Mikel Arteta has said Pep Guardiola is the best coach in the world by a mile as the Arsenal manager prepares to face his former mentor again this weekend.
Arsenal travel to face Manchester City in a crucial clash in this season’s title race, as the table-topping Gunners take on the defending champions at the Etihad.
Just a point separates the teams in the table and the winners will deal a significant psychological blow to the other’s hopes of Premier League success this season.
Arteta began his coaching career on the staff at Manchester City, working under the guidance of Guardiola, before emerging as one of his compatriot’s biggest managerial rivals at Arsenal.
The Spaniard reiterated his admiration for Guardiola and said the Manchester City boss is in a league of his own when it comes to coaches.
“My admiration and what I feel for him hasn’t changed. My opinion is he’s the best coach in the world by a mile,” Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.
“I have loved working for him and that will remain forever. It is what it is, the relationship changes. You don’t feel different about the person but professionally you act differently.
“Probably I would prefer to do it against someone else who I don’t have those feelings for but we both want to win and we compete to do that.”
Arsenal’s title hopes suffered a damaging setback after a 4-1 loss at Manchester City during last season’s run-in, though Arteta said he has ‘full belief’ in his players to earn a positive result this weekend.
“I have full belief and trust in my players. On the pitch we have to show what we can do, off the pitch it is all just talk.
“It’s a massive game for both teams because it will give us a massive boost if we win it but there is a lot of games to go after that to win it (the Premier League title).”
Arteta said his team were not feeling the pressure of being involved in another title race and said Arsenal are embracing the challenge of attempting to win a first Premier League crown in two decades.
“I love the energy [around the Arsenal camp], the smiles, they wanted to train yesterday. We have to embrace the moment. We have to go day by day, see where this can take us. Now we have to embrace and enjoy the moment and go for it.”
