Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has accused critics of Mikel Arteta’s touchline behaviour of trying to undermine the Arsenal manager now he is becoming successful. Arteta’s antics on the side of the pitch have come under scrutiny of late and he was shown a yellow card during the Gunners’ 3-2 win against Manchester United on Sunday. Arsenal have reached the 50-point mark at the halfway of the season and they’ve played some superb football under Arteta this season, carving out a five-point lead ahead of City with a game in hand to come. Former Blues assistant manager Arteta has been praised for the football he’s got his team playing, but there has also been increased criticism of his frantic demeanour on the touchline and the way he’s appealed for decisions this season. Guardiola believes that all is part of an attempt to bring Arteta down, hinting that he has been subject to similar treatment during his career.
Pep Guardiola said: “When you are top of the league they have to undermine you for another reason. And they are doing that right now. I know quite well this situation.
Guardiola was full of praise for Arteta on the eve of their FA Cup fourth-round fixture at the Etihad on Friday night and it’s clear the City manager had an influence on the Spaniard, who was part of his backroom staff for three seasons from 2016 to 2019. But one thing he insists he didn’t teach him is his manner on the touchline and that Arteta would regularly complain about officials even during his time at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola said: “Anything can happen on the touchline in the moments of the game. I teach him few things but this it comes from himself, his mum and dad, his character and that was already there. Mikel … I know him and I had the feeling during the time we worked together I had the feeling that what he is doing, it is not fake, it is him. So when we were making a training session and in a game, always he was complaining about referees, and that was as an assistant coach. It is what it is. So after that I am not a judge, everyone is everyone and sometimes I behave as well in this way.”
The FA Cup tie is the first of at least three meetings between the title rivals in three months and it feels inevitable there will be a flashpoint between the friends somewhere along the way. They remain in contact, if not as quite as regularly as before they became rivals at the top of the league, and the last time they touched base was over the festive season. But even if there is a falling out between now and the end of the season, Guardiola believes it will be water under the bridge just as quickly.
Pep Guardiola said: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year was the last time [I spoke to him]. He’s a rival, of course he is. Tomorrow he wants to beat me and I want to beat him. I know in defeat we are not the best friends in the world. From my point of view I have a huge respect as a person, as a manager. That’s not going to change – if we’re going to fight on the touchline, it’s going to happen sooner or later I guess, it’s not going to change, it won’t change the respect.”
