When Pep Guardiola arrived on our shores, within a few years he had changed how football was played at all levels.
From The Etihad to Hackney Marshes, goalkeepers were passing it out from the back – to mixed success. Defenders were selected on their ball-playing technique as much as their prowess at winning headers. Short passes proved to be the death knell for route one.
This was Mikel Arteta’s coaching upbringing. Which makes how he has steered Arsenal in with a chance of winning an unprecedented four trophies this term all the more surprising.
And equally, all the more impressive. We may not have all warmed to the Arteta-ball philosophy of free-kicks and physicality, but Guardiola’s former assistant and protege, in his first managerial role, walked into a club famed for its tika-taka approach, having only known tiki-taka at City, and gradually built a successful side in a totally different manner.
Now, just as Guardiola managed previously, other teams up and down the land, especially in the top flight, have swapped possession for aggression and employed set-piece coaches galore to attempt to match Arsenal’s unrelenting threat from corners and free-kicks.
All except one.
Pep Guardiola won’t budge (Photo: Getty)“Normally it happens that the team who wins, there is a tendency to copy,” Guardiola said ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against his ex-employee. “But that is a bit of a mistake because you have to feel what you have to do.
“Otherwise, in the long term, it will not work. I don’t know for Mikel, but talking for myself, when I came here I had the intention to do something differently. I tried, just with my Man City team, to play the way we played and try to get results. The rest, if it is copy and paste, it is not my business.”
Guardiola’s game has adapted over the years. It is not all about possession, with his recent purchases consisting of fast wingers, a traditional, shot-saving goalkeeper and an old school, out-and-out number nine striker.
Yet, he is the only one, even among his elite rivals, who has not put extra focus on set-piece improvement. While Arsenal lead the way for set-piece league goals this season, City have scored 14 more from open play than any other side this term.
“They (Arsenal) play a bit different to us,” City youngster Nico O’Reilly said. “They’ve got some amazing players, individual players, they play well as a team, they know what they’re doing. Sunday’s going to be a tough game. We know that. But it’ll be a tough game for them as well.”
The respect between the two rivals is there. But Guardiola’s players – by design – think the same way as their manager. Guardiola is often asked about his footballing principles honed in the Johan Cruyffian classrooms. In part, because you will always get a full answer, one laced with passion.
More meaningful discussion is sought this season as we are not sure how long the madcap Catalan is going to stick around for. All of which plays into his stoic reluctance to follow the latest Premier League trend. One perhaps exposed on the continent this week.
"An exceptional team" Pep Guardiola on what has impressed him most during Mikel Arteta's time as Arsenal manager. pic.twitter.com/zpROx2zw78
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 20, 2026Arsenal are odds-on favourites to garner the first trophy of the season at Wembley given this is a City team in transition. So many new signings are taking time to settle in, with big-name departures like Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson big shoes to fill.
Guardiola insists the new-look team is on the cusp of becoming another all-conquering City side. Which has led many to believe the 55-year-old is not done with the Premier League yet.
The legacy he leaves is very important to the City boss. He does not want to see everything he and the club’s hierarchy built laid to waste, and will not want to leave a team set up to fail from the start for his processor.
Whether he sees this latest incumbent blossom into the beautiful flower he thinks it can remains to be seen. What he will do in the meantime, though, is all he can to ensure elements of those attacking, open-play principles live on long into the future.
Nothing, no trophies or personal accolades, would give him more pleasure.
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