Pep Guardiola says ‘Arsenal reaping rewards of patience with Mikel Arteta’

• Pep believes Arteta has benefitted from his time at Manchester City.
• The two sides meet in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.
• Manchester City has dominated English football.

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, believes Mikel Arteta has benefited from the patience shown to him during his early years as the Gunners’ manager.

For three and a half years, Arteta assisted Guardiola at City before earning his first senior management position at the Emirates in 2019.

Although the Spaniard achieved initial success by winning the FA Cup in 2020, none of his first three seasons saw him finish in the top four of the Premier League.

With a five-point advantage over City and a game remaining against Guardiola’s team, Arsenal is now on track to break a 19-year title drought.

In the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday, the two teams will clash for the first of three times in the upcoming months.

“I had the feeling. We knew it when he was here,” said Guardiola on Arteta’s coaching ability.

“The biggest compliment for Arsenal as well, is for backing him in the bad moments and trusting him, and keeping him and relying on him.

“At the end, you need time, you need investment and the results are there. It is a challenge for us to challenge them.”

Manchester City has dominated English football under Guardiola’s leadership, winning nine major trophies and four Premier League championships.

But in recent weeks, he has made an effort to rekindle the fire that has brought his team such great success in his players.

Even now, Guardiola has set his team’s motivation against Arsenal’s over the first half of the season.

“A team with 50 points in one leg (half of the season) is the best. We have to prove how far away or how close we are,” added Guardiola on Friday’s cup clash.

“I encourage them to look themselves. When they are not happy for many reasons, the only way is to perform better.

“Think in the past is the past. What happened in the past is the past. We get the salary for what we will do in the future. Extend the contract, what we’re going to do in the future. The past is done.”

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