Oleksandr Zinchenko recalls crazy story of Mikel Arteta hiring undercover waiter to embarrass Arsenal man
Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed another peculiar tactic launched by Mikel Arteta to help prepare his Arsenal team.
The gunners The boss attracted attention over the summer when it was revealed that he secretly hired pickpockets for a team dinner.
Phones and wallets were cleverly stolen from Arsenal players to teach them the importance of being ready, alert and prepared at all times.
Zinchenko now you have remembered a different strategy that arteta He has used the pre-match in hopes of inspiring his team to victory.
Although nothing was stolen on this occasion, the Gunners left-back received an inside joke from his boss.
“We stayed at the same hotel before a game and knew all the waiters,” he said. the guardian. “But there was a new guy that day.
“So before going to the stadium (Arteta) said: 'Okay guys, let me wake you up, because we need energy. Last time, Alex, we played personal against players and you beat (set-piece coach) Nicolás ( Jover). Let's do it the same, but with free style.'
“Everyone was saying, 'What? I'm sure Alex will beat him, blah, blah, blah.' Nico started doing something with the ball and suddenly it looks like he got injured.
“It was so obvious but strange. Then they called the new waiter. We didn't know he was a professional freestyler.
“He destroyed me with his tricks and we were all in shock. But then we all laughed and went to the game with good energy.”
Unique approaches, including the secret freestyler and pickpockets, have not been a rarity during Arteta's tenure as coach.
Ahead of a Premier League clash at Liverpool in November 2021, the Spaniard brought the atmosphere of Anfield to Arsenal's training ground.
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He did this by blasting the Reds' iconic pre-match anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', even though they lost the game 4-0.
Later in the 2021/22 campaign, Arteta reminded Arsenal of Ivan Toney's seemingly mocking tweet after Brentford won in the opening match of the season.
This seemed to help when the Gunners won at home 2-1, with Arteta crying beforehand: “So you're playing at our house today, lads, there's only one team on that bloody ground, and it's us!”
The Arsenal manager may have another inspirational speech prepared for their upcoming Champions League match on Tuesday night.
Shakhtar Donetsk will visit the Emirates Stadium on matchday three and will give Zinchenko the opportunity to play against his former youth team.
The defender has only played twice for the Gunners this season due to a calf injury that saw him miss seven games.
Arsenal are undefeated in the Champions League after two games in which they drew against Atalanta and beat Paris Saint-Germain.
