Martin Odegaard believes Arsenal will be rewarded with silverware so long as they maintain a collective desire to keep improving.
After running Manchester City close in the last two years, there’s a belief the Gunners can go one better and prevent Pep Guardiola’s dominant side from winning a fifth consecutive title.
At the same time, with so little margin for error, it’s set to be a tense start to the campaign with key players returning late from international duty and the Premier League handing Arsenal tough away games against three of last season’s top five in the opening five weeks.
In preparation, manager Mikel Arteta has taken the unusual step of hosting an obligatory training camp in Spain for those players not involved with their countries; a sign he already has the bit between his teeth.
Speaking from Marbella, captain Odegaard emphasised the need to hit the ground running.
“It’s always important to get a good start and feeling straight away,” he told reporters.
“The work we put in now is going to help us a lot to come back fit and sharp and be ready. You have to push and prepare in the best possible way.”
He added: “The work ethic and mentality in the team and how connected and aligned we are, we’re all thinking about the same thing.
“We want to win something and get better. We’re a young team as well so I’m sure that experience and another year is going to help us. It’s easy to find the motivation because we all want to win and we’re pushing each other so hard every day.x
“Staff, players, supporters and everyone are pushing in the same direction. In the end, I’m sure it’s going to be rewarded with a trophy.”
Arsenal ended the last campaign with their second-highest points tally in the league and with more wins (28) in a 38-game season than the Invincibles. They performed remarkably well but ultimately paid a heavy price for a mid-season wobble that included defeats to Aston Villa, Fulham and West Ham United before and after Christmas.
“We made history and we have to be proud of that, but it wasn’t enough to win it and that’s what we wanted to do, so we all felt a bit disappointed with being so close,” reflected Odegaard.
“In football there are small margins. It’s easy to look at one game but I think you have to look at the whole season. We didn’t have the consistency to win it and we have to earn it and we know we can improve, get better and that’s what we’re working on. We were so close but we’re going to come back even stronger now I’m sure.”
He added: “You learn something every day, especially when you’re so close and you can taste it on the last day.
“It gives us all the motivation we need to come back even stronger this year and win it. If you compare last season to the season before, we looked a lot stronger, especially towards the end.
“We looked a lot more mature and confident and we had a really good ending, so I think we’re taking a lot of good steps but we just need a little bit more to win it.
“Every setback can make you stronger. For us to be talking about last season as a disappointment shows how far we’ve come and what we’re all about now. It shows the mentality that we’re not satisfied if we don’t win.”
Arsenal’s pre-season preparations officially begin next Monday although it’s believed some first team stars returned to London Colney today.
