Mikel Arteta: What happens at Man City is not our concern
OUTRAGE: Referee Simon Hooper is surrounded by Erling Haaland, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Dias after he stopped the game to award City a free kickÂ
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists he is not interested in what happens at title rivals Manchester City - either on or off the pitch.
The Gunners sit two points clear at the top of the Premier League after their narrow 2-1 win over Wolves on Saturday.
Liverpool are their nearest challengers as City were held to a draw for the third league game in a row - with Tottenham sealing a thrilling share of the spoils at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Defending champions City will still be in the shake-up come the end of the season and pipped Arsenal to the title last season en route to winning the treble.
Asked if he has seen a drop-off from that City side that swatted away all comers last year, Arteta replied: "I don't look at those things. I have enough looking at my team. I think about how we're going to play better tomorrow and be more consistent and be more difficult to beat and the things that we need to tweak and how we can use our players in the best possible ways to win. It's still a huge marathon ahead of us.
"The encouragement comes from watching the team play, watching them behave every day and how hungry and willing they are to approach every training session. That's what gives me encouragement. What the others do is something that we cannot control."
Arteta was also name-checked by friend and former colleague Pep Guardiola in the aftermath of City's 3-3 draw with Spurs.
Guardiola refused to be drawn on the decision of Simon Hooper not to play an advantage late in the game as City broke through on goal - saying he would "not do a Mikel Arteta comment".
It was a clear reference to former City assistant Arteta, who is still awaiting the outcome of a Football Association charge after he labelled the decision of VAR to award Anthony Gordon's goal in a recent 1-0 loss to Newcastle as "embarrassing" and "a disgrace".
"On to the next one (question) please," Arteta replied when asked about Guardiola's jibe.
Asked if he was aware of the sort of mind games Premier League managers have utilised in the past, he added: "If I am good at mind games, maybe you don't notice."
Man City's Etihad Stadium was a scene of outright anger Sunday in the final moments of a wild 3-3 draw against Tottenham after a refereeing mistake denied City a potential stoppage-time winner for Jack Grealish.
The pent-up ire that manifested itself Sunday has been building, though. There was always going to be some sort of comedown after being in soccer dreamland by becoming only the second team — after Manchester United in 1999 — to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
Pep Guardiola predicted it would happen. Former United players warned it would happen. It’s taken a few months but maybe now it has happened.
It might only be a small drop-off but three straight draws in the Premier League represents the first time since Guardiola’s first year in charge that City has gone through such a run of games in the competition without winning.
First there was a 4-4 draw at Chelsea, then a 1-1 draw with Liverpool and now the draw at home to an injury-hit Tottenham. Next there’s a trip on Wednesday to Aston Villa, which has a flawless home record in the league, and City will be without its irreplaceable midfielder, Rodri, because of suspension along with Jack Grealish (also suspension) and most likely Jeremy Doku, who came off injured against Spurs.
Most teams would love to be in City’s position right now. There are some emerging issues, however, and the key area is in midfield.
City has been unable to exert control in the final sections of games, especially in midfield where Rodri has been overrun at times with Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs able to pour through with little resistance.
The absence of John Stones — who excels in the hybrid defender-midfielder role — because of injury has had a destabilising effect. The decision to replace the departed Ilkay Gundogan with ball-carrying midfielders in Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, who haven’t established themselves as regulars since their offseason moves, has also robbed City of control.
There’s the possibility that Haaland might be charged by the Football Association with misconduct for his aggressive reaction to referee Simon Hooper after that much-criticised decision to not play advantage when Grealish appeared to be through on goal against Spurs.
Then there’s that intangible: desire. Have City’s treble-winning players got the desire to put in the extra effort to see out these close games? Focus seems to be an issue — take, for example, Dias’ lazy challenge that gave away the late penalty at Chelsea.
Guardiola will have been prepared for this. And he seems to be taking it somewhat in his stride, brushing off the late controversy in Sunday’s game by saying he’d learned from mentor Johan Cruyff that “bad luck in football doesn’t exist.”Â
“Good teams are not defined by good moments,” Guardiola said. “It’s not the first time we have faced this situation where we are playing good but results don’t come. Always we find a solution, but lately the results don’t come and we are struggling.”Â
Indeed, it was as late as February last season that many were saying City’s trophy chances were dwindling. Guardiola wasn’t trusting key players. Gundogan was complaining a spark had been lost.
A few months later, they won the treble after an all-too-familiar end-of-season surge.
Few would be surprised if City went on to retain the league title, but it will need the team to get back to being harder to play through and sturdier at the back.
“We could be four points ahead ... if we did our job properly, which is kill the game, or at least don’t concede in the last minute,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said. “At this level those little details matter. We need to demand more from ourselves, each one of us.”Â
Villa — with six wins from six at home this season and 23 goals scored in those games — will sense this is the perfect time to host the champions.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
