Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has described his former boss Pep Guardiola as the best manager in the world by a mile during his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon ahead of their blockbuster tie against the Cityzen on Sunday evening.
While the Premier League race tight up between Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City, the Gunners will visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as they set and hope to complete a consecutive treble victory over title rivals haven beaten them in the Community Shield and in the Premier.
“It [his relationship with Pep] had to change, but my admiration and what I feel for him, certainly not. In my opinion, he is the best coach in the world by a mile and is one of the nicest people that I have met in football, certainly one of the ones that I have had more fun and a laugh working with, and that’s going to stay there forever.”
Arteta says the relationship with former teammates he now leads as coach has to adapt.
“Obviously, our roles at the moment are what they are, and you have to adapt to the situation. It is what it is, but that happens the same in relationships with players. I had some teammates here, and then you become the coach and that relationship has to adapt. You cannot feel differently about the person, but professionally you have to act differently.”
While reminiscing on his memorable relationship with Guardiola, Arteta wished he had challenged the Premier League title against someone else.
“Probably I would prefer to do it [fight for titles] against somebody else, so I don’t have those feelings! But it’s not the choice, and it’s what it is, and that’s it. People want to win; we know each other very well, and we’ll prepare the game to win it.”
