Captain Martin Odegaard says Arsenal must use the ‘anger and disappointment’ of last season’s near miss in the Premier League to build a winning culture

Martin Odegaard says last season’s title pain is driving their bid for glory
Arsenal currently in Washington DC as part of a pre-season tour of the US
The Norwegian was also full of praise for £105m signing Declan Rice

By Isaan Khan For Mailonline

Updated: 00:19 BST, 19 July 2023

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard says the ‘anger’ of relinquishing the Premier League title to Manchester City last season is driving his side’s bid for glory in their tour of the US.

In Washington DC the Norwegian opened up about the role the falter last season, which saw the Gunners implode from top spot, is having on pre-season plans.

He said: ‘You have to attack all the games the same way. Every time we play, we want to win. That’s the same now for pre-season, the League or the Champions League.

‘We want to build a winning culture and there’s a great chance to do that in pre-season. What we have to do is learn from last year, to use the disappointment, the anger and all the bad feelings.

‘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.’

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard (above) wants to build a winning culture at the club

Norwegian opened up about the role the falter last season is having on pre-season plans

Odegaard was also full of praise for £105m summer signing Declan Rice

On overcoming the setback, he added: ‘It was difficult to be honest. We were very close and had the big dream and goal to win something.

‘To be so close to doing it with this team is always going to hurt, 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. That is the only way.’

Aside from league hopes, Odegaard was full of praise for £105million signing Declan Rice having being impressed when facing him when he was at West Ham.

‘Every time I played against him I saw the quality,’ he 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.

‘Every time I played him it was a tough one. We had some tough battles so I’m happy to have him on the team and hopefully we can find a good connection very quickly.

‘He’s good on the ball, he can take it forward and physically he’s very strong. He’s good in many areas, is physical and is a leader so a lot of areas.’