It must be said, it’s very easy to do that. Arteta spent three years under Guardiola's wing at Manchester City before taking over at the Emirates Stadium. In that period, Guardiola took City to unseen levels in English football thanks to millions spent on new profiles and elaborate tactical changes.
The reformed idea of a false nine instead of a more natural number nine who plays off the shoulder of the last defence worked wonders in the 2021/22 season. Transforming Kevin De Bruyne into the perfect midfielder, capable of playing in a variety of roles at once, has also been vital.
And since Arteta replaced Unai Emery halfway through the 2019/20 campaign, resemblances between the two teams have been made. Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko were both snapped up by Arteta last summer, both playing starring roles in the Gunners' Premier League title chase last season, with some slamming City’s allowance to strengthen their league rivals with two key players.
Some, not all, of Arsenal's changes in recent years have been compared to City. But it's the tweak of using his full-backs to play inverted and join the midfield - forming a 3-2-2-3 formation in possession - that has transformed the north Londoners.
Zinchenko played 27 of Arsenal's 38 league games this season, starting at left-back in a back four with Gabriel, William Saliba and Ben White. Granit Xhaka's ability to cover every blade of grass allowed the Ukraine international to come inside and join Thomas Partey in front of a back three.
The change in system did work. However, Arteta has refused to settle for second place and a brand new tactical switch has been implemented this summer. Jurrien Timber's arrival from Ajax was smart business. The Netherlands defender is as capable of slotting in at right-back than he is in centre-back, fitting the profile of player that Arteta and Edu Gaspar want at the club.
However, the 22-year-old sustained an ACL injury on his Arsenal debut and Arteta's plan to mould his new vision was blown out of the water on the opening day of the new season. The club have been linked with a number of new defenders in the final week of the window, with Jakub Kiwior now set to play a key role for the foreseeable future.But there is one transfer that, for footballing reasons, would have made perfect sense. Manchester City star Joao Cancelo is reportedly close to joining Barcelona on a season-long loan, with an £21million option to make the move permanent.
The versatile wing-back spent the second half of last season on loan at Bayern Munich after falling out of favour under Guardiola, which seemed rather strange at the time due to his importance to City's side beforehand.
A move to Arsenal had been tipped earlier in the window. There's an argument that Cancelo's personality isn't best suited to Arteta's side, but his ability to simply cover for Timber would have been hard to turn down.
Guardiola earned praise for his use of Cancelo throughout the 2021/22 season, with the full-back pivotal in City’s offensive play by joining Rodri in a midfield pivot to allow the likes of Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne more freedom.
Joao Cancelo
Joao Cancelo was a vital member of Manchester City's 2021/22 Premier League title win
Cancelo’s capability of fitting the role perfectly for Arsenal, for some, made him an ideal target this season. Two years ago, Guardiola explained the importance of the former Juventus star in a system that sees a defender come into midfield, words that show how important he could have been to Arsenal.
"How he moves, how he controls it, how he handles the relationship with team-mates inside and outside," Guardiola said to Sky Sports.
"Other players in the back cannot play in this position, they can play wide, but he has the skills to play there. Danilo could do it. Fabian Delph was exceptional. Alex Zinchenko too.
"There is a need sometimes for these qualities and you believe that they can do it. We talk to them, we try to explain to them. Sometimes we realise it is difficult for them but if you are positive about it and believe that they can do it then they have the quality to do it."
Cancelo now looks set to leave the Premier League for the La Liga. A move to Arsenal is now off the cards and it remains to be seen if the Gunners will regret not attempting to sign the Portugal international.
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