Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta hired a team of professional pickpockets as he prepares his team for the 2024-2025 Premier League and UEFA Champions League campaigns.
The Gunners are gearing up for the new campaign and boss Arteta is employing different methods to get his side ready for the new season.
The professional pickpockets hired by Mikel Arteta went round tables pinching phones, wallets, and other valuable items.
The dramatic scene took place whilst the Spanish tactician was at dinner with his Arsenal players.
After his assemblage had finished their meal, Arteta asked players to empty their pockets, and to their amazement, several key items were missing.
Mikel Arteta then inundated the players about what had occurred and the motive behind the occurrence.
Why Did Mikel Arteta Bring Pick-pockets to Arsenal Ahead Of The Upcoming Season?
Arteta employed a team of professional pickpockets to teach his players the importance of being “alert and prepared” at all times.
It could be said that Mikel Arteta used this strategy to ensure his players keep their focus in matches until the final whistle.
Additionally, this move appears to have been deployed due to how his Arsenal’s side have faltered most when it mattered most in recent seasons.
The Gunners were aiming to win the Premier League title in the 2022/23 season and were in an advantageous position to do so, however, they lost their shape and allowed Manchester City to grab the crown.
A similar situation also happened in the culminating matches of the 2023/24 season, as the Cityzens came from behind to steal the title from the grip of Arsenal.
Their target for the new season certainly is the Premier League title and it will be fascinating to see how they go about their business in the 2024/25 campaign.
Having come within touching distance of the league prize in the last 2 seasons, Arsenal are expected to go all the way by clinching the title.
The North London side have made just one signing this summer, Riccardo Calafiori, who joined the club from Serie A side Bologna for a fee of €45 million on July 29, 2024.
Calafiori will be looking to exude solidity in defense, to help the Gunners end their about 2-decade wait for the Premier League trophy.
Arsenal fans will also be hoping that Riccardo Calafiori is not hampered by knocks, having seen defender Jurrien Timber miss nearly the entirety of the previous season due to injury.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s side commence the 2024/25 season on August 17, 2024, welcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners are considered as one of the favorites to lift the Premier League title next season and they will have to put up an outstanding showing to outwit Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s Fascinating Strategy
The 42-year-old is well-known for his use of alternative methods, including props and mind games, to motivate, inspire and relax his players.
Coin
In the past, Arteta has employed different strategies when dealing with his players and in October 2022, ahead of the North London derby, the Spaniard introduced a game to his set-up.
The game involved the hiding of coins in the shoes of a few first-team players. He informed his squad to stash the coins while the coaches were out of the room.
Subsequently, his coaching crew returned and guessed which players had those coins in their trainers, apparently through the looks in their eyes.
Amazingly, after the coaches had correctly identified the players with coins, Mikel Arteta revealed that he and his assistants had been watching the squad through CCTV cameras the whole time.
This proved to be a successful move to reduce the tension ahead of a north London derby, in which Arsenal came out victorious 3-1 at the Emirates.
Lightbulb
He has also in the past made use of a light bulb in a pre-match team talk, to describe how he wants his team to always be connected.
Dog
In May 2023, it was also made known that the former Barcelona man had added a dog – a Labrador named Win, to the club’s training ground to aid the mental state of his players.
Anfield
Mikel Arteta has also once prepared his players for a game against Liverpool at Anfield by blasting the Merseyside-based club’s famous chant “You will never work alone”.
This was to get his players ready for the immense battle to go down against the Reds, given how much Anfield is dreaded by visiting clubs.
