Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard insists that the Gunners will bounce back stronger after missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City last season.
Arsenal were top of the standings for 248 days in the previous campaign but were finally overtaken in the final stretch by the irrepressible Cityzens to the league title in the final weeks.
In an exclusive with Sky Sports, Odegaard admitted that numerous mixed feelings abounded after the missed opportunity to win the title after 19 seasons. But the indomitable Norwegian star added affirmed his pride in the team for how far they have progressed in being able to go head-on with the Cityzens.
He said: “There are a lot of mixed feelings [about last season]. We are proud to see how far we’ve come and how much we have improved in the last few years.”
“To be there and fight for the title against the team who have won everything, it’s a good step for us but at the same time it still hurts to be so close to winning.”
The Gunners skipper highlighted how the club recovered from finishing fifth in the campaign prior to that and then qualifying for the Champions League last term, and believes they will come back even stronger this season.
He replied: “Our dream was to win and that’s what we want, so it still hurts, but we have to use everything we learned from last year in a good way just like we did the year before.”
“We missed out on Champions League, but we came back even stronger and even more prepared. We have to do the same now to come back and use the disappointment in a good way, and that is what we’ll try to do.”
Arsenal are notably the biggest spenders in the current transfer window with more than £200 million spent on the likes of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, and when asked whether this increases the pressure on the Gunners in challenging City, Odegaard said that ‘people can say what they want’ but the club needs to stay focused on their job.
He added: “That’s football and that’s how it works.”
“There is always going to be talk and expectation but our job is to stay focused on what we can control, which is performance, and what we can do every day in training to make sure we work hard and improve.
“It’s a great group. There are a lot of hungry players and young players. That’s the key for us, to keep working hard, to keep going and pushing every day to be better.
“People can say what they want and write what they want but our job is to stay focused.”
Arsenal’s Despite their main focus being on the Premier League last season, it was another trophyless campaign in the end for the Gunners after early exits from the other Cup and European competitions.
Arsenal’s return to Champions League football after six years will surely be a stiff challenge for them after a 6-year absence from the competition, as they must at least reach the last eight of the competition this term.
Needless to say, with substantially increased spending in the current transfer window, the fans will also be hoping that the Gunners will have a more successful run in both the League and FA Cups with the anticipated added quality in squad depth.
The pressure will certainly be on Arsenal to challenge Pep Guardiola’s side for the league title but as Odegaard had insisted, the players need to stay focused on the job and ignore all distractions from without.