Mikel Arteta's new plan to stop fatigue derailing Arsenal quadruple dream | OneFootball

Gunners boss in move to keep energy levels high for run-in

Until Arsenal struck late to snatch all three points against Everton, the most entertaining action in the second half came primarily on the touchline.

The Spaniard has been battle-hardened since then, this now his fourth title run-in, and the emotion this time felt more calculated.

The cue came with about ten minutes to go against Everton, when Arteta took off his coat and marched back to his seats. From that point on, the Spaniard was at boiling point.

Eberechi Eze was penalised for a soft foul right in front of him and Arteta was apoplectic. He screamed at the referee, bouncing around his technical area while holding his trousers so tightly you thought they might rip.

Arteta was at boiling point on the touchline in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton

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Instructions were barked, arms were waved, and he acted as an additional ball boy when required. None of that, Arteta revealed, was accidental.

"I don't know, I felt it," Arteta said.

"I felt that the team needed something else. I was desperate to do anything that it could take to win the game and to help the boys to deliver that moment.

"And I wanted to be there present, supporting them, playing every ball with them, make them feel that I'm there, that we are all there, because it's not [just] me, it's all the staff."

It worked on Saturday night. The Arsenal fans tried to rally the players throughout and Arteta's energy only enhanced the noise, the supporters responding to the manager.

That continued in the celebrations, when Arteta sprinted around his technical area and even bundled Kai Havertz back to his seat as they embraced.

Arteta celebrates Max Dowman’s late goal that wrapped up three crucial points against Everton

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Arteta seemed particularly conscious of the energy from the stands. He went over to the fans by the dugout after Max Dowman's goal, roaring in their direction, and on his post-match lap he further whipped up the supporters by repeatedly punching the air.

Arteta has regularly been criticised for being too emotional in the past.

In 2023, after Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle, Alan Shearer said Arteta “had to calm down.”

Shearer claimed that his touchline demeanour was only spreading anxiety to his players - “it can’t be helpful”.

Arteta knows Arsenal need to keep mental and physical fatigue at bay in the run-in

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Arteta, to an extent, agreed. Later that year he revealed he was making a “conscious effort” to calm down on the touchline, admitting he was at times too agitated and it reflected poorly on the club.

At the time his energy felt like an impulse that could not be contained. Now Arteta evidently feels capable of deploying it more tactically.

There are at this stage of the season some very tired Arsenal players and every lift they can be given is crucial. Home advantage feels more significant than ever.

Four of Arsenal's remaining seven Premier League matches are on home soil and they will play the second leg of their Champions League ties in north London, all the way through to the final if they make it that far.

The Gunners host Bayer Leverkusen tonight with the last-16 tie delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany last week.

After Dowman's heroics on Saturday, Arteta is hoping to create more Emirates memories in the final two months of the season.

"The first thing that you do when you come in there, those moments are going to come, and we have to use it in a powerful way," he said on Monday.

"All of us, our supporters, to start to generate that energy, that belief and do what we have to do to go through to the quarter-final."

A Carabao Cup final on Sunday against Manchester City, the final match before the international break, will be an occasion for the Arsenal players to empty the tank in pursuit of a first trophy in six years.

Before that, though, they must overcome a Leverkusen side who impressed in the first leg. Leverkusen also earned a point against Bayern Munich on Saturday, even if their opponents did go down to nine men.

Fatigue, both mental and physical, will be one of Arsenal's biggest challenges in the final two months of the season.

To keep it at bay, and ensure the quadruple bid is extended into April, Arsenal are going to need every ounce of energy they can get from Arteta and the supporters.