Every home game, Martin Odegaard gives you his thoughts on the club’s progress in his captain’s matchday notes.
Ahead of our meeting with Burnley, Martin discusses dealing with familiar faces, how he has dealt with a lack of games and the leaders who have stepped up to replace him.
We play our last game before the international break today, and we have already seen this season the benefit of being able to go into that period on the back of a good win. That is our goal today, and we know we will have to be on top of our game to win.
I saw a lot of Burnley last season in the Championship, and they were really impressive. It is true that they have found it very difficult in the Premier League, but we know that they have quality players and a quality manager, and all the teams in this league will cause problems if we drop our level even a little bit.
They got a midfielder I know well from the national team, Sander Berge. I’ve known him for a long time, we actually played together in the Under 15s in Norway, so he’s a great friend. I have known him for almost 10 years, so it will be interesting to fight him on the field.
If you know someone like that well, I’m not sure it makes much of a difference on the field. The analysis is so good now, that our coaches always prepare us as if we know all our opponents anyway! It will be great to see him again, and hopefully I’ll be the one going to the internationals with a big smile on my face.
I was very upset to miss the last few games, and that last league game here, the 5-0 win over Sheffield United. Bukayo took the armband for that game – his first time as Arsenal captain I think – and we can all see that he adds leadership to his long list of qualities.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen you to be honest, I’m not surprised that you’re progressing like this. I am very happy for him, because he deserves it. I think he’s like me in that he’s not the loudest, or the loudest in the dressing room. But he is very smart, he is always there, he gives everything to the team and takes a lot of responsibility on and off the field. He definitely deserves to be there as one of the captains, I’m proud of him and I’m happy to have him as a partner, because he’s a great player and a great person.
The good thing about this group is the number of leaders we have. Jorginho has been the captain for the last few games, and he has a lot of experience and respect in the team. That’s nothing new for him, and it’s good for the manager to have these leaders to call upon in the squad.
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