Mikel Arteta has blamed injuries for Arsenal falling away from Liverpool and Man City this season, but he also attempts to use them to his fool rival managers.
Liverpool currently sit top of the Premier League, five points clear of Man City and nine points above Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Brighton.
While Arsenal were tipped among the favourites for the title they are now among the chasing pack, with Arteta repeatedly blaming their so-called injury crisis.
After a 1-1 draw with Chelsea ushered in the November international break, the Spaniard described his situation as an “absolute nightmare,” despite going into that game with only three players missing.
It appears as though it is all an attempt at mind games, with Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko suggesting as such in his book Believe.
“[Arteta] likes to play games with the opposition,” Zinchenko wrote, as quoted by The Athletic.
“I’ve seen him tell injured players to come on the team bus and walk into the dressing room with their wash bag, to put the other manager off the scent.”
Before Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at the Emirates last month, Arteta had claimed that there were doubts over both Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, only for both to start.
While it may be painted as clever mind games, the paranoia setting in around the Emirates makes it seem more desperate than anything.
Arteta has been lauded as a pioneering, elite-level coach but, in reality, his methods are simply poached from various influences including Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone.
Under his management Arsenal have become one of the least-liked teams in the league, with their negative tactics and lack of sportsmanship seeing their popularity fade.
And while that may be considered a job well done when things are working out on the pitch, when they continually fail to hold onto leads or drop points in crucial games, Arteta seems more and more out of touch.
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