help them understand our game model. I think when players come in it can be tricky to understand everything we do so just helping them with small things but I think this team is great at welcoming new players. We’re like a family, we’re really together. I feel like they’re happy and part of the team and the family already.”
The newest member of the family is perhaps the most exciting. Arsenal have made a real statement about their project by bringing in Declan Rice for a club record £105million fee. Odegaard can certainly see why.
Martin Odegaard said: “Every time I played against him I saw the quality. He’s a leader as well so it’s great for me to work together and hopefully we can help each other a lot. Every time I played him it was a tough one. We had some tough battles so I’m happy to have him on the team and hopefully we can find a good connection very quickly.”
For all the excitement around the club though, the reality remains that Arsenal still have a point to prove. Despite leading the Premier League for 248 days last season the Gunners ultimately fell short, failing to beat Manchester City along the way. This gives a heft to the head-to-head clashes with Pep Guardiola’s side that will be even more severe than last season. Once again though, Odegaard insists he’s not feeling the pressure.
Martin Odegaard said: “You have to attack all the games the same way. Every time we play we want to win. That’s the same now for pre-season, the League or the Champions League. We want to build a winning culture and there’s a great chance to do that in pre-season. That’s what we do every day in training. Every game or tournament, everyone wants to win. We’re starting to build that culture. It can’t be only when you play the big teams. It has to be every game. That’s how the PL is. If you have an off day, it’s going to be difficult to beat any team. What we have to do is learn from last year, to use the disappointment, the anger and all the bad feelings. We have to use them in a good way. We had a good season and took some massive steps. I don’t think there were too many who believed that we were going to be fighting for the title before the season started. But we were so close.It still hurts and it’s still painful for us. It’s important to use it in a good way to come back even stronger and to show we have learned and improved.”
Whether he likes it or not though, the pressure is on Odegaard and the rest of the Arsenal team to channel the pain of last season into a positive. The Norwegian insists that he’s not listening to the outside noise however. His focus is just on what his side can do.
Martin Odegaard said: “I don’t know what other teams are thinking, but expectations are always going to go up when you perform. We have to be ready for that and deal with it. That’s a part of football and we all enjoy that extra pressure. Hopefully we can just keep on doing well.”
