Yaya Toure heaps praise on Mikel Arteta and compares him to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola – claiming Arsenal’s work when they lose the ball is reminiscent of the Premier League champions
- Former Premier League star Yaya Toure has lauded Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
- The ex-Manchester City midfielder has compared the Gunners to his former side
- Toure says Arsenal’s work when they lose the ball is similar to title holders City
Yaya Toure has lavished praise on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, comparing him to ultra-successful Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
The former Premier League star spent two seasons at the Etihad under the Spaniard, who is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world.
But Toure believes Arteta, slightly more than two years into his first permanent job, is doing work similar to Guardiola at the Emirates.
He said: ‘If you see the action before the goals, that’s why you have to give credit to Arteta since he has arrived at Arsenal.
‘He has improved this team when they lose the ball. Five seconds and they get the ball back. That’s typical from Pep.
‘When I was at Barcelona, they were doing similar. When they lost the ball, the guys who are in front, they stay. The guys who are behind, they run behind you. Man City do that a lot. They are great at that.
Former Premier League star Yaya Toure has heaped praise on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (left) and compared his work at Arsenal to that of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola (right)
Toure (right) spent two years at the Etihad Stadium under ultra-successful Spaniard Guardiola
Arteta himself acted as an assistant to former Barcelona and Bayern boss Guardiola at City
‘Then, when they get the ball back, they change their pace to finish as soon as possible. It looks simple, but it’s very hard.’
Arteta spent three years as Guardiola’s assistant at City, before branching out at Arsenal, and although he has endured some tough moments, is winning praise for his work in getting Arsenal to fourth.
The north London side are currently in the final Champions League qualifying spot, a point ahead of their closest rivals Manchester United in fifth, but having played three games fewer.
And the Ivorian believes Arsenal’s work when they lose the ball is similar to City’s recoveries
However, Arteta played down talk of a top-four finish and urged his players to focus on one game at a time.
He said: ‘I don’t like to look at the table a lot because we have games in hand, we’re going to play different fixtures. I know the objective and it’s only one, to try and improve tomorrow what we’ve done today and go into the next match and that’s it.
‘I cannot control results and I cannot predict which matches we are going to win, draw or lose, it’s impossible. If I start to do that I think we’re going to lose focus in what we want to do..’
