Arsenal\u2019s latest training session supplied one of the season\u2019s more unusual images. Players were split into groups of four, bent forward and asked to steady a soccer ball between their bowed foreheads. Once the ball was secure, the foursomes sprinted together down the field.<\/p>\n
That exercise was followed by a second test of coordination. Still in their huddled groups, each player used an index finger to balance one side of a pen in the air while a ball lay at their feet. They passed the ball between them as they ran toward a trash can and, at the end of the run, attempted to flick the ball into the bin.<\/p>\n
Although likely implemented to encourage camaraderie, focus and multi-tasking, Mikel Arteta was guarded when reporters asked about the rationale after training. \u201cI think the training session has to have different elements,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it has to be related to the messages that we send, the compromises and commitments that we\u2019ve done between us. I try to have all those messages and commitments as much as possible in as many situations as possible, and training was one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
When pressed specifically about the use of pens, Arteta smiled and declined to elaborate. \u201cThat stays in the dressing room,\u201d Arteta added with a smirk, when pressed about the use of pens specifically.<\/p>\n
The session comes as Arsenal try to regroup following their FA Cup exit on Saturday, a 2\u20131 defeat to Southampton. The team will travel to Sporting CP on Tuesday for the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal and will host Sporting CP at Emirates Stadium for the second leg on April 15.<\/p>\n
Striker Viktor Gy\u00f6keres, who joined the club last summer for $74 million after scoring 97 times across 102 appearances for Sporting CP, will face his former side. \u201cHe\u2019s very excited,\u201d Arteta said Monday. \u201cHe\u2019s full of gratitude for his time here, the way he talks about the club, the players, the staff and everybody around the club. The experience that he had and how important that part of his journey [was]. ]\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arteta had players balance a ball between foreheads and balance pens while passing later before tie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,969],"tags":[1505,1081,1047],"class_list":["post-10984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","tag-accountability","tag-adaptation","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}