Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been endearingly described as a "freak" by players for his approach with the club.
Since arriving in north London in December 2019, the former Manchester City coach has established himself as a Premier League manager. There have been disagreements with some players - not least the now departed former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - but the Spaniard appears to have a healthy relationship with his squad members.
The nickname has come to light as part of Prime Video's series All or Nothing: Arsenal , which launches on Thursday. The documentary follows the club throughout the 2021-22 season, when they spent part of the season in the top four before falling away late on.
In a clip from episode one of the documentary, Arteta can be seen sharing details of some of his preferred methods. The footage then cuts to a shot of the manager on the training field with Bukayo Saka, where he approaches the England international to address something he wasn't happy with.
"When he came in I knew he was going to be a top manager," Saka says in an interview for the show. "Tactically he's so good, the details he gives us... help us so much."
In the next scene, Arteta can be seen telling his squad to "organise this chaos into something". The next player to speak, Granit Xhaka, is similarly positive about the boss.
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"I've had a lot of coaches but he's a 'freak' but in a positive way," Xhaka says, while doing air-quotes. "Because he sees details [where] I didn't have a coach before who sees that."
"The way he connects the team and the environment he creates here, I think it's brilliant," adds Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian is one of the leading candidates to take over as full-time captain - a role once held by Xhaka earlier in his Arsenal career.
Xhaka came close to leaving Arsenal after losing the armband, with Roma interested. However, as he recently told ESPN, the Swiss international was convinced to stay by Arteta himself.
"Without him [Arteta], I would not be here in this football club anymore," Xhaka said in July. "He helped me a lot when I was completely down.
"He took me aside, helped me with small things, step by step, tactically, as a person, mentality, between the team and the club, tried to help me as well with the fans. He is a freak in a positive way.
"Tactically, he knows everything. How he prepares the team before training, before the games, is unbelievable. I had a lot of coaches, but I have to put Mikel as one of the top ones in my career."
All or Nothing: Arsenal launches on Prime Video on Thursday 4 th August, with new episodes weekly
