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Arteta takes on new Arsenal role in unique preparation for UCL clash

  /  autty

Mikel Arteta has turned DJ to get his Arsenal players back in tune.

Arteta set up giant speakers and pumped out music during training ahead of their Champions League showdown with Dinamo Zagreb. Gunners boss Arteta actually claimed that they have used music in the dressing room, on away trips and as part of their preparations throughout his reign.

But the music pumping was a first in an open training session as the players assembled to the baseball anthem Take Me Out To The Ball Game but then turned it up for the warm-up with a couple of Brazilian songs, including Mas Que Nada.

Arteta said: “Music is another element of our training sessions to be the energy to change some purposes that we want in the training session and I think players enjoyed it. Music is very much part of our culture.

“We have music in a lot of different places, and I think music has the capacity to change your mood, to change your energy to a certain place. And I think it happens in all of us. You play a song and immediately you feel different, and we have certain songs that trigger something in our team, because they have some history as well with us, and I will use it when we believe it's the right way to do it.

“I have a lot of favourite music, depending on the day, that's what I'm saying. It's not about my energy, and sometimes I play a song many, many times, and my kids say: ‘Dad, can we stop it, please!’”

Arteta was famously mocked after the Amazon All Or Nothing documentary for playing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to get Arsenal ready for a match at Liverpool - only for his players to get blown away at Anfield. But Arteta’s methods appear to be working better these days even if they were a bit flat after being held by Aston Villa on Saturday, having been 2-0 up.

They can take a huge step towards automatic qualification against Dinamo Zagreb and there was a surprise among the first team training group as highly-rated teenager Max Dowman, 15, took part. Arsenal say he is not eligible to play but his presence shows his progress while Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori were both there.

They are still in the market for a forward and Josh Kroenke - son of owner Stan - is expected in London this week as they are ready to make a move if they can bring forward one of their main summer targets to January.

Arsenal have looked at RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and he is in the frame for the summer with the German club unlikely to sell this month. But Arteta says that he has received great backing from the hierarchy but he also suggested that, while he wanted a striker last summer, he still felt other areas needed strengthening.

Arteta added: “First of all, it's backing the club and themselves, you know, because we all want the best. The decision that we make is not to back anybody. It's just something that makes sense. It's going to improve the squad, it's going to give us the ability to perform to a level and to win the things that we want to do. If that's the case and we have the resources to do it, we will try.

“The things that other teams have done with the front players, we put it in other areas that we believe were really necessary, and we have to develop players to a really high standard as well. Every case is different, and I'm very happy with what we have.”

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