In honor of Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta has made a statement before their FA Cup fourth-round match.
Before taking over at Emirates Stadium in December 2019, the manager of Arsenal worked under Guardiola at Manchester City. He is currently engaged in a Premier League title chase with his former boss.
Arteta stated he was inspired by Guardiola at a press conference ahead of Friday’s match between the Gunners and City at the Etihad Stadium. He compared Guardiola’s influence on football to that of Johan Cruyff.
“I feel gratitude, first of all, because he inspired me as a player, and he inspired me and gave me the opportunity as a coach,” the Spaniard said.
“I wouldn’t probably have had the career that I had as a player, the understanding of the game or the purpose that I had as a player if he hadn’t been at that time at Barcelona.
“And I wouldn’t be sitting here and having that willingness and that love for coaching if we hadn’t crossed in my life and he hadn’t given the opportunity that he gave me. That’s it.”
Before joining Rangers in 2002, Arteta played for Barcelona’s C and B teams for three years. Guardiola was a member of the Blaugrana’s first team at the same time.
“I was looking at him and I just wanted to do it what he was doing,” Arteta explained. “And I loved the way he played and the way he was transmitting on the pitch and his understanding what was happening on the pitch. It was an inspiration, since I was 18 years old.”
Prior to his successful tenures at Bayern Munich and City, Guardiola helped convert Barca into a dominant force as the team’s head coach. Arteta stated he had learned a lot from working closely with Guardiola.
“I think the influence that Pep has had on football in the past 20 years, it’s just incredibly powerful,” he said. “He changed the game, like Johan did in the past… we have been inspired by a lot of things that he’s done.
“Everyone has to build his own career and his own pathway. A career is not for six months, or a year, or two years. Let’s see and let everybody develop the way that they should.”