Ben White has just thrown Mohamed Elneny under the bus after claiming the Arsenal midfielder is ‘scared’ of their training ground dog, the chocolate Labrador named Win.
The 25-year-old has told Sky Sports News (26/08, 09:41) that a few of the Arsenal team are afraid of the dog. But White cannot see her scary side with the defender the Gunners player who spends the most time with Win. Gabriel Martinelli is another who adores the Labrador.
Arsenal released a video of Martinelli reacting in sheer delight at seeing Win upon returning to London Colney for pre-season. Manager Mikel Arteta introduced the dog as their training ground pet during May. It is one of a number of somewhat unusual tactics he has employed.
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Why did Mikel Arteta give Arsenal a training ground dog named Win?
Arteta recently also put photos on a wall at Arsenal’s training ground of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup trophies. He has employed some quirky tactics to try to get his players in the right mindset. That is why Arsenal now have a training ground dog in Win.
“We always talk about family and being connected,” Arteta told the Arsenal website in May. “A big family like we are at the club and I feel like we are a family, we need a dog to represent that family.
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“I carefully chose the dog and in my opinion it’s the perfect representative of who we are right now. Her name is Win, we all love winning and Win needs a lot of love. So, the love for Win, that was basically the feeling.”
Ben White claims Mohamed Elneny is ‘scared’ of the club’s Labrador
But not all of the Arsenal squad are as big a fan of Win as Arteta, White and Martinelli are of their training ground dog. White has now revealed that some of the Gunners squad are still afraid of the Labrador. He has also thrown Elneny under the bus as one player afraid of Win.
“He’s always thinking outside the box and he’s looking after us in the different ways that he can,” White said of Arteta. “Probably me, to be fair, [who spends the most time with Win].
“There’s a few boys that are scared of her. She’s not the scariest of looking dogs. I think Mo is, Mo’s scared.”
Arteta uses various methods at London Colney including having a training ground dog to get Arsenal playing as he wants. He also uses the olive tree at London Colney as a symbol of the need to take care. The tree is more than 150 years old and Arteta emphasises protecting it.
Photos of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles are just the latest touch Arteta has included. The Arsenal gaffer wants his players to have a visual reminder of what they are training towards achieving. They have not won the Premier League since 2003/04.