Despite all the gimmicks, Mikel Arteta is still searching for answers. The Arsenal manager’s latest innovation involved lighting a fire at their London Colney training ground last week in the buildup to facing Manchester City, although that resulted only in the Watford coach Dan Gosling losing his voice. “Our training ground is across the hedge from Arsenal,” the former Newcastle midfielder said. “There was smoke and you could smell it, it was so strong.”
Arteta has tried pretty much everything since, days after his appointment in December 2019, he planted a 150-year-old olive tree outside his office to symbolise the history of the club and the responsibility “to look after the roots every single day”. From using a lightbulb during a pre-match team talk to “create energy and electricity”, to hiring professional pickpockets during a pre-season dinner and adopting a chocolate-coloured labrador called Win after reading that petting a dog can help to reduce stress levels, no stone has been left unturned.
