HAD FAMOUS ATMOSPHERE PIPED IN AHEAD OF KOP TRIP
C PALACE v ARSENAL New doc lifts the lid on Arsenal’s Anfield prep
MIKEL ARTETA turned Arsenal’s training ground into speakers’ corner before an away game at Liverpool by piping the Kop’s noise through a portable sound system.
The Gunners manager wanted to replicate Anfield’s famous atmosphere so his players would not be intimidated by the racket.
Arsenal lost 4-0.
But Arteta’s innovative attempt to prepare his squad for an acid test of nerve was a snapshot of his determination to restore the Gunners among the Premier League’s big noises in a rollercoaster season.
“I’ve never experienced the speakers before,” said goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. “I don’t think they will be coming back!
“But we could all see what the method was — it’s one of those stadiums where, if it gets on top of you, it can be too much.”
Arteta’s left-field methods also include unorthodox drawings with a marker pen on a whiteboard, including one pep-talk featuring his sketch of a heart and a brain as the catalysts for energy.
Ramsdale said: “His team talks are definitely different. He keeps it fresh because sometimes he is writing, sometimes he talks, sometimes he lets some of the lads talk. It keeps you engaged and lets you into his life as well.
Year
“There are new things we have found out about him over the past year that you would never find out unless he wrote a book or something.”
Arsenal’s return to European football this season is a step forward for Arteta, but after blowing the shoot-out with
Tottenham for a Champions League spot, Thursday night excursions in the Europa League will feel like a petty cash tin instead of the treasure chest.
A season of more undulations than a links fairway is laid bare in a fascinating eight-part documentary released tomorrow.
Spoiler alert: Arsenal finish fifth, just behind fierce rivals Tottenham.
But Ramsdale’s emergence as the Gunners’ No.1 keeper was a key element of their revival after a worrying start 12 months ago, when three consecutive defeats without a goal prompted Arteta to make a big call by dropping longtime first choice Bernd Leno.
It is not often that a 1-0 win against a Norwich side heading for relegation is regarded as a turning point, but Ramsdale’s installation coincided with Arsenal embarking on a 10-match unbeaten run.
It was also one in the eye for social media trolls who had warned Ramsdale his €28.7m addition was unwelcome as he’d been relegated with Bournemouth and Sheffield United in the previous two seasons.
He said: “At the very start it was difficult. I had a lot of negativity around the signing, with idiots online saying don’t sign — not necessarily death threats but threats saying, ‘We know where you live’ and things like that. Trying to scare me.
“Quite quickly I turned all that stuff off. It definitely felt safer for me, but also my family as well.”
Goal
In one scene from the Amazon Prime UK documentary Arsenal: All Or Nothing, Ramsdale returns to the dressing room in a strop, flinging his gloves down in disgust.
The Gunners had just beaten Aston Villa 3-1, but Ramsdale was devastated by Jacob Ramsey’s late goal which denied him a clean sheet.
It makes him look a sore loser, but he explained: “It was early stages in my career being here and, in the previous two years, those goals would have resulted in either a draw or a defeat.
“My standards are high and I personally believe that goal difference can be a huge factor. Just because we are winning 2-0 or 3-0… the best teams punish and keep their foot on the throttle for 96 minutes.”