Will Arteta spring a surprise against his old mentor Guardiola? Watch Manchester City vs Arsenal, 8pm on June 17; kick-off is 8.15pm
But there was one question which prompted an exhale and perhaps even a flash of irritation. It related to his work under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, and it was a hint that, while Arteta is in no denial about the Catalan’s immense influence on him as a coach, he is eager to be viewed as his own man. To carve out a reputation in his own right.
Unfortunately for him, there is no avoiding the subject in the build-up to Wednesday night’s reunion at the Etihad Stadium, the first big-six post-lockdown game of this interrupted Premier League season. It’s Manchester City versus Arsenal. But it’s also Guardiola versus Arteta. Master versus apprentice. Two old friends now squaring off in opposing dugouts.
It is certainly an intriguing prospect – and not just because of its behind-closed-doors setting. At Manchester City, Guardiola’s trust in Arteta was such that in December 2016, just six months after appointing the former midfielder to his coaching staff, he put him in charge of City’s preparations for Arsenal’s visit to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
“I assumed he’d ask my opinion,” recalled Arteta in the book Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam. “I told him how I saw it going: ‘This is what they’ll do, so I’d plan to play like this.’ He liked my ideas and we went with my plan.”
Arteta was already becoming an influential figure in the City set-up by that point. He was also using the experience of working under Guardiola to soak up as much managerial knowledge and know-how as he could – and to hone tactics and techniques that he would later employ at Arsenal.
Guardiola’s influence has been apparent right from the start of his Arsenal tenure. In his very first game, against Bournemouth on Boxing Day, he even inverted the position of Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back, instructing the 22-year-old to tuck into central midfield – as Guardiola first did with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kyle Walker at City several years earlier.
Arteta’s use of the full-back on the opposite flank has also been reminiscent of Guardiola’s approach. In possession, Bukayo Saka has essentially played as a left winger, with Granit Xhaka dropping back to cover the space behind him and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang drifting inside towards the opposition’s penalty box.
Saka’s presence high up the pitch means Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 formation looks more like a 2-3-5 in possession, with the wide players – Saka on the left and Nicolas Pepe on the right – hugging the flanks. The shape is designed to stretch defences and create spaces in the final third. And while it’s new to Arsenal, it’s further evidence of Guardiola’s influence on Arteta.
Guardiola’s influence has been apparent right from the start of his Arsenal tenure. In his very first game, against Bournemouth on Boxing Day, he even inverted the position of Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back, instructing the 22-year-old to tuck into central midfield – as Guardiola first did with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kyle Walker at City several years earlier.
Arteta’s use of the full-back on the opposite flank has also been reminiscent of Guardiola’s approach. In possession, Bukayo Saka has essentially played as a left winger, with Granit Xhaka dropping back to cover the space behind him and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang drifting inside towards the opposition’s penalty box.
Saka’s presence high up the pitch means Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 formation looks more like a 2-3-5 in possession, with the wide players – Saka on the left and Nicolas Pepe on the right – hugging the flanks. The shape is designed to stretch defences and create spaces in the final third. And while it’s new to Arsenal, it’s further evidence of Guardiola’s influence on Arteta.
As well as adopting a similar attacking shape to his old mentor at City, Arteta has put more emphasis on the kind of short-passing build-up play of which Guardiola’s side are masters.
Arsenal’s overall possession rate has not changed under Arteta, but the way they use it has. It can be seen in the statistics which show an increase in passing sequences and build-up attacks since his appointment. Mesut Ozil’s goal against Newcastle in February came after 35 uninterrupted passes – the most for any goal by any side all season.
That goal, the third in a 4-0 win, encapsulated exactly what Arteta wants from his Arsenal side – his jubilant reaction on the touchline at the Emirates Stadium was a testament to that – but there have been plenty of other performances which have shown that, for all their improvement under the Spaniard, Arsenal are still a long way from where he would like them to be.
They have kept seven clean sheets in 15 games under Arteta compared to one in 15 before his appointment. But they are still allowing more shots than they are attempting themselves. The laboured 1-0 win over West Ham before the lockdown was not the first game under Arteta in which they have lacked penetration and struggled to create scoring opportunities.
Arteta can take heart from the fact that even Guardiola needed a transitional season to implement his ideas at Manchester City. There was a trophyless campaign before the glory that followed. And while the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus outbreak are far from ideal for anyone, they have at least given Arteta some extra time on the training field with his players.
