Mikel Arteta received support from colleague Pep Guardiola on Tuesday evening after the punishment against Manchester City (1-4 loss) in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup, who would see a possible dismissal of the Arsenal manager as a ‘big mistake’. Arsenal made an uninspired impression against City and put the position of Arteta under further pressure by the defeat. The team has won only three of the last eleven official games.

After the earwash against City, Guardiola expressed his support for Arteta. “They are making a big mistake when they fire him (Arteta, ed.),” Guardiola said opposite BBC Radio 5. “I understand that the analysts are analyzing the results, but I’m pretty sure he will continue to have the confidence. I know his incredible qualities as a person and especially as a trainer, how involved he is in everything. It’s a matter of time, but I’m confident he will do well. ”

Arsenal has dropped to fifteenth place in the Premier League and this season is only performing properly in the Europa League, in which the team as group head advanced to the sixteenth finals. “He has won two titles with Arsenal for a long time,” Guardiola refers to the FA Cup and Community Shield won earlier this year. “Despite all the injury problems they have always played well recently, but I also know that our work depends on the results.”

On Boxing Day, Arsenal will take on Chelsea in-house, to end the year next Tuesday on a visit to Brighton & Hove Albion. “I can only speak about my own experience with him. Arsenal are one of the most successful clubs in the history of English football and he has been part of that success. In the situation he is in he deserves the time, as I also got in my first season ”, Guardiola concludes.

“At the moment there are a lot of strange things happening in every game and that makes things very difficult”, Arteta himself said after the lost game against Manchester City. “We have to turn this around, otherwise we will be in big trouble. This is the moment that will determine the course of the rest of the season. Based on what I have seen against a strong opponent, I can conclude that I am fighters. on my team. “