Arsenal news – Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola share a stories history with both manager’s expected to fight it out for the Premier League title again
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has joked about the one thing he has over Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola (Image: (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))
Mikel Arteta has revealed the one thing he has over Pep Guardiola after finally guiding his Arsenal team to a victory against his former employers Manchester City. Guardiola and Arteta worked alongside each other for a number of years at Etihad Stadium before Arteta was appointed as Unai Emery’s successor at the Gunners in late 2019.
Just over six months into his reign at Emirates Stadium, Arteta won the FA Cup with a victory in his second meeting against Guardiola after departing Man City. However, the following years have been filled with Man City triumphs over the Gunners with Arteta losing eight consecutive domestic games against Guardiola.
However, that was slightly rectified when Arsenal won the Community Shield at the expense of Guardiola’s treble winners with that triumph followed up in the league a few months later. Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected strike was the difference between the two teams in the clash before the October international break that took Arsenal above Man City in the Premier League table.
In the wake of that clash, Arteta has revealed the conversation between himself and his former mentor at full time. “Yeah, I talked with him (Guardiola) after the game,” he told the Men In Blazers podcast. I lost much more than I won against him but, to be fair, in the last two games when we won the Community Shield and now in the league, the feeling is totally different. (He said) ‘Congratulations, you guys are a terrific team’.”
After getting one up on his close friend, Arteta has now also revealed the one thing he has that is better than Guardiola, however it is certainly not something likely to impact. “He’s probably right! I cannot deny it,” Mikel smiled in reply, as quoted by Arsenal’s official website, after being reminded of Guardiola’s belief that he has a better fashion sense before quipping back: “I’ve got better hair than him I think, but I think he’s a very elegant person.”
On the importance of the win, he then added: “Those games define the momentum of the season and, going into an international break, that momentum is really important. We played at home, we beat them in the Community Shield and we wanted to see if we had the consistency and the level to do it again against the best team in the world. We performed to a very high level individually and collectively and obviously it was a very special day for everyone.”
Source: football.london
