Does Arteta need to learn to be ruthless like Pep Guardiola?

Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola were working together at Manchester City, with Pep as coach and Arteta as an assistant. Then, in December 2019, Arsenal opted to take a chance on Arteta because they needed a coach who could restore their identity. Years have passed, and the Spaniard’s performance as a coach has been good, with some fans claiming that the Arsenal manager learned his skills from Pep. Many Arsenal fans do not want to hear this, but either way, their playing styles are similar.

Having said that, Pep is still smarter than Arteta in several ways. Guardiola, for example, may readily experiment with his formation during games, whereas his “student” cannot. Pep can observe his players during a match and change his formation; if the initial formation fails, he can attempt another. For example, if he begins by playing 4-3-3, he can switch to 3-4-3, and so on. Arteta still does not do this during his matches. Pep also has the freedom to rotate his players and even switch where they play at times; Arteta, even with his small team, has not capitalised on his players’ adaptability.

For example, against Southampton, it was suggested that Arteta push Zinchenko in midfield, which was struggling, and then put Tierney at left-back, but he didn’t use that option. Guardiola can easily make the switch, as we presently see John Stones, a well-known defender, playing in midfield, where he has excelled. Finally, Pep does not use players whose performances have declined. He believes that a player must fight for his position on the pitch, and that if you are out of form, you do not play. This has caused players to give their best in order to perform, as opposed to Arteta, who plays players even when they are struggling, as there were questions about why, against West Ham, Saka, who was having a horrible game, wasn’t pulled off when he should have been.

These are just some of the tactical distinctions between Arteta and Pep. Yes, Arsenal’s manager cannot be the same as Manchester City’s, but he should change some of his decisions and become more ruthless.

Bottom line: Arteta’s development as a coach continues, and he can only get better.

Daniel O

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6 Comments

  1. Daniel
    Would agree with with you to a point
    Ha e you taken a look at peps bench recently
    It is pretty insane
    We still have a long way to go to catch city but so far so good.
    MA as we said at the end of last season and at the beginning of this season is a very good coach still learning his trade. To be giving city a run for there money with 6 games to go speaks volumes for MA and the team on how far we have progressed.
    We may all moan about dropping points and some on here saying MA and some of the team need to be moved on… heads gone comments but we go to city on Wednesday and take all 3 points then we are back in the driving seat
    We go there and get a draw and we hope city drop points which can happen
    We go there and get nothing then we wait in hope to see if someone can beat them
    In the past 3 years city have been a beast when it comes to closing off the last 10 games of the season

    A shock could be coming, come the final whistle
    2-3 and we are back in the driving seat
    Keep the faith
    Onwards and upwards

  2. What Mikel has done is phenomenal even if we don’t win the title this season. He has put his former mentor under real pressure. Let no one forget that he is still learning his trade. My strong view is that next season Arsenal will be even better. This blip which we have suffered is part of the learning curve and we shall be the wiser for it. I believe we can no longer afford to rely on only two good central defenders because Saliba’s injury has cost us dearly. Similarly we need another strong defensive midfielder to give competition to Party. I don’t buy into the argument that next season will be harder than this season for us. If anything our team will even be more mature and will take the lessons of this season very seriously. We shall be competitive next season and many seasons to come. We need to strengthen the team and only sell those players that we don’t need

  3. Been saying this for a while now.
    Arteta’s lack of dynamism (or ruthlessness, in your word) makes him a ‘one trick pony’ who has been found out. Not helped by injuries and players’ form though.
    Hope he gets better at it next season.

  4. If Arsenal does not win the Premier League title this season, but finish as runners up to Man City. And coupled with the fact that, it has been knocked out of the 3 Cup competitions it has played in this season to not reach the final of any of the three.
    What performance as Arsenal manager by Arteta is phenomenal?
    But prayerfull and hopefully, Arsenal will win the title this season. If it did, the win will be a great achievement achieved by Arteta’s managed Arsenal team during Arteta’s five year tenure at the helm of the club.
    It’s true that Arteta dosen’t have at his disposal the the kinds of the many top top or world class players to bbe using. Who Man City’s Pep Guardiola has at his disposal to be playing them which he has mostly put together.
    I think Pep has made it mandatory cleared to his players that there won’t be any room in his Man City team for mediocare performance on the field of play by any of them. But always top top performance to win and win every time for the club. And this norm his players are religiously adhering to it.
    At Arsenal, Arteta Jason tried and is still trying hard this season to emulate his former boss, Pep’s philosophy. And he’s been adapting it for his Arsenal team.
    Which after he has done it is seeing him and the Gunners give Man City a good run for their money to the title win this season.
    But can Arsenal beat Man City at the Etihad on Wednesday night to restore back confidence they can win the title this season. I think if the Gunners who will start the match and the ones who come off the bench for it, Step it up considerably in the match. And perform super extraordinarily in it.
    And withstand any intimidating bullying of them coming from any Citizens’ players to bully them to cave-in to pressure and conced goals to them in the game.
    But if the Gunners avert the Citizens bullying them in the game to score. And perform super extraordinarily in the game burying their chances in it. But not profigate in front of goal to miss their chances. Arsenal will definitely win the match.

  5. If xhaka is not fit for the man city game then it’s time to move zinchenko into the midfield and play Tierney,Vieira should not start this game or our midfield will be overrun but I have this nagging feeling that we will turn up at the Etihad and win because everyone has written us off,my prediction is us winning 2-1 .

  6. It’s not like we have no options on the bench, we have cover in several positions after January.

    1. Bad mistake playing Vieira in midfield. Zinchenko should have played Tierney at LB.

    2. Saka was struggling, Trossard could have started.

    3. Injuries to Saliba and Tomiyasu really hurt because Tomiyasu can play well at CB.

    Realistically can we afford a bench like City with 2 quality players for every position? How often would Arteta rotate or bench players if we did?

    Some are undroppable when they are fit as we see with several players from Odegaard and Xhaka to Saka, White, Zinchenko for example.

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