When it comes to motivational speaking, beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder. One man's Tony D'Amato can easily be another's David Brent. That is a battle that faces elite sports coaches on a daily basis, and Mikel Arteta is no different.
As he traverses the rollercoaster of emotions that is Arsenal's 2021/22 season throughout Amazon's All or Nothing documentary series, the first thing that becomes apparent is that nothing is off limits when it comes to trying to gain that extra inch for his team. Some things certainly work better than others. There is the heartfelt speech ahead of the crucial game against Norwich City that lifted the Gunners off the bottom of the Premier League table, but at the same time there is the playing of Liverpool's famous You'll Never Walk Alone at London Colney that precedes the 4-0 humbling at Anfield.
Each new strategy carries a degree of risk. Prior to the North London Derby victory in September that was arguably the original catalyst for the groundswell of positivity that exists around the Emirates right now, Arteta hands over a section of his immediate pre-match team talk to Stuart McFarlane, the club's photographer of 30 years. Unai Emery opted for a similar strategy before Arsenal's defeat to Crystal Palace that signalled the beginning of their top four challenge in 2019, by handing the reigns to the man in charge of organising the club's first team travel. Emery lost and was derided in the aftermath, while Arteta won and has been hailed for his ability to motivate his players. This is the fine margins by which reputations are won and lost, but Arteta admits he's willing to take risks.
