‘Absolutely not’: Pep Guardiola denies Rio Ferdinand’s claim about Arsenal man

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Pep Guardiola has praised Mikel Arteta whilst denying Rio Ferdinand’s claims that he turned the Arsenal boss into a ‘monster’.

The goal for Arsenal this season was to bounce back from last season’s heartbreak and get into the top four.

Arsenal had Champions League football within their grasp but just fell short in the end.

Now though, Arsenal find themselves top of the Premier League table and seriously dreaming of challenging Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola has praised Mikel Arteta

That still feels like a pipe dream and Arsenal will face huge challenges over the course of the season.

Still, Arsenal keep winning and why not enjoy it and dream a little? Football would be pretty pointless without that mixture of joy and hope.

Arsenal’s biggest challenge will of course be Manchester City, who won the Premier League title last season and are favourites again.

As if City couldn’t get more dangerous, the signing of Erling Haaland has added a new dimension to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Arsenal will need to take down City to stand a chance of winning the league and that again brings up the battle of Mikel Arteta versus Guardiola.

Arteta finished his playing career with Arsenal but then moved into coaching under Pep Guardiola.

Arsenal pounced to steal Arteta away from City in December 2019 and many can see Guardiola’s influence on Arteta’s style.

Guardiola has now been speaking to Rio Ferdinand for BT Sport and the subject of asking for managers to be sacked was brought up.

Ferdinand mentioned Arteta, who came in for huge criticism during the 2020-21 season.

Ferdinand suggested that Guardiola has turned Arteta into a monster with his coaching influence, but Guardiola denied that completely and suggested Arteta has always been a monster.

Guardiola added that Arsenal are now reaping the rewards of trusting in Arteta despite calls for him to be sacked just two years ago.

“Absolutely not,” said Guardiola. “He was already!”

“There was not great results, I remember ‘he must be sacked’, ‘Arteta out’ but I know Mikel. They see him, the sporting director Edu and the club, how he works, how he talks, we saw it in the documentary, we know it. They said ‘okay, rely on him, rely on him’, it’s a process,” he added.