Sports
What I stole from Pep Guardiola — Mikel Arteta confesses
Football is a game of numbers and techniques no matter how anyone wants to see, and it sure has its master as well as student, and for Mikel Arteta, it is all about borrowing from his master, Pep Guardiola while on the path to success.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that his team’s impressive season has been partly inspired by Pep Guardiola’s innovative use of former Bayern Munich player, Philipp Lahm.
Guardiola, currently the manager of Manchester City, is well-known for his tactical acumen and has implemented a number of revolutionary strategies throughout his career. One such tactic involved using Lahm, traditionally a right-back, in a more central midfield role.
This move proved highly effective and helped shape the way Arteta has utilized Oleksandr Zinchenko this season. Zinchenko, a Ukrainian midfielder, has been instrumental in Arsenal’s title charge and has drawn comparisons to Lahm for his intelligent play and versatility.
Speaking about the inspiration behind his tactical shift, Arteta explained, “It started when I was in Barcelona, we used to play a 3-4-3 diamond and one of the full-backs used to play there. But Pep did it at Bayern for the first time with Phillip Lahm and then that was developed at City with many different ways of doing it with different players.”
The Arsenal manager went on to praise the ability to draw inspiration from other coaches and sports, saying, “So that is the great thing, that you can take all the time things from other sports, other coaches to make yourself better.”
Arteta’s revelation sheds light on the influence that Guardiola has had on the current Arsenal team, and demonstrates the importance of tactical innovation in modern football. With Zinchenko and his teammates performing at their best, Arsenal fans will be hoping that this inspired tactic can lead them to a successful season.
