Mikel Arteta has shared that Arsenal incorporates music into their training sessions to “build the energy” and uplift the players’ spirits. During an open training session on Tuesday afternoon, the team practiced to a lively Samba playlist, which featured tracks like Sergio Mendes’ iconic song ‘Mas Que Nada’.
The north London outfit will host Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, aiming to secure a spot in the Champions League Round of 16. Since their only defeat in the competition – a 1-0 loss away to Inter Milan on matchday four – Arteta’s side has been in imperious form, securing emphatic victories over Sporting Lisbon and Monaco with goal margins of four and three, respectively.
Previously, it was revealed that Arsenal had trained to the backdrop of Liverpool’s iconic anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ in a bid to simulate the intensity of authentic matchday atmospheres. At the time, this approach reflected Arteta’s philosophy of exploring every avenue for marginal gains. However, the playlist for Tuesday’s session took a different tone, moving away from the traditional in favour of something a little bit more adventurous.
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Mikel Arteta Explains Music Choice For Training Session
One of the songs being played is from an iconic Nike advert
The aforementioned song was famously used during the iconic Nike advert in 1998, which saw Brazil legends playing football in an airport. Asked about having music playing during training sessions, Arteta said, as per the Standard:
“That is something that we’ve done for many years now and it is part of training. We use music as another element of our training sessions to build the energy and change certain purposes that we want in the training session, and I think the players enjoy it. “Depending on the day, sometimes certain players pick certain songs – the first song, the first two songs, the last song – it’s the same as in the dressing room really.”
The Spaniard will be hoping to get a similar samba-like tune out of his players on Wednesday night to deflect growing pressure in the Premier League.
At the weekend, the Gunners fell to a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa, gifting Liverpool a six-point lead at the top, still with a game in hand. But a midweek game under the lights against Dinamo Zagreb – who currently sit 20 points below Arsenal in 25th – should briefly provide a tonic.