Mikel Arteta takes on new Arsenal role in unique preparation for Champions League clash
Share:
Mikel Arteta has turned DJ to get his Arsenal players back in tune. Arteta set up giant speakers and pumped out music during training ahead of their Champions League showdown with Dinamo Zagreb. Gunners boss Arteta actually claimed that they have used music in the dressing room, on away trips and as part of their preparations throughout his reign.
But the music pumping was a first in an open training session as the players assembled to the baseball anthem Take Me Out To The Ball Game but then turned it up for the warm-up with a couple of Brazilian songs, including Mas Que Nada. Arteta said: “Music is another element of our training sessions to be the energy to change some purposes that we want in the training session and I think players enjoyed it. Music is very much part of our culture.
“We have music in a lot of different places, and I think music has the capacity to change your mood, to change your energy to a certain place. And I think it happens in all of us. You play a song and immediately you feel different, and we have certain songs that trigger something in our team, because they have some history as well with us, and I will use it when we believe it's the right way to do it.
“I have a lot of favourite music, depending on the day, that's what I'm saying. It's not about my energy, and sometimes I play a song many, many times, and my kids say: ‘Dad, can we stop it, please!’”. Arteta was famously mocked after the Amazon All Or Nothing documentary for playing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to get Arsenal ready for a match at Liverpool - only for his players to get blown away at Anfield. But Arteta’s methods appear to be working better these days even if they were a bit flat after being held by Aston Villa on Saturday, having been 2-0 up.
