Inside Mikel Arteta’s managerial mindset, with Arsenal’s former head of methodology

Comply with stay protection of Atalanta vs Arsenal within the Champions League right this moment

When The Athletic revealed final month that Mikel Arteta employed skilled pickpockets to pinch valuables from his Arsenal gamers at a workforce dinner final season, there have been loads of folks wishing they’d been within the room to witness the response.

Kevin Balvers, the membership’s head of methodology for 3 years earlier than shifting to present Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven this summer season, may do one higher than that.

“I used to be within the management room of the digital camera system,” Balvers laughs.

“It was earlier than the Liverpool recreation (Arsenal’s 3-1 residence win in February) and the message to the gamers was that you just at all times should be ready for them to trick you into one thing with out realizing, as their mentality is to win.

“Afterwards, we had a gathering with the gamers and Mikel stated, ‘Is somebody lacking a cellphone?’, then pulled it out of an enormous bag. Then it was, ‘Is somebody lacking a resort key?’.

“The coaches all knew as we had employed them however even one of many workers had one thing stolen. We confirmed them the cameras, with the message that that is precisely what Liverpool are going to do. It helped align the gamers with the best way the coach was pondering.”

• Need all the most recent Arsenal information, evaluation and extra perception from James McNicholas, Amy Lawrence, David Ornstein, Artwork de Roche, Jordan Campbell and extra? Be part of our new Arsenal WhatsApp channel

That is what Balvers describes as an ‘activation’, a pre-match mind recreation with a deeper psychological message behind it. It’s the form of outside-of-the-box pondering from Arteta that he shortly grew to become used to after becoming a member of his workers in 2021.

They might solely occur on events when it was determined the squad wanted one thing additional to focus their minds, however they have been extra widespread earlier than early kick-offs, with Arteta’s personal model of Pictionary being a favorite.

“After we performed in opposition to a workforce who counter-attacked and there have been open areas, he would say to the gamers, ‘The freeway is open’, which was an image of an F1 automobile with out every other vehicles round them,” says Balvers. “If we have been enjoying in opposition to a workforce with nearer organisation, it was an F1 automobile however actually crowded. The gamers would then bear in mind extra shortly the issues we have been speaking about.

“That is Mikel. When he speaks with folks from a special world, he’s attempting to consider how he can translate it into soccer — even with a pilot.

“We had a presentation the place he was talking about them not having management of the airplane each single minute as a result of some issues have been automated they usually simply needed to modify. We had a presentation with a airplane going up once you face a excessive press and one other taking place when you need to management the sport. It was to say that you could be want to vary ways in-game.”

His path to Arsenal was paved by Arteta’s assistant Albert Stuivenberg. They first met when Balvers had been attempting to broaden his information base at Dutch membership Vitesse Arnhem and had reached out to dozens of coaches from the Netherlands to grasp their method of enjoying.

They spoke for 2 hours as Balvers helped Stuivenberg articulate his recreation mannequin and philosophy, which led to him being really useful to Arteta in 2020.

“I used to be out of contract sitting at residence (after leaving Vitesse) so I provided to assist Albert with something free of charge,” says Balvers. “He requested me to assist with the evaluation of the opposition however I used to be working with Carlos Cuesta and Miguel Molina on it, who had not joined but both.

“They noticed my work there however Arsenal have been fighting Covid, so these two may be part of then, however Arteta may solely get extra workers members later.”

Balvers was at Swedish membership Malmo in 2021 when he obtained a name from Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar asking him if he wish to interview for the job as head of methodology. A video name with Arteta and Stuivenberg was adopted by an anxious wait as there have been two different candidates. Arteta confused the one with the perfect “connection” could be chosen.

 

However after an eclectic decade with the Cyprus FA, the Netherlands’ youth groups, Caribbean nation Curacao, Vitesse, Barcelona’s La Masia academy and Malmo’s first workforce, Balvers secured the position in north London.

He was tasked with making a uniform footballing concept that ran via the boys’s workforce, the ladies’s aspect, and all the best way to the youngest academy age group. He didn’t, nonetheless, envisage simply how wide-ranging his position would develop into.

“It wasn’t solely his (Arteta) concepts on the pitch, it was the re-culturing of the coaching floor and the membership in each method,” says Balvers.

“If he stated the portray in the bathroom within the stadium must be modified, it was as a result of he had a imaginative and prescient. It’s a silly instance, however I helped him so much with these kinds of issues.

“On the coaching floor, all of the partitions have been white however Mikel needed them to create a tradition. I designed with him some phrases and photos to go up on the partitions.

 

“Certainly one of them was ‘BASICS’ — B for Packing containers, A for Assault, S for Form, I for Depth, C for Compete and S for Set items. It made it clear what we anticipated from them, and since he speaks that language every single day, the gamers then converse it.

