The Man City manager Pep Guardiola watched his side dismantle Arsenal at the Emirates last night, increasing the pressure on his old assistant Mikel Arteta even more, but after the game he only had encouraging words for the Arsenal boss after the game.
Guardiola was asked by Sky Sports if he had had a word with Arteta after the game, and this is what he replied (as transcribed by Eurosport: “I didn’t speak with him,” he said. “What can I say, everybody knows we are judged on results. He can defend himself perfectly.
“I worked with him, we cannot have had our success without him. He is an incredible manager. I know his proposals and what he will do. Not even a little run of bad results is going to change my opinion.”
A “little run of bad results” may be the understatement of the year considering that Arsenal haven’t won a League game in over 7 weeks! But Guardiola obviously believes that Arteta will turn things around in the end. In fact he is pretty certain!
“They will do a huge, big mistake if they…” he continued. “I’m pretty sure they are going to trust him. I understand for the analysts, analyse the results. But I was with him many years and I know his incredible quality as a human being and especially as a manager, how he is involved in everything. It’s just a question of time and he will do well.
“I’m not on the board. For me they will do a big mistake if they are thinking… They give him the confidence, they won two titles when for a long time ago it didn’t happen at this club. In this pandemic situation, with injury problems they have and the games they played always they played good.
“But unfortunately these games is our job and it depends on the results. But football changes in one week so quick.
“I can speak about my experience alongside him, one of the most incredibly successful teams in English history we had and he was part of this success and it would not be possible without him, and to create something like this you need time like I had in my first season.”
Hmm I don’t remember Guardiola having a “run of bad results” like this one, in any year since he arrived at Man City, but then he already had a very expensively acquired squad already waiting for him.
Maybe Arteta just needs a few billion to improve the squad, eh Pep?