Following Arsenal’s narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday, fans have noticed that Mikel Arteta displayed similarities to Pep Guardiola during his post-match interview.
In the match, Arsenal secured their win with Martin Odegaard’s successful 53rd-minute penalty. The game also saw Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu receive two yellow cards and subsequently be sent off.
Fans believe that Arteta channeled his inner Pep Guardiola during his post-match interview, possibly in terms of his approach to discussing the game or his choice of words. This comparison highlights the influence and impact that Guardiola’s coaching style has had on Arteta, who was formerly an assistant coach at Manchester City under Guardiola’s management.
When asked about his side’s grit and character to see the match out with 10 men, Arteta replied: “Great win, I am so happy.”
Arteta was then asked what was the most pleasing aspect of the performance, the Spaniard said: “Under any circumstances, you win.”
Previously, Manchester City boss Guardiola has been blunt with his answers during his own post-match interviews.
Fans were quick to react on social media.
One said: “Switched to Pep mode. “I’m so happy”.”
Another tweeted: “He’s even mirroring Pep’s interview tactics this criminal…..”
They are the same ppl ☠️ https://t.co/7YWnAG694t pic.twitter.com/1AV1hvZekH
— Nameless (@W_0nderkid) August 21, 2023
A third fan added: “Stealing Pep’s bars like we wouldn’t notice. You’re never going to be us, stop it.”
Someone else wrote: “He wants to be Pep so badly.”
Whilst a fifth commented: “Why’s he copying Pep again?”
On his team’s performance, Arteta said: “I loved it, absolutely loved it. It’s a really difficult place to come. We played how we wanted to play 11 against 11, we dominated the game, we created enough chances, we missed two very, very huge chances that normally we put away, but we never gave up.
“We continued the way we wanted to continue. Eddie earned us the right to go ahead with his action, we scored the penalty and then we had to play half an hour with 10 men, which is obviously a conflict that we didn’t prepare.”
He added: “We had to adapt and I think the players worked fantastically because I don’t think we gave anything away.
“The subs were great, the way they came out, the concentration, the focus on how they helped the team and changed the team’s momentum in many occasions of the game, so I’m really happy.”