{"id":34714,"date":"2026-05-26T19:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/arsenals-injury-hit-game-new-penalty-record-how-mikel-arteta-brought-pep-guardiola-to-his-knees\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T19:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:37:25","slug":"arsenals-injury-hit-game-new-penalty-record-how-mikel-arteta-brought-pep-guardiola-to-his-knees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/arsenals-injury-hit-game-new-penalty-record-how-mikel-arteta-brought-pep-guardiola-to-his-knees\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal’s injury-hit game, new penalty record – How Mikel Arteta brought Pep Guardiola to his knees"},"content":{"rendered":"
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September 2024. Arsenal narrowly defeated Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium, blowing an initial 2-0 lead before scoring a narrow 4-2 victory with two goals in stoppage time.<\/p>\n
When Mikel Arteta arrived for his post-match press conference, he had something to say. It was a protracted melodrama that threatened to get out of hand.<\/p>\n
Manager Josep Guardiola publicly invited his former Manchester City assistant to comment on Bernardo Silva and John Stones, who accused Arsenal of wasting their time after the Premier League title contenders exchanged a fiery 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season.<\/p>\n
Arteta claimed he had “all the information” about City, but later retracted his statement in a bid to defuse rising tensions.<\/p>\n
The back-and-forth incident comes just weeks after Guardiola admitted the motivation to win the Premier League again was “not there”.<\/p>\n
read more: Arsenal resume talks with Sandro Tonali, Josh Kroenke reveals transfer plans<\/span><\/span>read more: Arsenal fans brutally mock Man City with bottle taunts during drinks break<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Perhaps Arteta has also realized that plunging his side into a tough domestic front so early on won’t work.<\/p>\n
Nineteen months later, the tables have turned. Arteta gradually wore down Guardiola through sheer tenacity, consistency and grit.<\/p>\n
A new dawn was always inevitable, but on the same day that Arteta made an emotional farewell to the Etihad Stadium after a spectacular decade of dominance, it also felt hugely significant that Arteta finally got his hands on the trophy that had eluded him for so long.<\/p>\n
This felt like the beginning of a potentially historic change. Because Arsenal have walked a long and winding road to achieve top-flight supremacy, but now the monkey is off their back and they need to smell blood.<\/p>\n
“Don’t ask me why I’m leaving,” Guardiola said in his final press conference before the match last Friday.<\/p>\n
The truth is, he didn’t have anything left to prove, but he also didn’t have the energy to continue fending off a relentless rival like Arteta. Arteta was a manager and a deeply analytical thinker who squeezed every drop from every corner of Arsenal, both inside and outside, to maximize performance.<\/p>\n
There was already a growing emphasis among Arteta’s coaching staff on slight improvement before this season, but after three successive near misses, the Arsenal manager took things to the next level.<\/p>\n
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Mikel Arteta tends to be cagey about Arsenal team news during press conferences (Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The pregame press conference regarding team news became a cat and mouse game. The 44-year-old will not divulge any information about his potential away starts unless it is absolutely necessary or unavoidable.<\/p>\n
In fact, there have been several instances, one of which was before Arsenal’s away Champions League semi-final first leg match against Atletico Madrid, where there were suspicions that Arteta had deliberately made misleading statements in order to cause further confusion for his team.<\/p>\n
A source joked to Mirror Football: “Mikel would rather be seen as deceitful than reveal anything to the media.”<\/p>\n
Back in December 2020, Arteta vowed to “eradicate” locker room miscreants who leaked information about an alleged training ground altercation involving David Luiz and Dani Ceballos. A month later, he hinted that he had identified the culprit.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, when clubs published training galleries on their websites before matches, additional players were sometimes removed in addition to those absent due to injury to create an additional element of mystery.<\/p>\n
Then, online news outlets and X’s eagle-eyed intelligence gathering accounts discover the players are missing, and rumors begin to swirl, blinding their adversaries.<\/p>\n
It’s clear that opposing managers don’t form lineups and tactical blueprints around social media rumors and fan speculation about such things, but most clubs have staff members who monitor such noise.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Guardiola’s attitude towards press conferences in his later years at City could not have been more revealing. Unsurprisingly, manager Jurgen Klopp actually blamed the media for leaving Liverpool in 2024. Pep became completely bored with talking to the press, and would sometimes casually check aspects of the starting lineup mid-chat.<\/p>\n
Slowly but surely, City began to lose their fear factor, eventually losing 15 games in the Premier League over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
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Josep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta remain great friends (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Arteta has also learned how to use the media to his advantage. Sources close to the Arsenal team say his consistency of message has been widely praised, particularly this season.<\/p>\n
What he said to the stars in the locker room was echoed in postgame broadcast interviews and press conferences. This adjustment allowed the team to maintain control and belief during difficult moments.<\/p>\n
If Arteta had said one thing to the players and another to the press, it might have caused some anxiety within the team that the manager didn’t fully believe in them.<\/p>\n
For example, after the 1-1 draw with Brentford in February, after coming close to losing, some players were surprised by Arteta’s relaxed personality after the game.<\/p>\n
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Mikel Arteta steadily brought Arsenal back the Premier League title (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He is said to have said that the high-placed Bees were having a great season, that they were a tough team and would have taken a point from any other top-flight team that night.<\/p>\n
There was no rage or panic, just an awareness that the noise outside was about to get louder. Six days later, following a disastrous 2-2 draw with Wolves, the situation apparently reached a whole new level, but Arteta still found the calm and the right message to get things back in line.<\/p>\n
These are all small parts of a much broader picture. Thanks in part to Nicolas Jobar’s extraordinary set-piece record, Arsenal became the first team in Premier League history to concede no penalties or receive a red card in a single season. Last season, their appalling disciplinary action ended their hopes of winning the title.<\/p>\n
And the realization of Andrea Berta and a record-breaking summer transfer window, the development of two more Hale End gems in Max Daumann and Marli Salmon, throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, AI-generated songs, the transformation of the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium, the formation of family units, barbecues, social gatherings and winning over dogs. With everyone working together, Arteta has put Arsenal back in the standings.<\/p>\n
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