Ukrainian defender of London "Arsenal" Alexander Zinchenko spoke about the tricks used by his team’s head coach Mikel Arteta.
"I have seen more than once how Arteta asked injured players to go with the team to the match fully equipped, with their backpacks, and then to go to the locker room together with everyone.
In the end, it all looked as if these footballers were ready to play. It confused the head coach of the opposing team.
Arteta likes to play such games with opponents,” Zinchenko said in a comment to The Athletic.
In connection with the Ukrainian's words, the publication recalls a recent story with Arsenal midfielder Bukayo Saka. Last month, it seemed he was destined to miss the match against Liverpool (2:2) due to injury. However, Arteta claimed the day before that he wasn’t sure Saka would be able to play. But in the end, the midfielder was included in the starting lineup of Arsenal for that match and scored a goal already in the ninth minute of the game.