Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has opened up about the disappoint he felt at the end of last season.
Martin Odegaard has admitted that Arsenal’s failure to win the Premier League title last season was hard to accept. Arsenal led the Premier League table for the vast majority of the season, but were ultimately overtaken by Manchester City with just a few games to go.
The Gunners were underdogs, and few would have predicted that they would be in a title race at all at the start of the campaign. However, despite this, the pain of missing out was very real.
Odegaard felt that pain as much as anyone. The 24-year-old was in spectacular form for the north London club last season, racking up fifteen goals and eight assists.
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In his role as captain, he also established himself as Mikel Arteta’s most trusted lieutenant on the pitch. The Norwegian playmaker can regularly be seen leading the press and instructing his teammates at the Emirates Stadium.
Since the Gunners paid £30 million to sign Odegaard from Real Madrid on a permanent basis in 2021, the player has matured into a figure that looks capable of leading the club into a great period of success.
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Odegaard on finding balance in football
To ensure that that success comes, though, Arsenal and Odegaard need to reflect on why they were unable to secure the title last season, and what they can do to cope with such disappointments and learn from them.
On this subject, Odegaard recently spoke to Norwegian outlet tv2. He said, “I had a good season, a lot of good things happened, but when you finish like that, it becomes extra heavy. I felt I was very tired after the season. I needed a break, needed to disconnect and do completely different things.”
In terms of how he distracts himself away from football, the 51-cap Norway international said, “I try to do things that don’t have much to do with football. I do other things and don’t think much about football. There, I feel that I have gotten better over the years, really…I think that is important for the performances in general, but also for being in the game for a long time. I think you have to be good at jumping out of the world we live in, closing it and forgetting it.”
With the new Arsenal season underway, though, Odegaard’s focus will now be firmly fixed on football once more. Arteta will be expecting another fine season from the midfielder, and he has certainly gotten off to a good start, with two goals already, against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.