Mikel Arteta: Preparing Arsenal for Chaos
Mikel Arteta had already seen this week’s chaos coming – because he’d spent the summer rehearsing it.
Arsenal’s midweek trip to Italy for their Champions League tie against Napoli was thrown off course by air traffic control problems, leaving the Premier League champions stuck and three hours behind schedule. Where most managers would see a disruption, Arteta saw a drill he’d already run.
“I love those challenges, I try to create them in pre-season,” he said on Friday, ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League visit to Sunderland on Saturday evening (20:00 BST).
For Arteta, disorder isn’t an inconvenience. It’s part of the plan.
Training for turbulence
The Spaniard has made a habit of deliberately unsettling his players’ routines long before the season starts. Flights, buses, meals – nothing is guaranteed to run on time when Arsenal are in pre-season.
“So when they happen, we have already experienced them and we are ready,” he explained.
He wants his squad to know what it feels like to arrive late at a stadium. To have their day flipped. To be forced to improvise.
“Get to the stadium very late, change the routine so the players have to do something else,” he said. “When it happens, and it can – the flight can be cancelled, or the train is delayed, there is so much traffic, I don't want the players and staff panicking.”
The message is blunt: adapt or fall behind.
“When that happens, adapt to it. We have two or three hours on the plane – can we use it? Play together, spend some time together, sleep.
“But don't complain or use it as an excuse because it's not helpful at all.”
Discomfort by design
Arteta’s methods go well beyond a few late buses.
He spoke about delaying meals or transport, changing the route to grounds, even turning up the heat in the dressing room to make it hotter and more uncomfortable. Every tweak is designed to chip away at stress and surprise on matchday.
If something goes wrong on the day – a delay, a diversion, a broken routine – he wants it to feel familiar, not frightening.
This is not a one-off experiment. It’s a pattern.
A manager of unusual ideas
Arteta has long embraced unconventional tools to shape his squad’s mindset.
He once walked into the dressing room carrying a light bulb, using it as a prop while asking his players to be energetic and shine. Another time, he hired professional pickpockets to attend a team dinner and lift phones and wallets from his players, turning the stunt into a lesson on staying alert.
In 2023, a dog named Win appeared at the training ground, introduced as a symbol of togetherness and family, a living reminder of what he wants the club to represent every day.
From delayed flights to light bulbs, pickpockets and a dog called Win, the pattern is clear: under Arteta, Arsenal don’t just prepare for opponents. They prepare for chaos – and aim to turn it into an advantage.
