Over the past two seasons, Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has been struggling to break into Arsenal’s starting 11. This season was made worse with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori, who took the left-back role. Despite the Italian’s struggles with injuries this season, Zinchenko was still unable to up his playing time as Jurrien Timber was Calafiori’s natural replacement. So far, the future of the Ukrainian seems uncertain. He has said little. However, he has had time to speak about other things, including some of arsenal coach Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach to games.
Zinchenko on Arteta
Zinchenko expressed how their coach, Arteta, usually plays mind games with the opposition. This is especially true when it comes to fit and unfit players. In most cases, when Arteta speaks in a pre-match conference concerning his injured players, he usually gives a high level of uncertainty over those players’ fitness. Zinchenko further said that in some cases, players deemed unfit are usually called to join them ahead of Matchday to unease their opponent’s manager.
Zinchenko said: “[He] likes to play games with the opposition. 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.”
Arteta’s View
An example of Zinchenko’s point was Gunner’s clash against Liverpool at the Emirates in October. Prior to the game, Arteta spoke about Bukayo Saka’s fitness. The Spaniard gave strong uncertainty about the Englishman’s fitness. It almost sounded like Saka may miss the game. However, the 23-year-old started and gave them the lead with his brilliant play. This is one example of Arteta’s strategy against opponents. He explained the reasons behind his move; he expressed that it is often impossible to read their opponent’s plans and tactics before a game. So he believes it’s his choice to make it harder for their opponents to read Ardenal’s possible player moves.
Arteta said: “The opponent has to work and think and prepare and make sure they do their homework like I have to. I wish I knew their starting XI, who is on the bench, but I don’t. It is our job to guess and do the work we have to do. I will tell you everything but that has consequences. I need to be very careful because sometimes I can tell you a player is going to be a few weeks but is a few months. Sometimes I don’t know if a player is going to be fit in two days’ time or when the press conference is.”
Arteta continued: “When I know, I am not going to lie to you, I am not going to say ‘he’s not fit’ and then I play him, I would never do that but if I am certain or I don’t want to tell you, I will keep you guessing. This is my job. But as well to keep all my guys, everyone alert as well, that is important.”
Conclusion
In light of Zinchenko’s revelation, it’s clear that Arteta’s words on the fitness of his players can’t be trusted by opponents ahead of Matchday. However, other Arsenal players may resent the Ukrainian star for telling such secrets about the team. Nevertheless, it’s something Mikel Arteta didn’t deny. The Spaniard also claimed his duty was to make things uneasy for his opponents ahead of the game. Even though he claimed he wouldn’t lie, he will not give the full details of his team’s fitness.
This strategy from Arteta is very normal as it’s expected that teams and their coaches should maintain privacy on tactics and information concerning the team.
