Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he knows the capacity of the manager of Arsenal football club, Mikel Arteta, having worked together for almost four years before his appointment as Gunners manager.
The fingers of the Premier League‘s followers are crossed as the league returns on the television screens of the fans today, June 17, with one of the biggest fixtures of the season. Tonight, Manchester City will host Arsenal football club in a match that will either give City hope to keep fighting for the league title or be contented with the second spot, behind Liverpool football club.
Fans will not only look forward to what the players will do on the field of play, they will be scrutinizing the input of the coaches of both sides especially that of Mikel Arteta.
Arteta started his coaching career with Manchester City under the tutelage of Guardiola. He acted as an assistant manager to Pep until his appointment as Arsenal’s coach in late 2019. He replaced Unai Emery who was sacked because of a bad run of games.
Since Arteta came to Arsenal, he has been able to take the club from the 14th spot on the league table to the 9th spot, 8 points behind the top four. However, tonight’s game against his former master is seen as the true test of the 38-year-old manager.
Football fans would want to see whether the shocker Jose Mourinho faced when he visited Stamford Bridge with Tottenham Hotspur to play against Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, a former player under him, would repeat itself tonight.
Pep Guardiola is not too Concern about what happens on the pitch.
However, Pep is not worried about what happens at the Etihad Stadium tonight as he said the friendship he would have with Arteta at the end of the match is the most important thing for him.
“Our job is so busy, and sometimes we don’t have time to send a message honestly and that’s why I know we are good friends,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“I’m very pleased that he is doing well and he is happy there and I know his capacity. It was a pleasure to work together and I think he was incredible, and he knows it. He was an incredible part of our success in the last years.
“I’m delighted to see him again and see his team playing against our team. Even during the game, the friendship at the end is the most important thing. It will never be broken [even though] for now we are rivals in our teams.”
Guardiola also revealed that he would use all his 5 substitutions during the match in order not to over labour the players so as to keep them fresh ahead of the restart of the UEFA Champions League.
Futballnews has reported that the UEFA Champions League will restart in August with an eight-team mini-tournament. Manchester City was yet to play the second leg of the round of 16 before the coronavirus pandemic forced football to a halt.
