Graeme Souness blasts Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta over ‘extremely strange’ dressing room antics

Graeme Souness did not hold back in his scathing assessment of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s dressing room ideas.

In what has been a brilliant season for the Gunners so far, Arteta’s men are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, five points clear of second-placed Manchester City.

However, some of his coaching techniques have caught the attention of many.

For example, the Spaniard decided to play Anfield crowd noise through speakers during a training session to prepare the Arsenal players ahead of their trip to Liverpool last season.

Just last week, Arsenal players were captured posing with a replica of the iconic clock from the Emirates Stadium’s Clock End after their win against Fulham.

In his latest column for The Mail, Souness has been left baffled by Arteta’s antics.

He said: “I read the story about Arsenal taking their home comforts into opposition dressing rooms and had to read it again to make sure it wasn't a joke.

“Really? Is this what the modern game has become? So Arsenal players arrive at Fulham to find their own clock is on the wall along with their own pictures and stickers?

“It's extremely strange and only a winning manager can get away with that.”

🗣️| Mikel Arteta on the Clock End image pointing at 11 and 2: “It was something I related to a few days before on where we were as a team and club and what we have to stand for.

“It was something private in the dressing room just before the game and something that's in the… https://t.co/yNDJCs4U4Q pic.twitter.com/Wv4lJOrCRw

— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) March 15, 2023

Souness continued: “The Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is doing a fine job but he has form for such nonsense.

“Last season he had You'll Never Walk Alone played over the loudspeakers at training to prepare his players for a game at Anfield. They lost 4-0, so that went well for them.

“When I walked into an opposing dressing room I didn't want to feel comfortable. I didn't want to feel like I was in my living room at home. I was at work. I was on enemy territory and I wanted to feel fired up.

“If I had arrived at an away ground to find a clock from Anfield waiting for me on the wall, I would have burst out laughing. And I would not have been alone.”

In truth, whatever Arteta has decided to do this season has proved to be correct as his side are basking in great form.

The Gunners are in pole position to clinch their first Premier League title since the 03/04 season.

Can Arsenal go all the way? Only time will tell.