‘Delay the meals’: Mikel Arteta reveals latest maverick Arsenal methods
The Guardian
Manager wants players to cope with things going wrong
Other tactics include making dressing room even hotter
Mikel Arteta has revealed that he likes to set players challenges, such as delaying their meals before matches and making the dressing room hotter, to ensure they are fully prepared for any eventuality.
Arsenal’s flight to Italy for their Champions League opener against Napoli this week was delayed for more than five hours, with Arteta forced to cancel his pre-match press conference after the squad arrived in Naples just before 10pm local time. The disruption proved no handicap as they made it 13 successive league-stage victories in Europe, thanks to Martin Ødegaard’s second-half winner.
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