Friday, March 29, 2024

Odegaard: We’re enjoying title race pressure

A few days before a massive north London derby, Martin Odegaard might have been forgiven for keeping a low profile. There are only so many “smash ’em for us, Martin” comments a man can endure, right?

Seemingly, not. On a night when Arsenal legends gathered under the same roof for a private view of the new artwork that will adorn the Emirates Stadium, the current club captain was arguably the guest of honour.

For more than an hour, the Norwegian chatted to fans, welcomed selfies and wandered the gallery soaking up the snippets of club history that the designs have so cleverly brought to the fore.

He was even granted a private audience with the Arsenal Vision team where Elliott pressed him on whether he ever manscapes Arsenal’s impressive season (we’re top of the table if you hadn’t noticed) and dealing with growing expectations of a proper title challenge.

“To be honest, we enjoy the pressure,” said Odegaard.

“We feel that people believe in us. To feel that people take us seriously is a good thing. We are where we want to be and we want to fight to win things, we want to be at the top, it’s where this club should be.

“We’re in a good position at the moment but we have to stay calm, we have to stay humble, we have to keep working hard. There are still so many things we can improve. That’s one of the best things, you know, we can always get better.”

At an event that underlined the buzz around the club and a growing connection with the fans, Odegaard also touched on the impact of the atmosphere being generated on the terraces at the Emirates.

“This is one of the most important things for our success, what the fans are doing, the way we are connected together. The connection that we have is so special,” he said.

“I remember in the West Ham game when we conceded the first goal, the whole stadium just cheered for us and helped us to get back into the game.

“This helped us so much and the fans are such a big part of what we are doing now. I’m just grateful for all the support and the love we get. I just want to say thank you.”

Here’s hoping the mutual back-patting continues for the foreseeable future. It’s great to be approaching a run of big games with everyone on the same page.

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To listen to the rest of the Arsenal Vision interview with Odegaard and to hear from CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Jack Wilshere, who is featured on one of the new designs, click here.

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Yves

It feels so good to be chased for once.
… he who is in danger, and knows that he is in danger, is no longer in danger.

Johnny 4 Hats

“He who writes sentences with ‘he who…’ in it can say any old bollocks and sound profound”

Confucius

TeeCee

“Pretentious twat.”
Lao Tse

Akinwale

Unless boko aram is chasing you.

C.B.

Great guy on every level it seems, bright, skilful, good-looking and still progressing, yet humble and modest. Captain for many years based on where he is/we are at the moment and where he/we can go.

Ebo

He almost seems too good to be true, such a perfect role model, always says the right things and even has one of those “almost so perfect you wanna punch it” faces. But I won’t, because he’s definitely not just a pretty face, pretty good footballer too.

Goonshow

Next current great Arsenal captain… future Arsenal legend.

There – I’ve said it again.

Dada

Spoken like a true leader. You either endure the pressure and Come out shining like a diamond or simply wilt under pressure. I am not a defeatist so I belive we are in the title run with.more than a whiff of chance.

Whats the point of being a supporter if you don’t believe.

C.B.

Would you support a team that hadn’t won the league for 62 years, could you believe in them?

The Blerch

I guess the type of team you support sets your expectations. Arsenal, City, Liverpool fans all expect to see trophies and have to ‘believe’ in the teams to do so- supporters of teams like Spurs, Southampton, Arbroath etc have different expectations and just turn up to enjoy the football & whether or not they can bring themselves to ‘believe’ in the team is pretty low stakes

Cranky Colin

Ah come on…….
Arbroath have some, ( not much), but some, potential.

Dada

I wouldn’t support spuds if you paid me.

Matthinc

I bet you would if I paid you £1000 a day

Mayor McCheese

Absolutely. Just lie back and think of Arsenal.

Ödegårds Magnifika Fot

But I wouldn’t support them wholeheartedly. It’s kinda like having a job you don’t like, but you love the pay.

Teryima Adi

“Hope maketh not ashamed…”

Jimboslice

Our hope truly lies in the balance of our injury list. B team is miles off the pace, however if key players like Party & Saka can stay fit then why the fuck not. Also hats off to Eddie so far.

Boy Bastin

We’ve been “reasonably” lucky I guess with injuries (Jesus, ESR of course) but it depends upon how long that lasts – although Eddie is going a great job as you say – and if/when we get suspensions.

Mudryk would be a useful addition to strengthen the team but it appears that the fee demanded remains the major sticking point (although we’re still the only team to bid for him so far) so we’ll have to see if he does arrive or not.

Goonshow

Mudders is coming… trust me. He will be at Colney within the next 5 days.

Y3mmxiii

I like this Arsenal team, I like the captain of the team I like the manager Oh! I can go on and on ❤️ .

Jay

Smash ’em for us, Martin!
Making of an Arsenal legend unfolding right Infront of us…

Boy Bastin

Good attitude and there’s lots to enjoy of course. Hopefully, it will still be as enjoyable after the tough run of games coming up.

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