Fans mock bizarre Arsenal training drill involving a pen after Southampton loss

Arsenal fans are at a loss for words after footage of the squad training for their Champions League clash with Sporting went viral.

Following on from a brutal loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, Arsenal suffered their second successive defeat last week as they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton.

Goals from Ross Stewart and Shea Charles saw the Saints progress to the FA Cup semi-finals, and left Arsenal fans frustrated as yet another trophy opportunity was wasted.

However, Arsenal don't have long to recover from the loss, as they travel to Portugal to face Sporting CP in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash on Tuesday night.

Ahead of the match, Arsenal's squad took part in a training session in London, with strange footage showing the players facing each other in groups of four while balancing a ball between their heads and pens between their fingers.

Reacting to the footage, one fan wrote on X: "Arsenal football club will ruin your entire weekend then they’ll be posted up at the next training sesh like this."

While a rival fan added: "Arsenal's season is falling apart around them and Arteta has got them playing kids party games to win Easter eggs, embarrassing."

With another joking: "Arsenal Players holding On to that pen rather than trophies."

It's not known exactly why Mikel Arteta decided to use the strange-looking training methods ahead of the must-win match, but it's far from the first time that the Arsenal boss has tried something different in training.

Perhaps most famously, the Spaniard was filmed playing Liverpool's iconic 'You'll Never Walk Alone' on loudspeakers during a training session to best prepare his players for the hostile reception they would receiver during their away trip to Anfield.

In the same season, Arteta also hired professional pickpockets to steal from his own players during a team dinner, with the hope that it would teach them to be more alert at all times.

Of course, there is also the beloved 'Win', a chocolate Labrador who lives at Arsenal's training ground after Arteta brought him to inspire his players in May 2023.

Even as recently as September, Arteta spoke at an event about brining in RAF fighter pilots to speak to his players about improving communication.

He explained: "So, the British fighter planes, for example. I will get in touch with those guys, how they communicate, because that is life or death.

"I'm sure they don't use 20 phrases or 20 words if there is one word. Don't say, 'Nah, the wind is coming this way, now you have to turn left', because boom, dead. So, it will be one word."

Whatever Arteta's reasoning for the new training methods may be, he will need them to pay off when they arrive at the Josa Alvalade Stadium, with anything other than a confident win likely to pile even further pressure on both him and his players ahead of the final games of the season.