Football Daily | Mikel Arteta hits upon a new psychological wheeze for his champions

The use of psychological stratagems and pitchside or locker-room sabotage has long been employed by football managers trying to give their teams an edge over visiting rivals. Whether it’s placing the pegs too high or the seats too low, painting the walls an aggression-lowering shade of pink or deliberately moving the advertising hoardings to prevent long throws, there are apparently no stones conniving coaching staff will leave unturned if they think their team’s chances of winning may be improved by such shenanigans. Almost 40 years ago, Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang famously used to leave visitors to Plough Lane without any hot water, a plan that seemed stunning in its simplicity, until you realise – as Football Daily has just done after nearly 40 years – that footballers generally tend not to shower until after the game is over, rendering their attempt at disruption decidedly redundant.

A man who has previously attracted ridicule for hiring a team of pickpockets to pinch his players’ watches, phones and wallets during a team dinner to teach them the value of vigilance and focus, it ought to come as no surprise that Mikel Arteta has now hit upon the psychological wheeze of disrupting his own team’s preparations for matches as a way of keeping them on their toes. The Arsenal manager has revealed that he occasionally has dressing-room thermostats turned up to 11, delays meal and transport times, or has physio room massage beds “disappeared” to ensure Arsenal’s finest are prepared for any curveballs life might pitch their way. And while such half-baked amateur psychology will almost certainly provide more grist to the mill of Arteta haterz, if inducing mild anxiety in Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka over a toasty canteen or slightly late bus is all it takes to finally win a league title, then who are we to carp?

“I love those challenges,” parped Arteta. “I try to create them in pre-season. So when they happen, we already experience them and we already know. So, get to the stadium very late, change the routine as soon as the players have to do something else. Because when it happens, and it can happen, you can miss the flight, the train can be delayed, there’s so much traffic, and I don’t want the players, the staff as well, panicking.” Of course, our more astute reader will have already clocked that Arsenal’s flight to Naples this week was delayed by several hours, prompting the cancellation of their pre-match press duties.

While Arsenal’s was only one of several hundred flights from UK airports disrupted or cancelled due to an air traffic control “glitch”, it behoves Football Daily to point out there is no suggestion that a slightly weird 44-year-old from San Sebastián was responsible for you and your pals missing out on that eagerly anticipated lads’ trip to Benidorm. We also know that while stressed-out passengers in overcrowded departure lounges across the UK were effing, jeffing and generally losing their minds, the footballers of Arsenal were – due in no small part to Arteta’s mind games – presumably waiting in the business lounge to board their well-appointed jet in a state of carefully orchestrated zen.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I quit and I’m not coming back” – Fenerbahce head coach Ismail Kartal announces his resignation after ⁠their 1-1 draw at home to Roma in Bigger Cup.

“Some ‌fans threw a bottle ‌at the coach’s head this evening during the game. He ‌is upset about it. I just spoke to [him]. He mentioned the bottle incident and he also complained about being under pressure … I am his senior, I told him to continue and that’s ​it. We are a family” – Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildrim suggests Kartal will be coming back after all.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTER

Thankfully Noble Francis has now won a book (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) so has something else to do other than writing prize-winning, witty missives. This means the rest of us mere mortals have a chance of winning your letter o’ the day” – Martyn Shapter.

If you have any, send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … a rollover, so our final copy of The Mbappé Project by Philippe Auclair will be up for grabs on Monday. Copies are available in the Guardian Bookshop for you unlucky scribes. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. 

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