2023-04-25 23:43:02
The “final” for the Premier League title on Wednesday (9 p.m.), between Manchester City and Arsenal, reserves a duel on the benches between Pep Guardiola and his former assistant, Mikel Arteta.
Destiny is not fixed. It is written. And that’s what makes the story all the more beautiful. At the end of the 20th century, Pep Guardiola was an FC Barcelona executive, and Mikel Arteta a young shoot from La Masia, the legendary training center. Guardiola is eleven years older than Arteta and shares the defensive midfield position with him. He attends one of his pre-season friendly matches, before debriefing him. “To receive this from someone like him, the best in this position, can’t hope to be helped by someone better“Remembered fondly Arteta at the start of the year.
Two decades have passed, and here they are on benches in England. Guardiola, one of the best coaches in history, manages the juggernaut Manchester City, defending champion and current runner-up to Arsenal (which is 5 points ahead but two games more). This Wednesday, at 9 p.m., he will receive his disciple in Manchester, Mikel Arteta who, before starting number one with the Gunners, had spent three and a half years as assistant to … Guardiola. An evidence.
Arteta in the line of Wenger and Guardiola
Arteta ended his career at Arsenal (2010-2016), a club with which he fell in love. “When he was a player, he was under the orders of Arsène Wenger, it was a bit the same style of play that he is trying to put in place today», enlightens us Robert Pirès, consultant for Canal+ and who will be at the edge of the lawn on Wednesday for the pre-match and the debrief, orchestrated by the encrypted channel.
AT SEE ALSO – Guardiola, first coach to 10 Champions League semi-finals
«At City, Arteta found a bit of the same football philosophy“That under Wenger, notes Pirès, legend of the Gunners (2000-2006). Arteta and Guardiola like “the beautiful game“, they like to have the ball, to multiply the passes. They like to score goals, without going on the attack. It’s not AC/DC, more Frederic Chopin.
Arteta et Guardiola, a romance d’amitié
Guardiola has always loved Arteta. So much so that he encouraged him to hang up his boots earlier. In 2012, when he left Barça, Guardiola discussed with English clubs for the future. He takes the pulse with Arteta, whom he already wants as an assistant. “I told him: “I’m still playing, you know! It’s a little early”“Smiled Arteta at a press conference two months ago. They waited until 2016 to finally collaborate.
The youngest has hardened three and a half years before the big jump, in December 2019. “I’m not the kind of guy to say “no, you have to stay with me”. Everyone has a dream. He went to “his” club, the team he dreamed of“, had encouraged the” big brother “, become overnight a rival for his disciple. “I would rather (compete) against someone else, because I only want the best for them“, flattered Arteta this season.
Pep Guardiola and then-assistant Mikel Arteta at Manchester City in 2019. JASON CAIRNDUFF
Guardiola speaks good about football, but he speaks even better about Arteta. He speaks of him as his son, but never with paternalism. Before the current season, the most beautiful of the Gunners since that of the Invincibles (2004, their last league title), the coach found himself more than once in the hot seat in London. “The greatest compliment you can give Arsenal is for supporting them in bad times and trusting them“, had brandished the former coach of Barça (2008-2012) at the end of January.
“A stronger temperament” at Arteta
There is affection between men, a common love for polished football. But there are also differences. “Both are Spanish, but not from the same region“says Robert Pirès. The 2000 European champion emphasizes “a stronger temperat Arteta, the Basque, compared to Guardiola, the Catalan.
The native of San Sebastián,needs to be close to the players, he needs to have that contact“, enumerates Pirès, always close to a club of which he is an ambassador. The child from Santpedor, a small town 60km from Barcelona, (52) also had his gesticulation attacks, but “he manages to channel himself more than Arteta (41)», Believes to know Pirès. “If he could get on the pitch, he would. In fact, I feel like he’s still a player“Laughs the ex-French international.
I don’t know what part of me there is in him but his influence on me has been great, enormous, very important in making me better as a manager.
Mikel Arteta on Pep Guardiola.
Younger, more flexible Arteta
In the game too, taking out the magnifying glass, we perceive some deviations. Arteta more easily accepts a change of style and a more direct game if necessary, when his elder deviates less from his roadmap. The Citizen, on the other hand, is more open about its starting lineup: fifteen of its players have started 15 times or more in the Premier League. At Arsenal, eleven players have started 18 times or more. The twelfth, Eddie Nketiah, was “only” nine times. Arteta doesn’t change her team, especially when she wins.
Arteta, former PSG player (2000-2002), does not copy/paste. But the coach he is was not born from a blank page. “I feel grateful because he (Guardiola) inspired me as a player and gave me my chance as a coach“, praised Arteta in February. “I don’t know what part of me there is in him but his influence on me has been great, enormous, very important in making me better as a managerGuardiola replied. We don’t know who Arsenal or Manchester City will rule on the pitch, but there is at least one thing that is guaranteed to triumph: respect.
#Arteta #Guardiola #student #ready #dethrone #master