Pep Guardiola: I text Mikel Arteta after Sunday’s game - I have no problem with Arsenal’s tricks
The Manchester City manager said he had no problem with Arsenal’s tactics last weekend.
Pep Guardiola has played down the feud between Manchester City and Arsenal following Sunday’s emotionally charged 2-2 draw at the Etihad, revealing he exchanged text messages with Mikel Arteta after the game.
There were several high-profile disagreements between the players and coaching staff in the aftermath of the game, including Erling Haaland sarcastically telling Arteta after the game to ‘stay humble’.
City players also publicly criticised the Gunners after the game, with John Stones claiming they played ‘dirty’, Bernardo Silva taking a swipe at the amount of time wasting deployed, and Manuel Akanji stating he doesn’t think Arsenal can win the title.
Arteta fired back on Tuesday, implying that City have their own methods when it comes to football’s dark arts. “I was there for four years. I have all the information. So I know, believe me,” the ex-City coach said in response to the players’ criticism.
But it’s not something that Guardiola wanted to become embroiled in, with the 53-year-old claiming he has no problems with Arteta’s tactics.
“I realise for many times that the opponent after winning four Premier Leagues in a row, six in seven, they aren’t going to install the red carpet in every single game,” the Catalan said after City’s Carabao Cup victory over Watford on Tuesday night. “This is the challenge, we need that.
“The opponents can play how they want to do it. It belongs to us to handle them to break them in the way we have to do. With Mikel, after a time we text each other and the relationship doesn’t change and they decide to play in that way is more than perfect.
“I never justify, it's fine. I am not able to do it - they were brilliant. It's about us, how we can break them? And we did it really well.
“What can we expect? They are going to let our guys do whatever they want to win the game? That’s not going to happen. That’s the challenge,” he continued.
“Of course I admire what they have done, I cannot do that with my team, defend with five central defenders in that way. Defend every single ball, block every single ball.
“I said to Mikel, they did amazingly, it’s not a problem. They know their players and do exactly what they have to do. It’s not about that, it’s about what we have to do to do it better.
“This is the reason why we had success, for our mindset. This is how this team will be. [While] I’m here, this is going to happen.”