MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 19: Mikel Arteta manager / head coach of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at Etihad Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta employs unconventional methods on the training ground(Image: Getty Images)
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Former England striker Michael Owen has defended Mikel Arteta's unconventional training ground methods. Arsenal slipped to second in the Premier League on Wednesday night after Manchester City beat Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor and took top spot.
Despite leading the way for 200 days this season, Arteta's team could now face the reality of coming second for the fourth campaign in a row. Of course, Arsenal are still level on points with City, 70, and share an identical goal difference of 37.
There's still all to play for. Yet the psychological impact of City's win could be unforetold, an area of his player's development that Arteta takes specialist care in.
While he has faced criticism for his unorthodox training techniques, branded by some as gimmicks, ex-Liverpool striker Owen has paralleled Arteta's innovative methods with those of ex-England boss Glenn Hoddle.
Hoddle famously introduced spiritualist and faith healer, Eileen Drewery, to his squad during his reign as Three Lions boss from 1996-99. The then-England manager claimed Drewery was "an extension of the new medical staff.”
Owen has claimed the ex-Three Lions boss was ahead of the curve when it came to considering players' mental conditioning, refusing to condemn Arteta for thinking along similar lines.
"I mean, going back through my career, we had all kinds that nobody either would know about or they would know about. I remember when I first got into the England team and Glenn Hoddle used a lady called Eileen Drewery.
"Everybody was laughing, and then everybody was like, 'Oh, my word, psychologists, how weak mentally must you have been?' Everybody was a laughing stock, and then all of a sudden, nowadays, if you mention psychologists, then it's just, every job and, 'I've got plenty of them'.
Glen Hoddle and Michael Owen during England v Tunisia at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille during the FIFA World Cup in France 15th June 1998. (Photo by David Ashdown/Getty Images)
Glen Hoddle introduced new training and conditioning methods to Michael Owen and the England team(Image: David Ashdown/Getty Images)
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"Certainly, the press all laughed at it. Mikel Arteta's an exceptionally talented manager. He's obviously done a great job. Arsenal weren't doing so well when he took over. He's grabbed them by the collar, he came second in the league before and he's top of the league at the moment and in another semi-final of the Champions League.
"I'd be very hesitant to laugh at what he's doing. This is not an easy job to be a top Premier League manager, not an easy job and he's doing a serious, serious job.
"If they don't win it, they don't win it. He's probably going up against one of the greatest managers of all time. So I, for one, would not pass comment on anything on the training ground."
Arteta's antics are the stuff of Premier League folklore. He once brought a lightbulb into the dressing room, demanding that his players be energetic and shine on the pitch.
Mikel Arteta next to a speaker in Arsenal training, as seen in the All or Nothing: Arsenal documentary
Arteta once used speakers to play Liverpool's anthem to his payers (Image: Prime Video)
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The ex-Everton midfielder also hired professional pickpockets to attend a team dinner and snatch phones and wallets from players to keep them alert. In 2023, he brought a dog named Win into the training ground to boost morale.
Arteta also played 'You'll Never Walk Alone' over loudspeakers during training to steel his players against the atmosphere at Anfield ahead of a game against Liverpool - a clash they ultimately lost 4-0.
"Every game we use different themes to try to prepare the game in the best possible way and that depends on what we do," said Arteta of his methods. "The best ones are the players' initiatives. That's the ones I love the most."
He'll now be hoping his methods can help Arsenal embattle themselves for the remaining five games of the season, where the line between bringing Arsenal their first title since 2004, or coming runner-up once again, is perhaps all in the mind.
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