Arteta & Guardiola appear to aim press conference digs at each other | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta’s friendship with Pep Guardiola seems a little less friendly at the moment, with the two appearing to have little digs at each other in this week’s press conferences.

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) and Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (R) look on during the English FA Community Shield football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium, in London, August 6, 2023. (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Though they’re currently rivals on matchdays, Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola have always maintained that they remain friendly away from the field of play.

Speaking in a recent press conference, Arteta said: “I love him, I respect him and I admire him, his team and everything that he does. This is a sport – one thing is our profession and the other is our personal relationship.”

Yet perhaps a few cracks started to show this week, following Arsenal’s fiery encounter at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (L) and Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta after the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on October 17, 2020. (Photo by Michael Regan / POOL / AFP)

In his press conference before Arsenal’s game against Leicester City, Arteta suggested he’d rather have his opponents angry at him for a good result than patting him on the back and praising his team after a defeat – something Guardiola has often done.

“I want to win the way we prepare the games and the way we want to play for sure in our way but understanding the context,” Arteta began.

“I prefer this much more than somebody clapping my back after the game saying ‘well done, you guys are in the right direction’ than seeing this reaction.”

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium on September 22, 2024. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

But it wasn’t those comments that got under Guardiola’s skin. Instead, it was another press conference, where Arteta said he knew how City themselves treat the ‘dark arts’ in football, having been at the club for four years.

“Well, next time Mikel has to be more clear,” Guardiola said. “Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does he mean.

“Because it can be related [to] the process now with 115 charges, maybe it’s about that, he knows the information about that maybe. Or maybe something like… I don’t know because really next time I have to see more clear exactly what happened.

“Next time, the good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked and he can answer exactly what does it mean.”

The situation will probably die down a bit now, with Arsenal not set to face Manchester City again until February – barring a cup draw.

But after plenty of pleasantries between the two in the past, things seem to be bubbling under the surface a bit now.