No excuses, no surprises: Arteta's Arsenal prepare for anything

LONDON: Mikel Arteta once hired pickpockets to keep his Arsenal players alert. He has painted meeting rooms in colours designed to improve concentration and pipes opposition stadium anthems through speakers at the club’s training ground.

Leaving nothing to chance is the Arsenal manager’s philosophy and it helped deliver the club’s first Premier League title in 22 years last season.

So, a flight delay heading to their Champions League win at Napoli on Wednesday did not cause him a headache; nor will any unforeseen obstacles ahead of Saturday’s trip to Sunderland.

“I love these challenges,” Arteta said on Friday. “I try to create them in pre-season and arrive at different times so when they happen we have already experienced it.

“You can miss a flight, the train can be delayed but I don’t want the players or staff to be panicking when it happens, instead adapt to it. But do not complain and use it as an excuse because it’s not helpful at all.”

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The episode offered another example of why Arsenal are unlikely to be rattled by a Sunderland side to whom they surrendered points late last season.

Arteta has instilled a new culture at Arsenal. He embraces unconventional psychological and focus drills, one in which players pass balls to each other while balancing a pen on their finger. More relevant to Saturday’s task, he also engineers disruption.

“Sometimes we delay the meals, delay the transport, take a different route, make the dressing room hot, less beds, because we are going to have to adapt so there is not an element of surprise on match day,” he said.

He even planted a 150-year-old olive tree at the training ground to emphasise the nurturing of the club’s roots and brings a miniature version to team talks.

Arsenal will be gunning for a fourth win from four Premier League games on Sunday but will be wary of a Sunderland side who snatched a last-gasp 2-2 draw in the fixture last season.

Should Arsenal win it would be only the sixth time in their history that they have started a league campaign with four victories. The first three times they went on to win the title.

“Last year we dropped points there in the last minute and we’ve learned a lot from that game,” Arteta said.