Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta has revealed how a conversation with Tottenham fitness coach Marcos Alvarez uncovered the true extent of the lack of dietary discipline at White Hart Lane.

Alvarez – Ramos’ number two – told Toffee Arteta that he was stunned to discover the eating habits of the Spurs players upon his arrival from Sevilla and at how overweight some were.

“Juande had already had success at Tottenham before Sunday’s [Carling Cup] final. He led Tottenham, a team that was in really bad shape only a couple of months ago, to recovery,” Arteta was quoted as saying in The Sun.

“I remember the day we played against them. I spoke for a while with Marcos Alvarez, their fitness coach, who was telling me how they found the squad when they arrived.

“Poor guy, he was recounting things that had left them stupefied — like how overweight the players were in general, or the dietary habits of some of the players there.

“He said they were stunned when they arrived at the restaurant and saw it full of sweets, cakes, Tabasco, mayonnaise, Coca-Cola…

“He told me they could not believe it — they had to do a pre-season in mid-December and change things radically.”

Arteta says the problem is something inherent in English culture, and that he had to make his own efforts to convert his Everton colleagues from such habits.

“The truth is they were astounded by something that for me already was something normal,” said Arteta.

“In teams managed by foreigners this is something that is less and less frequent.

“But in teams like mine, it’s still an English tradition — this kind of food is our ‘daily bread’.

“When I arrived at Everton, the restaurant that we have in our training ground served fish and chips.

“But there are team-mates who are used to it and it’s difficult to make them change.

“So as a result when I arrived I started asking them to cook my pasta as I like it — and the rice, and the chicken breast too!”