How Arteta convinced Arsenal players he could read their minds
Mikel Arteta once had his Arsenal squad convinced he possessed genuine mind reading powers, and the trick played a part in a 3-1 win over Tottenham four years ago.
The story is detailed in Daily Telegraph reporter Sam Dean's book Arsenal: The Inside Story of Arsenal's Rebirth Under Mikel Arteta, which reveals the lengths Arteta went to ahead of the north London derby at the Emirates on October 1, 2022. The head coach asked his players to hide an object in one of their shoes and told them he would be able to identify whose it was just by studying their eyes and body language.
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Arteta raised the stakes by promising that if he got it wrong, he would take the squad and their families out for dinner. If he got it right, they would be the ones picking up the bill. He and his coaching staff left the room while the players hid the object, then returned to study each one individually, reportedly even checking their pulses to work out who was most nervous.
When Arteta correctly identified that the object belonged to Gabriel, the reaction in the room was immediate. According to a source in Dean's book, the team 'went mental'. Later that day, goals from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka secured the derby win. It was only afterward that Arteta and his staff admitted the truth, revealing they had watched the players hide the object via CCTV cameras installed in the hotel room all along.
A pattern of unconventional methods
The mind reading stunt is far from an isolated case. Ahead of a trip to Anfield in the 2021-22 season, Arteta blasted 'You'll Never Walk Alone' over the speakers during training to prepare his players for the hostile atmosphere they would face.
In the summer of 2024, he hired a pickpocket disguised as a waiter to steal from his players during a team dinner, before presenting the stolen items back to the squad as part of a message about staying alert to opponents trying to gain an edge. For another fixture, he built a team talk entirely around a lightbulb, encouraging his players to 'shine and emit energy and light to one another'.
During pre season, Arteta also revealed he had deliberately made the squad late for matches by altering travel routes and meal times, while making changing rooms hotter and reducing the number of massage beds available, all in an effort to prepare the group for discomfort on the road.
Speaking to The Athletic after signing new terms last month, Arteta also reflected on how this approach began on his very first day in charge back in December 2019, when he reportedly threw laptops and cables onto the floor of an education centre at the training ground to make a point about standards and togetherness.
Since taking over in 2019, Arteta has transformed Arsenal from a mid-table side into Premier League champions, while also leading the club to its first Champions League final in two decades in May. The psychological methods, however unconventional, appear to form part of a broader coaching philosophy that has accompanied that rise.
