Pep Guardiola has labelled Arsenal the “best team right now in the world”, pointing to their four-pronged pursuit of silverware this season.
The Gunners have opened up a seven-point gap on Manchester City in the league in recent weeks, boast a perfect record in the Champions League, and have also progressed smoothly through both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
It’s heady praise at an exciting moment for Arsenal – and a less comfortable one for City – which inevitably raises the question of whether Guardiola means it, or whether he’s attempting to pile pressure on a side still chasing their first major trophy since 2020.
It’s anyone’s guess, but Mikel Arteta certainly wasn’t going to bite when the soundbite was dangled in front of him during his own press conference on Friday.
“I don’t know,” reflected Arteta when asked about his mentor’s warm words.
“I think we are the team that wants to be constantly better. We are doing a lot of things right, but we are far from perfect.
“Our only aim is to sustain the level that we are doing, but especially in certain areas improve again.”
Pressed on whether he was encouraged by the praise, Arteta added: “It’s always much better to hear positive things about your team and the work that you are doing, but obviously, that [the best] is a big word, especially because, in my opinion, to be related to that you have to win a lot of things and we haven’t.
“But we certainly have the purpose to be the best version that we can be every single day, and we’re not going to stop until we achieve that.”
In the short term, Arsenal’s focus is firmly fixed on Manchester United. While it may be premature to talk of a full-blown revival, United’s 2–0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s side in the Manchester derby, overseen by new interim head coach Michael Carrick, has lifted the mood of a beleaguered fanbase.
Arsenal may have won at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season, but the 22 shots they conceded that afternoon remain the most they’ve allowed any opponent this term. With summer signings Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko all beginning to show their quality, United pose a tricky test, even if the league table shows a 15-point gap between the sides.
“Obviously, Michael [Carrick] coming in will bring new ideas. Always, the intensity rises up,” noted Arteta.
“You could see that in the Manchester derby, the kind of behaviours and the game that they played, so we will expect a really tough match and we’ll adapt to that for sure. But we are at home and we know how important that game is for us.”
Carrick, who stepped in for Darren Fletcher a week ago after the Scot temporarily filled the gap left by the sacked Ruben Amorim, has enjoyed an uninterrupted week on the training ground to implement his ideas. Arsenal, by contrast, have been to Milan and back.
Arteta admits it’s difficult to predict exactly how United will set up, but his message to his players is simple: focus on themselves.
“We don’t know. Every game is different. At the end, the individuals are the ones that make the difference or the ones that make the game in a certain way and we’re going to try to be ourselves, be very dominant like we always want to be, impose the game that we want to play and regardless of what they want to do, we want to take the game in the areas that are very good for us.”
That likely means avoiding a contest dominated by quick transitions. While United lack physicality in midfield, they possess enough pace and quality to punish any lapses.
“They are so good in a lot of departments,” said the manager. “It is clear that when that team has a space to run in a certain place to activate or run, they become lethal. You saw that a few days ago in Manchester.
“They have a lot of attributes to cause you problems. But as well, like every team, they have their weaknesses as well.”
Although Arsenal have extended their lead at the top of the table in recent weeks, back-to-back goalless draws against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have done little to soothe supporters’ nerves, with frustrations spilling over online after both matches.
Asked if he had a message for the fanbase, Arteta was clear: “It is not about calming. It is about continuing to do what we are doing really well and try to evolve every single day to be better.
“So, from their side, it is continuing to do what they do in the stadium; create more energy, more positiveness around the games in each action, and if we do that and we create that kind of a scenario, we are going to make it more and more difficult to the opponent, and that is going to help us to win more games.”
We’ll find out on Sunday whether that message lands.