Danny Murphy believes the time spent working with Pep Guardiola will provide Mikel Arteta with the experience to manage a title-run in at Arsenal.
Arteta is set to battle with his former mentor for the Premier League title, with the Gunners currently eight points clear of Man City after both won on Saturday. The Blues cruised past Liverpool with a 4-1 win at lunchtime, before Arsenal matched that scoreline at home to Leeds United a couple of hours later.
Arsenal's lack of title experience has often been cited this season, with Arteta still early in his managerial career. But after having spent three seasons as Guardiola's assistant at City between 2016 and 2019, Murphy believes the Gunners chief will have taken valuable lessons to the Emirates.
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"Working alongside Pep Guardiola for many years can’t guarantee Mikel Arteta the title — but it is a big help," Murphy wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. "Though he’s still relatively inexperienced, the Arsenal manager was in the room when Pep fought off Liverpool in the greatest title race of them all in 2019.
"He’ll have picked up valuable lessons as we get to the business end of this season and you can already see the benefit to the Gunners. Not only can Arsenal do a passable impression of City’s brand of football, they also look mentally equipped for the fight.
"Arteta knows when to put an arm round the shoulders of his players and when to hammer them. City played some of their best stuff in beating Liverpool 4-1 at lunchtime with a display that might have worried Arsenal. Not a bit of it. Their own victory against Leeds was emphatic rather than nervy and underlined Arteta has a proper squad now — winning convincingly without William Saliba, and Bukayo Saka on the bench after the internationals.
"The most important thing is that both managers and teams have belief they will finish on top. That’s why it’s going to be so exciting."
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