Mikel Arteta is someone Pep Guardiola is all too familiar with, and the Manchester City manager thinks the Arsenal team he has assembled at the Emirates Stadium has been “outstanding” this year.
Pep Guardiola called Arsenal “outstanding” and acknowledged that his Manchester City squad ought to be in first place in the Premier League standings. If Arsenal defeats Wolves in their final Premier League game before the break for the World Cup this weekend, they will remain atop the standings at Christmas.
With just two losses this season—to Manchester United and Southampton—the Gunners have a two-point lead over Guardiola’s Citizens.
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Mikel Arteta and his team have had a remarkable start to the 2022–23 season, according to Guardiola, especially in light of the heartbreak of losing out on Champions League play in the final three games of the previous season to arch rivals Tottenham.
Arteta has consistently urged fans to “trust the process,” and this season, it seems as though the strategy is paying off. But there is still a long way to go, and Arteta will be nervously following the World Cup, hoping that all of his players return healthy.
Guardiola, who has watched his Manchester City squad dominate the last two seasons, would have hoped for a third consecutive Premier League championship and a sixth in the previous six. Arsenal, however, appears to be the team that will make an effort to change that this time.
Guardiola praised Arteta’s work at the Emirates Stadium during his press conference prior to the final round of games. Arteta was his former assistant manager. We might win the league, he remarked. Arsenal, however, has excelled. We had more points in the Premier League than we had, I believe, in the previous four seasons, according to a member of my staff who told me yesterday.
“That tells us that while we have been excellent, another team has performed better. We must concede it. This is the benchmark, the standard, and the level.”
Arsenal is undoubtedly establishing the bar; all they need to do is maintain it.