Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed he deliberately disrupts his own team's pre-match routines, such as turning up dressing-room thermostats, delaying meal and transport times, or removing physio massage beds, as a psychological tactic to keep his players sharp and prepared for unexpected setbacks. The approach follows Arteta's earlier, much-mocked strategy of hiring pickpockets to steal players' valuables during a team dinner to teach vigilance, and fits a long tradition of managers using mind games and environmental tweaks to gain an edge.

Arteta explained he tries to recreate potential disruptions in pre-season, such as late arrivals or sudden schedule changes, so players and staff do not panic when real problems occur, citing missed flights, delayed trains or traffic as examples. Notably, Arsenal's flight to Naples was itself delayed by several hours this week amid a UK-wide air traffic control glitch that disrupted hundreds of flights, though the piece notes there is no suggestion Arteta was responsible for that particular chaos.