MIKEL ARTETA ensures his players are prepared for every eventuality by deliberately sabotaging their pre-season friendlies.
The Arsenal manager revealed that he wreaks havoc on pre-season matchdays to prepare his side for potential hiccups throughout the season.
It comes after the Gunners’ flight to Italy for their Champions League clash against Napoli earlier this week was delayed by THREE HOURS due to the Air Traffic Control crisis on Tuesday.
It meant Arteta was forced to cancel his press conference and Arsenal’s usual routine was off-kilter.
But Arteta has revealed his side are always prepared for those kinds of issues because he goes about sabotaging their friendlies to get them used to problems on the road.
He said: “I love those challenges. I try to create them in the pre-season.
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“So when they happen, we already experience them and we already know.
“So, get to the stadium very late, change the routine as soon as the players have to do something else.
“Because when it happens, and it can happen, you can miss the flight, the train can be delayed, there’s so much traffic, and I don’t want the players, but not only the players, the staff as well, panicking.”
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Asked what specific scenarios he throws at his players, Arteta added: “Just delaying the meals, delaying the transport, taking a different route.
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“We’ve done many things, made the dressing room hotter, more difficult, more challenging, less massage beds. Those kinds of things.
“Because we’re going to have to adapt to different contexts, and we’ll try to anticipate it and create the best possible conditions.
“But when there is not that element of surprise or stress on matchday, I think it’s important.”
Arteta is no stranger to unusual techniques in his management.
The Arsenal chief has employed a host of quirky ideas to get his team ticking over the years.
Those have included hiring a pick-pocket for a team dinner to steal players’ wallets and teach them about the importance of always being aware of your surroundings.
He has also used a lightbulb to symbolise teamwork in a pre-match teamtalk and even brought in a team therapy dog named “win.”
Arteta will be hoping there are no travel issues when his side travel up north this weekend to face Sunderland.
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Arsenal are looking to make it six wins from six at the start of the season, but Arteta knows just how difficult a trip to the Stadium of Light can be, having drawn 2-2 with the Black Cats last season.
He said: “There are plenty of things to improve, to be alert of, and some others that we have to continue to do because we did some great things that night, and that’s the things that we’ll discuss to prepare for the game.”