Arsenal's playstyle under Arteta contains a lot of freedom for players, especially the front four it often comes off as chaotic. However, that's only the pitch. Dribbling is a big trait Arsenal gained under Arteta, and it might be the most important one, but, there's another trait that is important when transforming a team. Without this trait, Arsenal's transformation is less possible.

Arsenal's Hostile Family

The current Arsenal team is the second youngest team in Arsenal's history. Second only to the Arsenal squad during 2008-2009 when it comes to the age average. This is a point that not enough people talk about. However, such a young age in specific is the reason why Arteta's methodology of dealing with this squad was perfect.

In Amazon's All or Nothing: Arsenal, we saw Arteta deal with everyone in the club from players to staff like a family, but a family that is very, for the lack of better terms, bigoted toward itself. This family treats everyone who is different from it like a traitor. By different, I mean someone who doesn't commit to the rules, traditions, guidelines, training intensity, spirit etc...

In article for The Evening Standard, Simon Collings talks about how Arteta would often instruct the club's chefs to make special food. What does special food mean? Well, it means that last October, Arsenal's food court had Brazilian flags all over it with janitors and chefs wearing yellow as they were handing out Brazilian food. Arsenal's three Gabriels were very happy with that gesture.

During birthdays, celebrations, and special occasions there would be different instructions than on other days so everyone could celebrate together. Every now and then, Arteta would instruct everyone to stick around long after training to have lunch or dinner together.

When Arsenal travelled to Dubai during the winter break, Arteta allowed the players to bring their families with them so the families could also know each other. Arteta himself moved from his big office near the reception area to an office closer to his technical. This comes along with motivational phrases all over the club's walls after most of these walls were completely white.

To be clear, this is not something that is exclusive to Arteta as even Inter's legendary coach, Helenio Herrera, who coached the team for 8 years during the 1960s, had done the same thing during his stay there. Klopp has also done something similar upon joining Liverpool. The point of doing these things isn't to instantly inspire the team, but rather slowly, subconsciously, become part of the team's character.

Although some of Arteta's actions to motivate his players were odd at times and maybe even backfired at times, like Arteta pumping Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone" anthem loudly in the stadium ahead of a game against the Merseyside club, Arteta aims to create motivation for his players without messing with team's harmony within itself.

A contrast to that would be how coaches like Conte and Mourinho would often resort to harshly criticising their players to get the best out of them. The issue with the latter's type of motivation is that it has an expiration date, and an ugly one at that as players could only go so far hearing their coach openly criticise them and it may even lead to a divided locker room as was the case at Real Madrid and Chelsea, although the latter is famous for players' disobedience.

Arsenal became a family very hostile toward things outside of it, it's why many Arsenal players tweeted "Nice kickabout with the boys" after beating Brentford to respond to Ivan Toney's tweet of the same words after Brentford beat Arsenal, although it did reach a cringy level when it was tweeted after the second win as well.

The point is motivating your players the wrong way backfires in the long run despite how effective it might be instantly while motivating them the right way will be fruitful in the long run, even if it backfires instantly. Arteta's motivation method is simple, being hostile to everything outside the club.

All of this family atmosphere is fine and dandy, but it would have meant so little if it happened in contradiction to extreme commitment.

The Three Rebels

Arteta arrives at the club at 8 o'clock every day, a whole hour before the start of training. As days went by, players started copying him. Instead of having breakfast at home, many players would arrive early and have breakfast together at the club. Martin Ødegaard was the main pillar upon which the family atmosphere was built.

Martin Ødegaard was a player coming from a top club, Real Madrid, isolated due to the fact that he's from Norway, young, and frankly looks like a softy. However, Martin Ødegaard is the most committed among all the players and puts a lot of effort into what he does, Martin Ødegaard became an example for all players to follow.

What's mentioned above is the reason why getting rid of Mattéo Guendouzi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Mesut Özil was necessary.

Many things were said about the departure of all three, specifically Mesut Özil. However, as time went by, we learned that many of those things were wrong or at least hugely exaggerated. What's certain is that no matter what the other cases and theories attributed with each player's departure, and whether those things were true or not, is the fact that those players had to leave.

The aforementioned three simply didn't have the same attitude toward the team as the other Arsenal players. Özil for example was used to exceptions from training and weight lifting, along with extra holidays that were inherited from the Wenger era. Such exceptions threaten Arteta's entire experiment and could have ended before it even began.

However, the departure of these players gave the team a new beginning. A chance to destroy the old and start with a clean slate. When starting with a clean slate, you get an opportunity to change everything that needs changing, including the club's mental strength, but more on that in the final part of this series.

Previous Parts Of The Series

Operation Arteta: Arteta, The Leader
Operation Arteta: Arteta, The Fireman
Operation Arteta: Pressure
Operation Arteta: Absorbing The Style
Operation Arteta: 300,000 Passes
Operation Arteta: Control
Operation Arteta: Dynamic
Operation Arteta: The Four Dribblers