Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken more about the ways he personally disrupted his team’s pre-season schedule to get a reaction from his players.
The Gunners boss has often shown himself to be keen on pushing even those finest of margins to take his team up a level, and it seems that includes stressing them out when it comes to matchday travel.
Speaking in his latest press conference, Arteta joked that he couldn’t quite get flights cancelled, but he did do things like delay some modes of transport or heat up the dressing room too much.
It seems his aim with these methods is to get his players ready for the unexpected on matchdays, with the hope that it will improve their alertness and performance levels.
Mikel Arteta on his bizarre methods to keep Arsenal players on their toes
“We cannot get that done, but just delay the transport, took a different route…” Arteta said.
“We’ve done many things – make the dressing room hotter, more difficult, more challenging, less beds, those kind of things that in my opinion … because we’re going to have to adapt to different contexts, and we will try to anticipate it and create the best possible conditions.
“When there is not that element of stress or surprise on matchday, I think that’s important.”
Arsenal fans will no doubt be amused by this latest revelation from their manager, who has done a superb job to make them a seriously competitive side again.
Arteta led Arsenal to Premier League glory last season and his side were also very close to winning the Champions League for the first time, only losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain.
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