"What I told my team mates at half time in dressing room" - Martin Odegaard reveals his pep talk against West Ham

 

Martin Odegaard has now shared what was said at halftime in the Arsenal dressing room during their Premier League clash with West Ham. 

With their 3-1 victory over West Ham United last night, the Gunners moved seven points ahead of the leaders in the Premier League.

The team led for the majority of the game, but just before the half-hour mark, they fell behind from Said Benrahma penalty. 

After taking Jarrow Bowen down inside the area, William Saliba gave away a penalty, and Said Benrahma scored straight away.

 

Before the Hammers scored, Arsenal was on the front foot the entire half, and Bukayo Saka even had a goal disallowed for offside. Before halftime, Odegaard thought he had also given his team a penalty, but a VAR check showed that the ball hit Aaron Crewswell's head, not his arm.

The Gunners had a frustrating 45 minutes, and Odegaard has said that the message in the locker room at halftime was to keep playing the same way.

“I think we just said, ‘keep on playing, keep on believing, keep doing the same things.’ A few adjustments, but I think we played pretty good in the first half as well,” he said. 

“Just lacked the goal and they scored out of nothing. But I think we played well, and we kept on doing a lot of the same things. And then we got more space in the second half. I think they were tired in the end, so brilliant, brilliant performance.” 

Eight minutes after the break, Odegaard's shot fell kindly into the path of Saka, who finished skillfully to bring them level.

Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli gave the Gunners a crucial three points. Nketiah was set up by Odegaard, and he also played a big role in the buildup to Martinelli's goal.

The Arsenal captain gave another outstanding performance, assisting his team to pick up where they left off prior to the World Cup break.