Odegaard discloses the tactics Arsenal has been implementing to improve their goal-scoring efficiency.
Martin Odegaard has acknowledged that getting more players into the box has been critical to Arsenal’s current Premier League goalscoring success.
During a stretch of three straight losses – to West Ham, Fulham, and Liverpool – the Gunners converted 63 shots into just one goal, finding themselves behind pacesetters Liverpool and Manchester City. This was a major area of weakness for the team over the Christmas break.
But in recent weeks, Arsenal have discovered their groove, seizing opportunities to satisfy fans’ desires for a first Premier League victory in 20 years. Along the way to their 21 goals, Mikel Arteta’s team has won five straight games, including two 5-0 victories and a 6-0 triumph at West Ham.
Captain of the team Odegaard explained that Arsenal’s goal-scoring success can be attributed to their ability to penetrate the opponent’s penalty area more often.
We generated so much, but we didn’t score the goals, and I think that’s what we were lacking a little bit in the final weeks before the break,” the Norwegian stated.
However, we’ve been excellent in front of goal the past few games. There are a ton of people in the box and a ton of different scenarios surrounding it. So, yes, it’s been fantastic.
We played incredibly well again, and our performance in the last game was fantastic. We simply must continue in this manner; there is still much work to be done and many things can be made better. That’s the mindset, I believe. All we want is to continue moving forward and become better.
The next task for Arsenal is to carry over their impressive home form into Champions League play, with a challenging away day at Porto approaching.
Wednesday night will see the two teams play their opening leg of their round of 16 match, with Arteta’s team hoping to forget about their Europa League elimination to Sporting CP of Portugal the previous season. That time, Arsenal lost badly on penalties after the scores of the two games were tied at one.
