Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during a training session at London Colney on December 27, 2023 in St Albans, England.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed how he combats a problem to which Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has admitted. (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool faces a huge game against Arsenal tomorrow. Mikel Arteta goes into potentially his last ever meeting with Jürgen Klopp with both managers vying for the Premier League title — at least for now.
A win for Liverpool would likely consign Arsenal to also-ran status for a second successive season. And with pressure from behind, Arteta may even start to worry about the top four. Klopp can perhaps afford to taste defeat to a greater extent on paper, but he knows the realities of keeping Manchester City at bay.
It's a potentially stressful fixture, with so much on the line, but Arteta has revealed his secrets for avoiding an issue to which Klopp has recently admitted, with meditation one part of his routine. That hasn't always helped him keep calm on the touchline against Liverpool, but time will tell if things get heated at the Emirates.
Things didn't hot up much in the January transfer window. It was a quiet market for the Premier League in particular, but there was a distinct lack of marquee deals across Europe.
As such, Kylian Mbappé remains in place for now, with his PSG contract set to expire at the end of the season. A free transfer seemingly beckons, but a final decision has been made about whether Liverpool will be the destination. Here, Liverpool.com takes a scan around the club's domestic and European rivals to see what's going on elsewhere.
Mikel Arteta's tricks for avoiding Jürgen Klopp problem
It hasn't stopped the conspiracy theories, but Jürgen Klopp was clear when he announced his decision to leave Liverpool. He is calling it a day at the end of this season because he is running out of energy.
Fellow managers have more or less universally corroborated that experience, explaining that it is an exhausting industry. Klopp has been in it longer than most.
But while Mikel Arteta acknowledged the strain, he explained in an interview with Sky Sports how he avoids Klopp's burnout issue. He credits a variety of things:
"In my opinion, meditation works really well," Arteta said. "It empties your mind and after it is in a much better condition to work again.
"Reading is also something I really like and I do read about many different topics, other industries, our industry and about other colleagues that have done things as well. It's really good."
Liverpool FC away shirt 2023/2024
Arteta also hailed the 'beauty, energy and passion' of big games like the Liverpool fixture as 'so much bigger' than the stress or the pressure. Klopp might want to ask him how he feels in another 20 years or so!
Liverpool.com says: Comparing the experiences of Arteta and Klopp is like apples and oranges, really. One is only just setting out on his managerial journey, while the other has been in the game for a very long time now.
It has to be said that Arteta was not being at all dismissive of Klopp, whom he has praised highly. Everyone in the game respects the Liverpool manager's decision.
But while Arteta can't imagine ever being burned out now, that could certainly change over the years. Even meditation can't stave off the strain forever.
Kylian Mbappé 'makes final Liverpool decision'
Kylian Mbappé has decided not to join Liverpool. He has narrowed down his options to just PSG and Real Madrid, per Caught Offside.
There is 'no chance' for Liverpool, and 'no chance at all' for Saudi Arabia, with Mbappé now choosing between the club that has coveted him for so long and the one he has represented since his move from Monaco as a teenager. He has previously said he would settle the issue before the Champions League knock-out rounds, which would mean a decision is coming within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, there is said to be a knock-on effect on Rafael Leão of AC Milan. PSG is believed to like him as an Mbappé replacement in the event it needs to source one.
Liverpool.com says: Mbappé will have had his mind made up for him, in truth. If there was a 0.1 per cent chance Liverpool tried for the French forward before, even that disappeared once it became clear that Klopp is leaving.
Sporting director Jörg Schmadtke is already gone, so there would be nobody in place to pursue such a move, and no overarching managerial strategy into which it fitted. No doubt there will be more reports, but hopefully we're almost at the point where a line is firmly drawn under the Mbappé saga.
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