Every home game, Martin Odegaard gives you his thoughts on the goings-on around the club in his captain’s notes for the matchday programme.
Ahead of this afternoon's London derby against Fulham, he discusses scoring the winner against Crystal Palace on Monday, and how Jurrien Timber is managing following his serious injury against Nottingham Forest on the opening day.
I have to thank Bukayo for his part in the decision on the penalty against Palace. It wasn’t something we discussed before the game, but we’d been practising them a lot in pre-season and I scored all of mine, so I was feeling good.
As I mentioned in my programme notes for the Nottingham Forest game, I am ready to take them if needed, because I like that responsibility. So when we got the penalty on Monday, me and Bukayo talked and I asked if I could take it. I was feeling good and he gave it to me so thanks a lot to Bukayo for that. The main thing is that I put it in the goal so everyone was happy! So we’ll see what happens next time we get a penalty, we will see who’s feeling good and wants to take it.
That win was for Jurrien as well, because it’s so tough for him to come to a new club and then pick up a bad injury in your first game. It’s obviously very hard for him but I have to say that he’s dealing with it as well as he can. He’s staying positive, coming into the training ground and doing all the things he has to do.
He’s a good guy and for us it’s about taking care of him, helping him and supporting him. So we wanted to send a message to him by having his shirt with us at the game. It’s a gesture and shows that we are all a family here, we are together as a team and everyone wanted to do that for him.
The win at Palace keeps our momentum going, and we spoke about that a lot last week, about how important it is to have a good start. That’s our challenge today as well, we know it can be tricky at the beginning of the season to be at your best.
You are not 100 per cent in your best form at this stage of the season, and it can take time to build your rhythm, but at the same time, you have to win the games. It’s crucial to pick up these points, and build that confidence early on.
Read the rest of Odegaard’s notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying a copy of the Arsenal v Fulham programme either around the stadium or online.
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