Martin Odegaard has revealed that getting more players into the box has been key to Arsenal’s recent glut of goals in the Premier League.
The Gunners largely struggled in front of goal during the Christmas period, converting 63 shots into just one goal during a run of three defeats in a row – to West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool – and fell behind pacesetters Liverpool and Manchester City as a result.
But Arsenal have found their mojo in recent weeks, converting chances for fun to leave supporters dreaming of a first Premier League triumph in 20 years. Mikel Arteta’s side have won five games on the spin, and have secured two 5-0 wins and a 6-0 victory at West Ham en route to scoring 21 goals.
Speaking about how Arsenal have turned around their fortunes in front of goal, club captain Odegaard simply put it down to getting more players inside the opposition penalty area.
“I think that’s what we were missing a little bit in the last few weeks before the break – we created so much but we didn’t score the goals,” the Norwegian said.
“But within the last few games, we’ve been brilliant in front of goal. We get so many people in the box and so many situations around the box. So yeah, it’s been brilliant.
“Last game was great performance and yeah we played really good again. We just have to keep going like this, there’s a long way to go and we can still improve a lot of things. I think that’s the mindset. We just want to keep going and keeping improvement.”
Arsenal’s next challenge is to take their blistering domestic form into Champions League competition, with a difficult looking away day at Porto on the horizon.
The two sides meet in the first leg of their round of 16 clash on Wednesday night, with Arteta’s charges looking to erase the memories of last season’s exit to Portuguese giants Sporting CP at the same stage of the Europa League. On that occasion, Arsenal crashed out on penalties after both games finished level at 1-1.
