Mikel Arteta has internally made it clear that he does not believe in the concept of friendlies and has used a different word with his Arsenal players during pre-season
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been ridiculed after it emerged that he doesn’t buy into the concept of a ‘friendly’ and instead told his players that their pre-season outings were ‘tests’.
The Spaniard doesn’t like the term attached to non-competitive matches as he looks to finally end the Gunners’ wait for a Premier League title. Arsenal have been over in Asia playing several of their domestic rivals as they look to get match ready.
In recent days they were beaten by AC Milan on penalties, saw off Newcastle 3-2, before later losing to rivals Tottenham on Thursday. Arteta has internally made it clear that he doesn’t believe in the friendly concept, as per the Athletic, but that has seen him mocked by fans.
One fan said on social media: “Then Arsenal failed their first and last tests.” Another claimed: “Does this mean arsenal failed their test against Tottenham??” Along the same theme was: “Well they lost a test against Spurs”.
Arsenal will begin their season with a stern test away at Manchester United. The Red Devils have impressed in pre-season and the Gunners will be under pressure to showcase their title credentials when they head to Old Trafford in a fortnight.
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Arteta has presided over three successive seasons where Arsenal have finished second, but he’s confident that his side have benefited from their three matches in Asia. He said: “Yes, for the three of them and today in particular it showed different demands, different understanding of things that we have to do.
“I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen in most of the things that we’ve done but we missed something you know in certain moments, that preciseness, that moment that unlocks the result and the moment to turn the result away and win the match but in terms of attitude, the desire, level of organisation in the team, it was great and we have to continue to elevate a little bit all the individual aspects.”
Arteta has continued to employ unorthodox methods. Last pre-season, during a team dinner, the Spaniard hired professional pickpockets to go around the tables taking things from the players. After dinner was finished, Arteta asked the team to empty their pockets, when several individuals clocked they were missing their valuables. It was then that the Arsenal boss underlined the need to be alert at all times.
The 43-year-old has, again, invested heavily in his squad as he looks to end a trophy drought that dates back to his FA Cup triumph in 2020. The former Manchester City assistant claimed his squad lacked depth recently, but he’s since seen Viktor Gyokeres arrive from Sporting Lisbon.
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