Master and apprentice

Twenty-two years later, Arsenal shouted champion in the Premier League once again. The mastermind behind this achievement is Mikel Arteta, a coach who knew how to transform Pep Guardiola's teachings into his own winning style. The story has a special touch; the Arsenal coach was part of the Catalan's coaching staff at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019, a period during which they together lifted two league titles. There, Arteta absorbed the methods, ideas, and obsession with detail that characterize the master.

The legacy and the complication for Pep

But the consecration of the 'gunners' did not come as a replica of Guardiola's tactics. In his early days in London, Arteta tried to have his team play with the possession and high pressing he had seen in City's training sessions. Over time, however, he found his own stamp: a solid Arsenal in defense, the least scored against in the league, and lethal in the areas. A team that, with virtues and defects, became the most effective of the season.

The outcome has a symbolic flavor. Guardiola without the Premier League for the second consecutive season, in what could be the coach's last year at the helm of City. Etihad is preparing to bid farewell to him against Aston Villa, on a day without pressure but full of emotion. Pep leaves as a legend, although without the title he lifted so many times.

A possible heir

Meanwhile, Arteta is establishing himself as the new benchmark. Champion and with a solid project, he opens a chapter that invites dreaming: Can Arsenal come close to the magnitude of what Guardiola achieved in England? No one knows, but the truth is that the student has already shown he can surpass the master.

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