At a Glance:
- Chris Sutton has laid into Arsenal’s training ground methods.
- Mikel Arteta has a history of using quirky tactics to inspire his players.
- Chris Sutton questioned the rationale behind such methods being in the “public domain.”
Since being appointed as Arsenal boss in 2019, Mikel Arteta has never seemed to shy away from embracing unorthodox methods to motivate his side.
In 2023, the Spaniard revealed that he brought ‘Win’, a chocolate-coloured Labrador into proceedings to inspire his players. Arteta revealed via ESPN: “We always talk about family. And being connected. In my opinion, a big family like we are at the club, which I feel we are a family, you need a dog to represent that family.”
“I think there are still things at the club that can be done to connect with people, to be more caring with people, to show love, and I found this dog that in my opinion was the perfect representative of who we are right now.”
However, Gary Lineker criticised Mikel Arteta’s methods, with the former Leicester City striker being especially puzzled about a TikTok video featuring Arsenal’s players and a song dedicated to them playing on a screen in training.
Arsenal playing a TikTok edit on the big screen during training today. ❤️
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) April 10, 2026
🎶 Make it happen, North London forever! We are The Arsenal! 🎶🫡 pic.twitter.com/twpRbaet3P
Chris Sutton blasts Arsenal for ‘foolish’ training methods
Ultimately, Arsenal fans will have no reason to complain if Arteta spearheads them to lifting either a Premier League or a Champions League at the end of the season.
However, the North Londoners have lost three out of their last four games in all competitions and the fact that Martin Zubimendi needed consoling after AFC Bournemouth triumphed at the Emirates Stadium suggests all is not well at the club behind closed doors.
Speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport, Chris Sutton tore into Arsenal’s methods and questioned why Mikel Arteta and Co allowed such practices to become public knowledge.
"They've just become a bit of a laughing stock." 🗣️
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) April 13, 2026
"If they'd won three titles in a row, every club in Britain would have a dog!" 🐶@chris_sutton73 says Arsenal have to stop the training ground gimmicks ❌#BBCFootball #AFC pic.twitter.com/PcBSx7a0qk
“I mean, they have some daft, gimmicky things, don’t they? At the training ground, they’ve just become a bit of a laughing stock, the thing with the [holding] pens [together as a group in training] and did you see the TikTok video? I mean, what are they doing?”
“Why bring that into the public domain? They just look foolish!”
“That is so cringey.”
Mikel Arteta hired a football freestyler to pose as a waiter
Another one of Mikel Arteta’s quirky decisions was to stun the Arsenal squad by hiring a professional football freestyler to pose as a waiter.
Oleksandr Zinchenko reflected on the incident while speaking to The Guardian, revealing: “We stayed at the same hotel before a match and we knew all the waiters. But there was a new guy that day.”
“So, before we go to the stadium, [Mikel Arteta] said, ‘Okay guys, let me wake you up because we need energy. Last time, Alex, we played staff against players and you beat Nicolas [Jover]. Let’s do the same but freestyling.’
“Everyone was like, ‘What? For sure, Alex will beat him, blah blah blah.’ Nico started to do something with the ball and then suddenly it looks like he got an injury. It was so obvious but weird. Then they called the new waiter. We didn’t know he was a professional freestyler.”
Zinchenko concluded: “He destroyed me with his tricks and all of us were in deep shock. But then, we were all laughing and we went to the game with good energy.”
