Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he is targeting getting the Gunners to the level Manchester City is under Pep Guardiola.
Since the Catalan tactician took over at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016, the Citizens have won four Premier League titles including the most recent one in the previous season.
City however find themselves behind Arsenal, who have been at the top of the table for much of this season, and both sides go head to head in Wednesday’s highly-anticipated clash at the Emirates Stadium.
“They as a team. What they have done in the last six years, they absolutely merit it – on the pitch and the way they play, the way they have competed and how they have gone through difficulties,” Arteta said on the club website ahead of the game.
“For us, the challenge is to get to that level and we need to use that challenge and that energy to say ‘this is where we want to be.’ That is the level, and we are heading towards it.”
Arteta – who was previously assistant to Guardiola – has never beaten the City boss since he took charge of Arsenal in 2019. The former Gunners captain stated its never about getting a result over the manager but his team.
This time tomorrow 👊 pic.twitter.com/0kGa8wcO0f
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 14, 2023
“It’s for the team, the club and where we are. For me personally, it is not about beating one manager, it is about beating the next opponent, and in this case, it is Man City,” Arteta said.
When quizzed if Arsenal have the advantage in their first title race nearly 15 years, Arteta said: “I don’t know. We are comparing two very different teams. One with huge experience of doing that and a lot of our players have never done it. We want to use that energy and that anger that we have inside to make the most out of it.”
The Basque tactician concluded by saying Arsenal can only be judged as the league’s best team when the season comes to an end.
“Well the table says we have the most points. To be the best team in the league obviously there is still another four months to go and we have to prove that every single game,” Arteta explained.
Arsenal hold just a three-point advantage over City on the table and could be overtaken by the men in sky blue should they fail to earn any points on their own turf by virtue of goal difference.
