...BUT ARTETA ADMITS HE STILL ENJOYS THEM! Gunners boss regularly turns to pal Guardiola for advice
ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta has revealed he is still being mentored by Pep Guardiola.
The former Manchester City assistant returns to the Etihad tonight to face his old boss for the first time since leaving for North London in December.
The two remain close friends and although communication is out this week, Arteta said Guardiola is usually available to offer advice on coaching, among other things.
“We’ve spoken a lot of times since I left,” he said. “We talk about football, life, family, it’s not just a professional relationship.
“Do I ask him about managerial issues? I’ve all his backing to ask him any question, I know he’ll always answer because he knows me really well, how I feel and how I think. I’ve got him there, it’s a good thing for me.
“He’s very supportive, he’s been a key figure since I was 15 when he was captain of Barcelona.
“He’s been a key figure in my life and my profession in the last four years because we spent a lot of time together. I can’t be more grateful, I can’t be happier, for the times we’ve shared, the way he’s treated me all this time, the way he still treats me and the relationship we have.”
Arteta elected to take his first head coach’s job at Arsenal instead of waiting to succeed Guardiola.
“He was always right behind me,” he insisted. Arteta said he learned the need to be “ruthless” to create a winning mentality from Guardiola, and believes the City boss’s man-management skills, clarity of thought and readiness to take risks make him the modern-day Special One. Asked if he was copying the Guardiola blueprint, Arteta said: “If you copy-paste it’s always bad. It’s a completely different context with the situations at City and Arsenal.”
When the teams met at the Emirates in December, Arteta was on the City bench as they went 3-0 up in 40 minutes.
This time Arsenal are on an eightmatch league unbeaten run, while City are smarting from a derby defeat.
But Arteta warned: “They will respond for sure.”