Mikel Arteta is under pressure to deliver a trophy for Arsenal and Sam Allardyce has now claimed the Gunners boss isn’t helping himself.
Arsenal lost to Bournemouth at the weekend but one of the big talking points going into the game was the sight of some bizarre training methods at London Colney.
The Gunners players were spotted messing with pens and screens during one session, which was open to the press.
Indeed, that’s where Allardyce believes Arteta has messed up.
Sam Allardyce claims Mikel Arteta’s training methods are a mistake
Mikel Arteta has divided opinion with his training methods since being at Arsenal but the latest one was right up there with the most bizarre.
As usual, it was jumped on by fans and rivals and according to Sam Allardyce, it’s another error from the Arsenal boss.
“I think he’s doing some strange things, sadly,” Allardyce told The Good, The Bad and The Football.
“Not that I’m averse to a strange thing cos I’d be the first to try it. But he’s making it public, like with the pens, and he’s got AI up hasn’t he and he’s let the press and the public see it.
“I like innovation. But I don’t like it being in public. Keep it to yourself because that can backfire cos they can then say ‘Oh well you’ve confused the players now’. The best thing to do is like what Pep does, here’s a few days off.”
Sam Allardyce is right about Mikel Arteta
Some will say that a manager like Allardyce shouldn’t be giving out advice to Arteta but this is a man who, in his time, was ahead of the game in terms of some off-field matters.
Allardyce was always coming up with new ways of training and relied heavily on data and science while he got Bolton flying.
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This comment though, is bang on.
It is an error from the Arsenal boss and a misjudgement of how it would go down. If Arsenal do indeed blow the title, this is just another thing for both the press and fans to pick up on.
Sure, Arteta might end up being a more successful boss than Allardyce. But Allardyce has the experience, and it might help if young managers pay attention.
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