GARY LINEKER slammed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s “cringeworthy” training tactics after another poor result, which added immense pressure on the Premier League leaders.
The Gunners on Saturday at the Emirates which led to a major blow to their hopes of a first Prem trophy since 2004.
Gary Lineker criticised Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s ‘cringeworthy’ training tactics
Arsenal players balanced pens while moving the ball in their latest unique training drill
Arsenal players also trained while listening to AI TikTok edits on the big screens
, who have a game in hand, are now only six points behind Arsenal, whom they host at the Etihad on Sunday and a victory could see Arteta, 44, missing out on the title for the fourth year in a row.
, 65, believes part of the North Londoners’ slump goes down to the Spanish tactician’s unique training philosophy.
The England legend is adamant Premier League title contenders should always find ways to remain calm before a big match and stick to the basics.
Instead, the former Match of the Day host claims are drawing unwanted attention on themselves.
Lineker said on his Rest is Football podcast: “Arsenal are fighting themselves.
“‘s slight verge towards cringeworthy – dare I say – [training methods].
“Obviously with the pens and they’re all carrying the biros around and then they’re playing TikTok films in big screens at training.
“And I’m just thinking, ‘You’re doing things differently. Don’t do things differently’. if you’re in contention you just got to be calm.
“This is what we always do, the training’s a normal thing. This is what we do and all of a sudden you’re doing things a little differently.
“You are drawing attention to yourselves and everybody is going, ‘Well, surely they don’t do that normally.’
“So you are showing the world that the pressure is getting to you. If you do something differently, do it in house. Keep it quiet. Make sure nobody’s videoing it.
“That would be my warm bit of advice. And it must be difficult because I suppose with all those things if they were winning no one would say anything.
“But the trouble is, if you draw attention to yourselves and then you don’t win then it can become more of an issue.”
Arteta has previously made headlines for his that made him stand out from the competition.
Most recently, the Arsenal boss had his players work in groups and balance the ball between their heads while and moving the ball together.
And the players practiced while listening to AI TikTok edits on the big screens of London Colney.
This comes after Arteta once used a light bulb as part of a team talk and had pickpockets steal players’ belongings in a meeting.
Arteta also had speakers of the training pitch ahead of a trip to Liverpool.
In addition, he previously had his players squeezing a number of lemons together and piecing giants dominoes.
Arteta oversaw another poor result that could cost Arsenal the Premier League title
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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