“He had many particular phrases he used however one was ‘collaboretition’ — collaboration and competitors every single day.”

Balvers shortly grew to become a soccer analyst, a graphics designer, a motivational filmmaker and an inside designer multi functional, such was Arteta’s need to deliver his vibrant analogies to life.

“It was all of the graphics and the motivational movies,” says Balvers. “There was a promo video the membership made for the Liverpool residence recreation final season, however he needed a bit extra vitality to create a reference to the workforce and the followers. He had a special concept, so he got here to me with it and the video you noticed was the brand new one.

“After we went to away grounds, I made the banners with the crests of Arsenal and others with phrases from our recreation mannequin that have been positioned across the altering room.

“When he was presenting to the board about his plan for the membership financially, we did some actually good things. We misplaced the primary 4 video games after I joined and I used to be pondering, ‘I could possibly be out already’, however the power of Mikel was that he may translate his imaginative and prescient and concepts about the entire organisation, not simply the workforce. I believe that’s why the board and homeowners believed in him.”

No stone was left unturned when it got here to making sure Arteta’s concepts grew to become ingrained within the gamers’ minds. They sought the recommendation of academic consultants to assist perceive the science behind how folks greatest be taught.

“We had folks from totally different golf equipment and totally different sports activities coming over to talk to the coaches, which is how we picked up issues,” Balvers says. “For displays, we had an American come and share methods which lecturers use at college to deliver throughout the message, the right way to get info into them and the right way to get info out of them.

“In tactical conferences, I discovered from research that when you put a darkish blue background the gamers will be taught the data greater than white, black or pink because the distinction is healthier. When talking about defending, we made positive the textual content and areas highlighted have been pink and when attacking it was blue. This helps their brains know immediately what section of play we’re speaking about.”

Much more thought went into the displays used to pitch the membership to potential new gamers.

“We spoke about how we noticed them becoming in on the pitch, outdoors the pitch and had some photos of them photoshopped within the package already,” Balvers explains.

“For (Jurrien) Timber, we had some photos of his household with the message that we’re an enormous household and maintain every thing. As I’m Dutch too, I put in some music from artists he was listening to, slightly than English music. Win the canine was within the one for Kai (Havertz), as we knew he beloved canines and we defined we needed a household feeling.

“That summer season, we used an animation of a practice. Mikel was saying, ‘We’ve got our route and we all know the place we need to go. If you wish to hold going then leap in’. A variety of them stated it was superb as they felt just like the membership actually needed them within the workforce.

“Every thing that was in Mikel’s thoughts, I used to be visualising and attempting to make fascinating however straightforward for the gamers to grasp. It was actually enjoyable for me as I could possibly be artistic when he got here to me with an concept and I had to consider how we may current it in one of the best ways. It was the right job for me.”

Having spent three seasons at Arsenal, it was a wrench for Balvers to go away. However with a spouse and two youngsters, aged three and 5, the lure of going residence to his household within the Netherlands proved too sturdy.

There have been troublesome instances as a result of distance however the atmosphere at Arsenal helped him get via these moments.

“Mikel is nice at talking about ways however he’s fascinated about your loved ones and when you have an issue at residence, you may name him in the course of the night time,” he says.

“We had a number of breaks earlier than Christmas however in 2022 we solely had one earlier than the World Cup, so it was actually troublesome. I spoke with Mikel and Edu and informed them I used to be struggling, that I couldn’t do that one other yr. It was particular that they simply requested me what my concept was and let me work one week a month from the Netherlands.

“That’s the largest instance of why I really like the folks within the membership a lot, because it’s not a membership simply based mostly on outcomes, it’s a very heat place.”

Balvers was given a signed and framed shirt to recollect his time on the membership by, however his youngsters now have two red-and-white jerseys they put on enjoying within the backyard after Daddy joined PSV, who’ve the identical colors.

He left his personal type of a leaving reward to the Arsenal squad after the final-day victory in opposition to Everton, his method of urging them to go on and full the job of changing into Premier League champions for the primary time in over 20 years.

“On the finish of each season I at all times made a video exhibiting the highlights of the entire season, however not simply on the pitch. The workforce constructing, the barbecues, every thing. They have been actually emotional movies,” he says. “This summer season I attempted to make the message that, sure, we tried to win and have been upset, however we have now to look again to the highway and the story we have now constructed collectively. We’ve got been superb, however we have now to simply accept that Manchester Metropolis are superb too.

“I’m not doubtful that, if Arsenal could make steps like they did final yr, they are often the primary workforce within the Premier League. Each membership has its period.”

(Prime pictures: Getty Photographs; design: Eamonn Dalton)