Arsenal’s Captain Martin Odegaard sheds light on the team’s resilient approach to their pre-season tour. Taking lessons from their narrowly missed Premier League title, he elaborates on the plan to build a winning culture, while welcoming their new signing, Declan Rice.

• Arsenal’s Captain Martin Odegaard sees last season’s disappointment as a motivational factor for the ongoing pre-season tour.
• Odegaard emphasises the significance of a winning culture in pre-season preparations.
• Declan Rice, a £105m new signing, is highly praised by Odegaard for his quality and leadership.

Lessons from last season shaping Arsenal’s pre-season tour

As Arsenal embark on their pre-season tour in Washington DC, Captain Martin Odegaard delves into the impact of last season’s disappointments on their current approach.

He discusses the sting of relinquishing the Premier League title to Manchester City and how it’s fuelling the team’s bid for glory.

Building on past disappointments

Speaking from their pre-season base in the US capital, Odegaard discusses the lingering pain from last season.

He states, “We were so close. It still hurts and it’s still painful for us. It’s important to use it in a good way to come back even stronger and to show we have learned and improved.”

He further emphasises the need to instil a winning culture across all games, be it pre-season, the league or the Champions League.

Learning and improving post-defeat

The Norwegian captain admits to the difficulty of overcoming such a setback but sees it as an opportunity to learn and grow stronger.

“It was difficult, to be honest,” he shared, “but you have to deal with it in a good way and move on, and that’s what we’re going to do as a team.”

He insists on leveraging the disappointment and anger from their last season’s failure, using it as fuel for their present journey.

Their sights are set on turning last season’s failure into this season’s success.

New signing Declan Rice’s qualities

In addition to strategic insights, Odegaard lavished praise on Arsenal’s new £105 million signing, Declan Rice. The captain finds Rice’s leadership and quality impressive, having faced him when he was West Ham captain.

Commenting on Rice, Odegaard said, “He’s a leader as well, so it’s great for me to work together, and hopefully, we can help each other a lot. He’s good on the ball, he can take it forward and physically he’s very strong.”

This blend of leadership and physical prowess makes Rice a valuable addition to the team, and Odegaard is excited about the potential partnership.

In summarising his thoughts, Odegaard reflected: “Every defeat, every disappointment, and every injury should serve as a lesson. It’s all about moving on and using these experiences to come back stronger. That’s precisely what we plan to do in our pre-season tour.”

So, the message from the Arsenal camp is clear: Learning from past failures, building a winning culture, and harnessing new talent are the key takeaways from their pre-season tour, offering exciting prospects for the upcoming season.