Mikel Arteta has worked under Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola but revealed he also “learned a lot from” and had “admiration” for West Ham boss David Moyes.
The Arsenal manager takes his Premier League leaders to the London Stadium on Sunday as the Gunners go in search of a first title in 19 years.
Wenger was the manager then and was still in charge when Arteta joined from Everton in 2011.
Arteta would play under Wenger for five years – winning two FA Cups with the club – before retiring and taking up a coaching role with former Barcelona team-mate Guardiola at Manchester City.
Together, the pair won two league titles before Arteta left to take the reins at Arsenal and he has gone on to win the FA Cup as a manager and is now going toe-to-toe with Guardiola in the title race.
While those days working under Wenger and Guardiola have no doubt helped to sculpt Arteta as a manager, he also reserved special praise for Moyes, who he played under for six years at Goodison Park.
“It’s admiration,” he replied when asked about his feelings towards Moyes.
“I loved playing under him. I would go through a brick wall for him as would everyone from that squad.
“He is a really good coach, exceptional at managing the group and dealing with individuals and a really special person.
“Really trustworthy and a man who honours his words. Someone I learned a lot from.”
Asked what lessons he learned from Moyes, Arteta added: “He saw things in me that I didn’t know and he asked me to play in positions I had never played in my life.
“The way he challenged me but gave me love, support and care at the same time was the right balance and was what I needed. He got the best out of me so it was really helpful.”
Moyes will be hoping to damage Arteta’s prospects of winning the league as he looks to steer West Ham away from the relegation zone.
Arsenal will once again be without William Saliba for the game as the France defender continues to recover from a back problem.
He now faces a battle to be back for the crunch trip to City in 12 days time, with Arteta revealing: “William is still not available.
“He’s progressing well and we’re hopeful that we’ll have him available in the next few weeks. We’ll have to see. He’s not far off starting to (train on the grass).
“Obviously we need to be cautious because of the injury but he’s evolving well.”
