Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard expressed his confidence in winning the trophy with the club. The Gunners last won the Premier League in 2003-04 and since then they haven’t been able to finish at the top of the standings.
However, under the tutelage of Mikel Arteta in the last seasons, they have run close but no cigar. In the 2023-24 season, Arsenal won 28 out of the 38 matches and bagged 89 points, two behind champions Manchester City.
Furthermore, Arsenal remained in the pole position for the majority of the 2022-23 edition but they were eclipsed at the fag end by Pep Guardiola’s men.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have kicked off their preparations for the next season in the Spanish city of Marbella.
“We made history as we’ve talked about before and we have to be proud of those things,” Ødegaard said.
“It wasn’t enough to win it and that’s what we wanted to do. We all felt a bit disappointed with being so close. But in football, it is small margins. It is easy to look at one game but you have to look at the whole season and again it is small margins. We didn’t have the consistency to win it.
“We have to earn it. We know we can improve, we know we are going to get better. That’s what we are working for now. It is just small margins, small details in the game and how to deal with a long season. So close, but we are going to come back even stronger I’m sure.
“I think it is easy to find the motivation because we all want to win, we all want the same thing and we are all pushing each other so hard every day — staff, players, supporters, everyone is pushing in the same direction.
“I think it is just about doing those small things every day to become a little bit better and in the end I’m sure it is going to be rewarded with a trophy.”
At the fag end of July, Arsenal will play friendlies against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool in the United States. Ødegaard admitted it was tough to get over the previous season’s result.
“It’s hard, especially in the beginning,” he said. “It takes some time to really switch off. That’s important as well though, to disconnect from the football world and not think too much but obviously you think more about it to start and then you can leave it a little bit more with time.
“It’s always there, it’s always on your mind and I try my best to switch off. I have worked hard as well. After a week or two I started to work again. It’s always there in the back of the head.”
