HONG KONG -- On Arsenal's first morning at their Hong Kong waterside hotel -- the lavish Rosewood in Victoria Dockside -- team manager Mikel Arteta walked through a lobby area near the elevators and was suddenly confronted by at least 50 autograph hunters who had edged closer to the inner sanctum than staff had planned. Arteta called for calm, signing a few shirts desperately flung in his direction, before security intervened and order was restored.
As metaphors go, it was on point: He'd better get used to surprises coming around the corner.
It was also an example of the intensity that has defined the club's preseason trip to Asia, a combination of extreme hospitality, hyperbole and humidity it will hope serves as the right precursor to what might be the most scrutinized and high-pressure season yet for Arteta and his players.