Mikel Arteta: Arsenal manager says he deliberately sabotaged his team's travel plans to prepare for difficulties on the road

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he deliberately sabotaged the club's travel plans during pre-season - to get his players used to difficulties on the road.

Those sabotages include deliberately making his team late for matches by changing their route or meal times - as well as making the changing room hotter and reducing the number of massage beds.

The Premier League champions had travel concerns during their trip to face Napoli in the Champions League during midweek, caused by the Air Traffic Control crisis on Tuesday.

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Arsenal were due to fly out of Luton Airport at around 3pm UK time on Tuesday, but delays meant they arrived in the Italian city around three hours behind schedule.

When asked if his players were affected by that, Arteta revealed he prepared his players by creating difficult scenarios during pre-season games.

"I love those challenges. I tried to create them in pre-season!" said Arteta. "So when they happen, we know how to experience them and we already know.

"Get to the stadium very late, change the routine so the players have to do something else. When it happens, and it can: the flight can be cancelled, or the train is delayed, there is so much traffic, I don't want the players and staff panicking.

"When that happens, adapt to it. We have two or three hours on the plane - can we use it? Play together, spend some time together, sleep.

"But don't complain or use it as an excuse because it's not helpful at all."

Asked what he has done, Arteta replied: "Just delaying the meals, delaying the transport, taking a different route. We've done many things.

"Make the dressing room hotter, more difficult, more challenging, less [massage] beds. Those kinds of things because we're going to have to adapt to different contexts. And we will try to anticipate this and adapt to difficult conditions.

"When there's no element of surprise or stress on a matchday, I think it's important."

Pickpockets, lightbulbs - what else has Arteta done to Arsenal players?

Arteta gained similar headlines last year when it was revealed he tasked his former head of sports science and performance Tom Allen to hire a pickpocket to steal from his own players during an evening meal.

The pickpocket was disguised as a waiter during the meal - and after the dinner, Arteta held a pre-match team meeting where at the end, he presented his players' stolen items at the front of the room.

That ploy was in preparation for a match against a team who tried every possible tactic to gain an edge - and Arteta wanted to adopt a 'pickpocket mentality', to always be aware of people trying to steal advantages from them.

The Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing also unveiled some more quirky Arteta tactics. Arsenal were due to play Liverpool at Anfield for the first time with fans back in the ground, so Arteta blasted out 'You'll Never Walk Alone' on loudspeakers during training, so his players could get used to the surroundings.

For another game, this time at home, Arteta also did a pre-match team talk involving a lightbulb - as he wanted his players to shine and emit energy and light to one another.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Mikel Arteta: Arsenal manager says he deliberately sabotaged his team's travel plans to prepare for difficulties on the road