Arteta on Arsenal’s maverick ways: delay meals

Mikel Arteta has once again shown his unconventional side at Arsenal. As The Guardian reports, the manager likes to set his players challenges so that when things go wrong, they’re not thrown off. Among those drills are delaying meals before matches and making the dressing room harsher, including turning up the temperature.

Training for the unexpected

Arteta links it to his belief that players should get used to stress and routine changes. The point landed with their Champions League trip to Italy: The Guardian says Arsenal’s flight to Naples for their opener against Napoli was delayed by more than five hours, and Arteta had to cancel his pre-match press conference after the squad arrived just before 10pm local time.

Don’t panic, adapt

It didn’t affect performance. Arsenal still got the job done, winning 1-0 thanks to Martin Ødegaard’s second-half winner, and they have since recorded 13 straight league-stage European wins.

Arteta then explained further examples of what he does: “Just delay the meals, delay the transport, take a different route. We have done many things: make the dressing room hotter…”, he said, according to The Guardian. He also mentioned changing routes and transport timing so the group can adapt instead of getting carried away.

He stressed that matchday is about coping and using the extra time without complaints—so everyone stays focused when a surprise hits. The Guardian also includes Arteta’s comments on dressing-room dynamics, contrasting Leandro Trossard’s situation with Gabriel Jesus’s reaction to leaving in the summer.