Martin Odegaard says he doesn't need anyone to tell him that he has been 'not good enough' this season.
Odegaard has been the driving force of the previous two title costs of Arsenal, but admitted that this time he fell under his own standards.
Arsenal captain Odegaard is good on goals, assists and his form has been emphasized by Sky Pundit Paul Merson, who says that Norway's midfielder has been 'nowhere close'.
Odegaard has only managed two goals in the Premier League this season, while he received eight and 15 the previous year last year. This time he only has three assists, while he came into double digits last year. It is an important factor in the reason why Arsenal fell in the title race at the back of Liverpool, but Odegaard says that he is determined to return to his best and has refused to give up Liverpool.
There were a glimpse of Odegaard at his best in Arsenal's 7-1 win over PSV Eindhoven and they will strive to carry that form in Sunday's visit to Manchester United.
Odegaard said: “I am very used to people who talk about me, judge my performances and I think I am doing it. I am harder for myself and I know that I have not been good enough, especially for the goal, so that is normal.
“I work hard every day to improve it and I know that I have the ability and talent to do it. PSV Eindhoven was good and hopefully I can now do more towards the end of the season. There is always more to play at the end of the season, but every match in this competition is so important from the beginning to the end.
“Hopefully we can – like last year – come to the end and then we see where that brings us to the competition and also in the Champions League.”
Odegaard says that the players of Arsenal will have to continue to share the goals in the absence of their affiliated strike force. Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have all been missed. He takes on it to “get up” in their absence while he scored twice and assisted in the victory at PSV. They shared the goals in the run-in last season and want the same again.
Odegaard said: “I think that's the key. With the players we have, the rest of us as players have to perform even more and I think it is a good thing that we can share the goals and hopefully we can continue to do that. “
The Norway captain also refuses to give up on catching Liverpool and says that the last two seasons should have learned Arsenal – who only led the title race to blow large leads – that it is not over until it is over.
He said: 'We will fight until the end. That is the mentality of everyone. We fought for the title for three years in a row and you go a few years when we led with many points and then we finished second.
“It shows that everything is possible and the most important thing is to continue, to keep working hard and to get better in the games and then we will see. We have brought ourselves into a difficult position at the moment, but we have to go on, we have to try to win every time we play and then we will see what happens to Liverpool. “
Arsenal has had fortunes against Manchester United and defeated them in the Premier League, but they were eliminated on penalties in the FA Cup. Odegaard missed a penalty in the 90 minutes to win it for Arsenal.
But United has stated an eight -year season under Ruben Amorim and Odegaard that they still have a huge threat at Old Trafford.
He added: “They are not where they want to be in the table and it is a big club that has struggled a bit, but, as I said before, we know the quality they really have and they have many good individual players we have to be ready for.
“It is always difficult if you play them. I don't think they are where they want to be in the table, but we know the quality they have when they play at their best. They have a lot of individual quality and when they play as a team, it is a challenge to play them.
“It is a big challenge for us and we now have to take the good feelings of this game and what we – especially in the future – did in the next game and hopefully do more of it.”
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