Revealed: What was written on Mikel Arteta’s ‘dark arts’ notepad after Arsenal boss was spotted checking over tactics during Southampton win
Three principles to Arsenal’s ‘darks arts’ tactics have seemingly been revealed after Mikel Arteta was spotted checking over his notepad on Saturday afternoon.
Throughout the season, the Gunners have been accused of extensive time-wasting from dead ball situations and many have suggested that Arteta’s side make use of football’s ‘dark arts’.
It has drawn a range of opinions from pundits – such as Ian Wright who approved of the approach, while Roy Keane slammed Arsenal after their draw with Man City last month.
Now, after Arsenal’s recent 3-1 win over Southampton, it’s been revealed what some of the principles in Arteta’s tactics are after his notes were caught on camera.
One piece of paper, which had a red header and footer, appeared to show positions on the field with various instructions.
The principles to Arsenal’s ‘darks arts’ tactics have been revealed after Mikel Arteta was spotted checking over his notepad
The Spaniard had three principles written on his notepad during the Southampton win
However, the exact notes on that piece of paper were hard to decipher.
On the other sheet, one of the three principles read: ‘Force AR 6 yard’.
This likely makes reference to former Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and a plan to make him play out from his six-yard box.
Below that, it read: ‘Force our…’ with the rest of the message hidden by Arteta’s hand.
A third and final bullet point noted: ‘Avoid switch…’
Evidently Arteta’s tactical approach paid off as the Gunners walked away with all three points thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal’s tactics during the second half of last month’s 2-2 draw at Manchester City has continued to divide opinion.
After having Leandro Trossard sent off just before the interval when the Gunners were leading 2-1, Arteta’s side were widely praised for frustrating City – who only managed to score an equaliser in the 98th minute.
However, others were less impressed with what they described as time-wasting and even ‘dark arts’.
Former England manager Sam Allardyce was asked for his take on Arsenal’s tactics during an appearance on talkSPORT.
Allardyce clearly approved of how Arteta’s men stifled City’s flow, having deployed similar tactics against some of the Premier League’s biggest teams while in charge of Bolton Wanderers in the 2000s.
During their clash with City, Arsenal were accused of using the ‘dark arts’ and timewasting
Gabriel Martinelli was one of the players who went down for treatment as Arsenal tried to hang on for a famous win
When asked if he was a ‘master of dark arts’ during his managerial career, Allardyce replied: ‘Aren’t we all when we need to be?
‘Depending on what the situation is, I think when you’re playing with 10 men you’re entitled to do what you feel is necessary to get a result against the best team in Europe, if not the world.
‘What a sterling job they [Arsenal] did of it. There’s always going to be time wasting.’
After the Gunners were accused of using the ‘dark arts’ in their draw with City, footage re-emerged of Arsenal appearing to deliberately waste time during a crucial match with Liverpool at Anfield last year.
