Football is a very competitive game and opponents usually do all that they can to get the edge over the other team.
Managers earn their money by getting their teams to play their way to victory, and it is safe to say that Mikel Arteta has really been earning his money.
The Spaniard is looking to help Arsenal end this season in a European place, and because of the competition for the European spots, he has been looking to make use of every advantage he can utilise.
Managers are always sending out information to their players from the touchline during matches, and these instructions can be picked up by opposing players.
Arteta has devised a means to help confuse opponents when he passes instructions to his players.
The Spaniard revealed that he passes information to his players in Spanish and French from the touchline.
When asked if he does that deliberately he said via Mail Sports:
‘A bit of both,’ he said. ‘To some of them in French because that is their language. Others in English.’
The Arsenal team is dominated by players who speak both languages and that seems to be working so far with the Gunners winning four of their last four games in all competitions.
That’s actually quite smart, but don’t the opponents also have players who speak as many languages?
Yes they do..
But because of the pace of the game in the moment, players who would understand those languages may not have the time to interprete to fellow players in game play.
Maybe.
An interesting idea, and whether or not some of the opposition understand the instructions, at least the relevant player who might still not have a great grasp of English can