When Arsenal returned to training on Tuesday their manager had a pick-me-up ready to go. Mikel Arteta’s quirkier motivational methods have achieved renown but this was more straightforward. Where usually the classroom inquest into a weekend game would bring clips of points for improvement, rounded off by reminders of things they had done well, this time the tone was kept entirely positive. The squad had cut dejected figures leaving the Emirates two days previously, Brighton having comprehensively put any remaining title pretensions to bed, and even Arteta had struggled to perform his usual hype-man act afterwards. Now he sensed a dose of perspective was needed.
“We did a different style of meeting, just remembering how far we’ve come,” says Aaron Ramsdale, whose frustration at being lobbed by Deniz Undav for the Seagulls’ second goal had been clear. “He put on the board about how we can still have the most wins by an Arsenal team in the Premier League, and about how it’s very disappointing at the moment but how progressive the season has been, how positive we can be.”
