The Arsenal squad were left in “deep shock” after Gunners boss Mikel Arteta pulled a strange prank on Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arsenal have made a good start to the Premier League season with the Gunners unbeaten until their 2-0 loss to Bournemouth over the weekend.
Arteta has been known to think of unconventional methods to motivate his players ahead of matches, including his decision to play ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ over the speakers in a training session ahead of a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.
The Arsenal boss also once hired a team of professional pickpockets and now Ukraine international Zinchenko has revealed that Gunners players were left stunned when Arteta set him up during a pre-match meal.
Zinchenko said in an interview with The Guardian: “We stayed at the same hotel before a match and we knew all the waiters. But there was a new guy that day. So before we go to the stadium [Arteta] said: ‘OK guys, let me wake you up, because we need energy. Last time, Alex, we played staff against players and you beat [the set-piece coach] Nicolas [Jover]. Let’s do it the same, but freestyling.’ Everyone was like: ‘What? For sure, Alex will beat him, blah blah blah’.
“Nico started to do something with the ball and then suddenly it looks like he got an injury. It was so obvious but weird. Then they called the new waiter. We didn’t know he was a professional freestyler. He destroyed me with his tricks and all of us were in deep shock. But then we were all laughing and we went to the game with good energy.”
Summer signing Mikel Merino has compared Arsenal’s giants to a basketball team but insists they have the determination to match their height.
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Nine of the starting line-up for Saturday’s defeat at Bournemouth stood over 6ft tall, a result of Arteta assembling a physically imposing squad in the hope of improving the Gunners’ chances of winning the Premier League.
Merino is 6ft 2in and even Spain’s Euro 2024 winner, a summer signing from Real Sociedad, is looking up at many of his team-mates.
“Sometimes it’s crazy when I’m walking in the corridors or in the training ground,” Merino said.
“Back in my old club I used to be one of the tallest, so everybody else was smaller than me. Now I look around and everyone is taller than me! We look like a basketball team now!
“Football now has changed and you need a strong team. Physicality is key. We need to be the most complete team possible. You need the physical aspect, the technical aspect, the tactical one.
“You need to be a total team if you want to achieve big things, as we do. It’s not only about being tall and big, it’s also about the mentality.
“If you’re big but you don’t go with 100 per cent intention to win the ball, it’s nothing. The main thing is the mentality and we have that.”
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