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Tag: arteta

  • Arteta’s gamble sends Arsenal into FA Cup quarters

    Mikel Arteta, Arsenal coach, opted to gamble on Monday as he made nine changes in the team that lost to Olympiacos, unleashing mostly young Gunners to face Portsmouth.

    The gamble paid off as the team bounced back from their Europa League heartache to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals with goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah to seal a 2-0 win.

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil were absent, while Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe were on the bench.

    Pablo Mari made his debut at centre-back after joining on loan from Flamengo in January and David Luiz, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira were among the starters.

    Mikel Arteta’s side desperately needed a morale-boosting success after Olympiakos snatched a late winner to knock them out of the Europa League at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.

    Arsenal hadn’t been knocked out of the FA Cup by a team outside the top two divisions since losing to Wrexham in 1992.

    Arteta said his players were still feeling “very down” several days after that kick in the teeth, but they survived an early barrage from third-tier Portsmouth to avoid more misery in the FA Cup fifth round.

    Sokratis put Arsenal ahead just before half-time and Nketiah bagged the second soon after the interval.

    Arsenal’s record 13 FA Cup triumphs featured two with Arteta in the team in 2014 and 2015.

  • I miss Guardiola – Arteta

    I miss Guardiola – Arteta

    Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has admitted he misses Pep Guardiola.

    Arteta worked as Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City for three years, before he replaced Unai Emery at the Emirates in December.

    The Gunners are currently in 10th place in the Premier League, while City have fallen 22 points behind leaders Liverpool.

    Arteta, who is currently with the Arsenal squad in Dubai, says he is still in contact with Guardiola and was “privileged” to have learned from him as a manager.

    When asked by reporters whether he missed Guardiola, Arteta said: “Absolutely. I am a big friend of his and I admire him. I had a lot of joy working together and success. We spent a lot of time together and he is a friend.

    “I always talk with him. He is a really good friend of mine. I respect him so much. We share a lot of things in our life and we discuss everything.

    “I have to apply my own things. He was part of my development as a person to go through a lot of things I experienced next to him.

    “It was a privilege and of course a lot of the things I took on board, that I felt from my time at Barcelona, we shared together and a lot of things I learned from his management.”

  • Arteta says farewell to Man City staff, heads to Arsenal

    Mikel Arteta said farewell to staff at Manchester City on Thursday morning, ahead of his unveiling Friday as troubled Arsenal’s new coach.

    However, City’s assistant coach will not be in charge of the Gunners in their match against Everton on Saturday.

    Interim boss Freddie Ljungberg will take charge of the team for the final time at Goodison Park, with Arteta watching from the stands, BBC Sport reports.

    City are said to be annoyed with Arsenal with the manner they recruiting Spaniard Arteta back to the Emirates to succeed another compatriot Unai Emery, who failed to impress. Arteta was a former player and captain of Arsenal between 2011 and 2016.

    The Gunners failed to mention their interest in Arteta despite the two teams meeting at Emirates Stadium on Sunday – a game the champions won 3-0.

    Gunners chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was pictured outside the Spaniard’s home several hours later.

    Seven-Figure compensation payment will be made in order for the move to be completed, BBC reported.