Mikel Arteta says Arsenal were ready for their midweek Champions League flight delay – because he deliberately disrupted their training and travel plans in pre-season to prepare them.
The Premier League champions were affected by air traffic control issues as they travelled to Italy to face Napoli on Wednesday.
They eventually arrived three hours behind their schedule but manager Arteta said his team were ready because of his methods.
“I love those challenges, I try to create them in pre-season,” Arteta said at his news conference on Friday, before Saturday’s Premier League trip to Sunderland (20:00 BST).
“So when they happen, we have already experienced them and we are ready.
“Get to the stadium very late, change the routine so the players have to do something else. When it happens, and it can – the flight can be cancelled, or the train is delayed, there is so much traffic, I don’t want the players and staff panicking.
“When that happens, adapt to it. We have two or three hours on the plane – can we use it? Play together, spend some time together, sleep.
“But don’t complain or use it as an excuse because it’s not helpful at all.”
Arteta went on to add that his methods also include delaying meals or transport, take different routes to grounds and making the dressing room hotter and more uncomfortable for players.
He said that it reduces the amount of stress and surprise on a matchday when such disruptions occur.
It is not the first instance of Arteta using unusual methods in his team’s preparation.
The Spaniard once brought a light bulb into the dressing room while asking his players to be energetic and shine.
On another occasion, he even hired professional pickpockets to attend a team dinner to take phones and wallets from players, which was used as a lesson to teach them to stay alert.
In 2023, he brought a dog named Win into the training ground to boost morale, saying that it was used to represent the team as a family.
He is not opposed to others in the squad using his methods, either – in April, a fire was lit at the club’s training ground before they hosted Sporting in the Champions League.
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