To say that ‘All or Nothing – Arsenal‘ has been enlightening, would actually be an understatement. The latest season of Amazon Prime’s sports doc directed the lens towards the Gunners, offering fans an extensive look at the Premier League heavyweights.
The episodes released so far have shined a light on Arsenal’s resurgence following their horror start to the campaign, the camaraderie between the team, and even Rob Holding being an extremely cheerful fella, among other things.
Nevertheless, the most intriguing takeaway from the series has to do with Mikel Arteta‘s unorthodox methods to motivate his side.
Fans online have been genuinely puzzled as to how the players were able to hold in their laughter while Arteta scribbled away on a whiteboard.
But none of that compares to the latest Arteta Original that surfaced online after the final few episodes of the show came out.
As seen in the footage captured before the Gunners took to the pitch against Brighton, the Spaniard somehow snuck in Thomas Edison as part of his team talk.
He begins his monologue by saying, ‘Thomas Edison invented the light bulb’, before whipping out a live one to really sell the message.
He then goes on to say, ‘today I want to see a team that is connected because a bulb by itself is nothing. I want to see a team that is connected with each other and that shines. And you want to transmit to him (your team-mate) light and energy and passion and how you play football, and you two the same. And each of us plays the game connected.’
The ex-player jabbers on for a bit more before eventually drawing the tale of ‘connection’ to a close by linking it all back to electricity.
‘Go out there, f*****g turn the light on, and play football. Let’s go!’, are the final words, and by far the most comprehensible of the lot.
In fact, we’re willing to wager that the entire speech would have flown past many, had Arteta not provided clarity at the end.
Even by his recently established standards, this was very strange, and the fact that not a single individual broke into a chuckle, really says a lot about the faith the players have in their gaffer.
While this particular technique fell short on the day as Arsenal ended up losing to Brighton, whatever Arteta’s got going for this season seems to be working like a charm.
Three wins in three, top of the league, fluid football at the forefront, Arsenal are living the dream. And despite being a rather awkward motivator, the Spaniard is certainly proving his credentials as a coach.
