Mikel Arteta believes Pep Guardiola’s team has everything it takes to bounce back from tough times.
Manchester City’s recent form has been far from ideal, with victories eluding them. Their struggles have seen them fall significantly behind in the Premier League title race. Despite this, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refuses to write off Guardiola’s side just yet.
Guardiola is enduring one of the toughest phases of his illustrious coaching career. City has gone six matches across all competitions without a win. After five straight losses, they drew 3-3 against Feyenoord in their last Champions League outing, squandering a three-goal lead.
In the Premier League, City has lost their last three matches, slipping to third in the table with 23 points from 12 matches. Brighton, with a game in hand, shares the same points tally and sits second, while Liverpool leads with 31 points from the same number of games.
City’s next league match is against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. A loss there would leave Guardiola’s side 11 points adrift of the table-toppers.
While many have written off City’s hopes of retaining their league title, Arteta sees things differently. The Arsenal coach believes this is merely a rare setback for a team that has been almost invincible over the past decade.
“What I’m thinking about is what they’ve done over the last nine years. I think people need to talk about how hard it is to do what they’ve done for nine straight years. And yes, this is a bump, but everyone faces bumps. What’s unusual with them is that they haven’t had one in nine years,” Arteta said.
“Performance needs to be flawless, player availability needs to be perfect, and things must go for you and against your opponents. Competing at this level is different, and winning here is incredibly tough.”
Under Guardiola, City has scaled incredible heights. Over the last seven seasons, they’ve won the league title six times and, most notably, claimed their first Champions League trophy.
Arteta, who began his coaching career as Guardiola’s assistant at City in 2016, took charge of Arsenal in 2019. Despite City’s current struggles, Arteta is not worried for his former mentor.
“It’s a very personal thing, but I feel a lot of sympathy for all my colleagues because I know this job. I understand how ruthless it is,” Arteta explained.
“I know how we are judged on just one thing: results. You could be doing the exact same things, but the results change, and that’s all people see. We have to face that, and I know how hard it is because I’ve been through a lot myself. Every defeat is incredibly painful.”
