Mikel Arteta has garnered a reputation for employing some bizarre techniques to motivate and educate his Arsenal squad.
Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal since he came to the helm at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019.
A lot of what he has done is easy enough to explain and understand – even if it was far from easy to achieve.
He has healed the rift that existed between the club and the fans. He has overhauled the squad, building a young, exciting, hungry team. He has made the Gunners genuine contenders for the biggest prizes in the game once again.
The Spanish coach has never shied away from making big decisions or controversial calls either. Arteta forced Mesut Ozil out of Arsenal, and did the same with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He also opted to bring in David Raya, above the popular Aaron Ramsdale in the pecking order.
All of these decisions have ultimately paid off in the manager’s favour, though, and he will feel that his even stranger techniques can be effective, too.
For instance, during pre-season, Arteta encouraged his Arsenal players to bond by ensuring that the seating arrangements changed at every meal time. This forced the group to all mingle and get to know one another.
During another meal time this summer, Arteta hired professional pickpockets to target his players, in an effort to deliver a lesson on the importance of always being alert and aware.
On top of all that, of course, Arteta masterminded the adoption of Win, the dog, last year, who is at the training ground each day to interact with the players and staff.
Mikel Arteta lifts the lid on Win and unconventional Arsenal methods
In a recent interview with Men in Blazers, Arteta was asked to explain the thought processes behind the decisions to get Win and to employ some of his other more unorthodox methods of connecting with his players.
The manager explained: ““In our sport, you need top, elite athletes that physically can deliver what is required in our schedules and our demands right now. Then emotionally, the team, and individually, has to be in the best possible condition.
“So anything that we can do to support that is going to help in the last part, which is the technical, the tactical part of the game. So, all these ideas are related to our culture, to how we want to live together, and the things that we have to have daily to become the team that we want to become.
“Win has been an unbelievable addition in every sense, especially emotionally because she can transform your energy in five seconds. I don’t have the power to do that with any member of the staff.”
How Win interacts with the Arsenal squad
Win is present around the training ground, and has featured heavily in the club’s social media and marketing content in recent times.
Ben White once claimed Mohamed Elneny was scared of Win whilst he was at the club, but in general the chocolate Labrador seems to be a wholesome force for good in North London.
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