Mikel Arteta believes Basque food is the secret behind the success of a string of managers from the region.
The Arsenal manager is one of a number of coaches born in the area of northern Spain to make a name for himself on the touchline.
He will come up against another on Saturday in the shape of Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, a former childhood team-mate of Arteta.
Aston Villa’s Unai Emery was also born in the Basque Country – as were Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and former Wolves, Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui.
Now Arteta has discussed why he feels such a small area is responsible for creating such success.
“The food! We have the best food in the world. The best restaurants by square metre, the most beautiful city,” he said.
“It has to be linked to that — what we eat, the way we live. The quality of life in our city is incredible. I think it is related to our roots. The education, the passion about the game. You breathe it within the city. You breathe it everywhere you go.
“We played on the beach. You go there on a Saturday or Sunday and there are 300 kids playing on the beach.
“You sense that in the city. It is not just about now, because in the past they always produced coaches and good players. Somebody is doing the right thing.
“When I said the food I was not joking. It is the way they look after the city. The education, the people.
“Finding the quality and I am really really proud that I see a lot of people — not only in sport, in other industries as well — that manage to get out and promote our city in the right way.
“I think it’s the education that we get. It’s the level of coaching that we get, they really take care of the academy.
“You have seen Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Eibar all those teams do great work to raise talent and it’s not a coincidence that a lot of players have come through there.”
While Arteta and Iraola go way back, the Arsenal boss insists there will be no room for niceties come 3pm on Saturday.
“Very easy. You are in winning mode,” he replied when asked how easy it will be to put aside their friendship at the Vitality Stadium.
“Get the best for your team and get in the battle. Before and after is a different story, especially after, but during there is nothing there.
“He was really excited to come. He was really complimentary about the club and the support he was getting with players and staff. He was happy to be part of the league.
“We know each other really well. We played together, we had fantastic times together. We played together in Antiguoko, which is a team in San Sebastian – that’s the beauty of football that 30 years later we are here together in the Premier League as managers. I’m really happy for that.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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