Arteta says he’s been ‘in contact a lot’ with Guardiola during his difficult moments at Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he’s been in contact a lot with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola during both his difficult and positive moments since taking the top job at the Emirates, according to football.london.

Arteta spent three-and-a-half years at Manchester City and was the assistant manager under Guardiola. He learnt his trade under the legendary Spaniard and they have a very close relationship. The Gunners boss has talked about not only staying in contact during his good and difficult moments but during Guardiola’s challenging times in the last year. 

Apart from matters related to football, managers and players have had to adapt to a season being played during a pandemic and in addition to this, social media abuse of footballers and coaches has become rampant in recent times. 

Arteta has spoken of how he’s received obscene abuse directed at his family on social media and this is very unsettling. He has seeked advice from Guardiola on life outside of football as much as he has on football matters.

The pair will meet this Sunday when their sides face off in the Premier League at the Emirates. Arteta will be looking to beat his mentor for the first time in the league while Guardiola will be looking to make it 13 Premier League wins in a row.

On how important it was to have Pep to talk to during the difficult time before Christmas, especially with the social media abuse he had spoken of, Arteta said:

“We’ve been in contact a lot since I’ve been here. In good moments, in bad moments, when he was having some difficult moments, now that he’s having some great moments, the relationship doesn’t change. Obviously it’s great to have some advice and some support at any moment in your career, because you need people as much as possible that have lived these situations. And then obviously the advice is much more concrete and useful.”

On whether that applies on and off the pitch, he said:

“Absolutely.”