Mikel Arteta turns to tunes to ‘change our mood’ before Arsenal’s Zagreb test

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Mikel Arteta turns to tunes to ‘change our mood’ before Arsenal’s Zagreb test
Author: Ed Aarons
Published: Jan, 21 2025 22:30

Mikel Arteta is hoping the sound of music can help Arsenal seal a place in the top eight of the Cham­pions League and has urged his ­players to take out the frustration of letting slip a two-goal lead against Aston Villa when they face Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night.

Victory against the Croatian side would put Arsenal on the verge of qualifying directly for the last 16 with a trip to Girona next week in their final fixture to come. Arsenal will again be without William Saliba after the Frenchman missed the draw against Villa on Saturday with a hamstring strain, although Arteta said the defender was “evolving well”.

The rest of Arsenal’s squad warmed up for their game against Zagreb – who have not played competitively for a month owing to their league’s winter break, during which they appointed the 2006 Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro as their head coach – with booming music accompanying their training session, including the Brazilian classic Mas Que Nada by Sérgio Mendes. Arteta said it had become a regular part of their routine over the years and had helped the process of recovering from the Villa disappointment.

“Music has the capacity to change our mood,” the manager said. “We have certain songs that trigger something in our team. 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.

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