Mikel Arteta has revealed that Arsenal were prepared for this week’s travel disruption – after he simulated unexpected delays and deliberately sabotaged their plans for certain matches in pre-season.
Arsenal’s flight to Naples for their Champions League game against Napoli was delayed on Tuesday after the Premier League champions were caught up in the air traffic control issues in the UK.
There was widespread disruption due to a technical failure with the air traffic control system, which meant Arsenal’s flight was delayed by several hours and caused Arteta’s pre-match press conference to be cancelled.
But Arteta revealed that he had already sabotaged some of Arsenal’s plans in pre-season so that the team had the experience of dealing with unexpected situations and finding ways to adapt to them.
"I love those challenges,” Arteta said. “I tried to create them in pre-season. So when they happen, we know how to experience them and we already know. So we get to the stadium very late, we 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, they have adapt to it.
“Ok, we have two or three hours on the plane - can we use them? Play together, spend some time together, sleep. But certainly don't complain or use it as an excuse because it's not helpful at all.”
Arteta went on to say that he would test his Arsenal players and coaching staff in pre-season by throwing in other unexpected challenges, such as delaying their meals, the arrival of their team bus, or suddenly changing their route to the stadium.
Arteta even said he had forced his team to adapt to a dressing room that was too hot or where there were not enough massage beds.
“We’ve done many things,” Arteta said. “We're going to have to adapt to different contexts. And we try to anticipate this and adapt to difficult conditions. When there's no element of surprise or stress on a matchday, I think it's important.”
Arteta led Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years last season and the Gunners were also a penalty shoot-out away from becoming European champions for the first time in their history in the Champions League final.
But the Spaniard is also known for his meticulous attention to detail and outside-of-the box thinking. He famously once prepared his team to play at Anfield by blaring Liverpool’s anthem of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ during a training session, while he reportedly once arranged for professional pickpockets to steal items from his players during a team dinner to teach them a lesson about awareness.
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