Arsenal and Leeds United go head-to-head in a heavyweight showdown in the FA Cup tonight.
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has brushed off claims that Mikel Arteta was solely given the Arsenal job because he was an assistant of Pep Guardiola as he made it clear that he has ‘more qualities’ than that.
Arsenal will host Championship table-toppers Leeds in the FA Cup on Monday night, with the inexperienced Arteta pitting his wits against one of the best coaches in the world in Bielsa.
This could potentially be a Premier League game next season, as Leeds will be eager to test themselves against an Arsenal side that have produced some woeful performances this term.
As posted by LS11’s official YouTube account, Bielsa was asked whether he is seeing Guardiola’s influence showcase itself on Arsenal now that Arteta is in charge of the club.
“Anyone who is learning off Guardiola is having an additional value,” Bielsa told his press conference. “Guardiola is the best manager in the world and as a great manager, he distributes responsibility with his staff. Arteta’s position in this staff [for Man City] was an important job.
“And if a club like Arsenal chooses him, they don’t choose him just because he is a staff member of Guardiola’s. This is just one fact of one person that has more qualities – when Arsenal play more matches we will see more of Arteta. One manager in three matches creates changes it’s cheat because what he can [only] do is try to get results. To make [long-term] changes, you need a process.
“But I can imagine how Arteta works – I have read [Arteta’s] ideas but I have never met him [before]. I know him because of his ideas.”
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Arsenal and Leeds make changes to their XI from their previous league match because they do have bigger fish to fry.
For Leeds, it is a case of trying to earn promotion back to the Premier League, whilst the Gunners want to try and claw their way back into the top-four places.
But from Arteta’s perspective, he will perhaps be prioritising more than some to land that FA Cup because it will be his way of trying to prove himself to fans.
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