Think back to four years ago when a story emerged detailing an altercation between David Luiz and Dani Ceballos. Mikel Arteta was adamant that he would seek where the club’s leaks were and deal with it.
“I don’t like the fact that that incident comes out at all,” he said. “And I will find out where it is coming from and if that is the case, that goes completely against what I expect from each other, the privacy and the confidentiality that we need, and there will be consequences.”
In the years since, there has been a different emphasis on leaks at the club, specifically to do with injury news. The club are always tight-lipped on the latest regarding player status as to not give their opponents inside knowledge on players.
Press conferences typically come with an expectation of an update on the team but Arteta has equally been anticipated to deflect these questions. Two typical responses have been that there is a training session still to come which will be used to decide whether a player is ready or that the journalists should direct their questions toward the club doctors – if that was even possible of course.
However, it is a new leak which has emerged revealing some of Arteta’s secret tactics to try and confuse his opponents and their head coaches before games. Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed in his new book Believe that the Spaniard has asked some interesting things of his players to help to deal with the speculation surrounding their injury status.
“[Arteta] likes to play games with the opposition,” Zinchenko wrote. “I’ve seen him tell injured players to come on the team bus and walk into the dressing room with their wash bag, to put the other manager off the scent.”
Arteta was asked directly in a recent press conference about the importance of keeping certain information secret. He said: “I don’t want to make it easy for anyone.
“The opponent has to make sure they do their homework – like I have to. When I know, I am not going to lie to you, I am not going to say, ‘he’s not fit’ and then I play him – I would never do that. But, if I am certain or I don’t want to tell you, I will keep you guessing.”
So how happy with Arteta be about one of his squad members revealing one of the tactics he uses to help his side keep the opposition questioning who is and is not fit? With Ben White out injured, there is an emphasis on the depth in the full-back positions.
When will Zinchenko play next? Could it be impacted by this leaking of Arteta’s tactics? We will have to see.
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