“I have all the respect on the court, not much off the court”: Pep Guardiola hits the Arsenal board as the Manchester City boss highlights the complaints about his appeal to CAS and the appreciation of Mikel Arteta
- Pep Guardiola has hit the Arsenal board for off-field activities
- The Arsenal hierarchy was said to be the leaders of the ‘Eight Hateful’ clique
- The club also appreciated Guardiola’s assistant Mikel Arteta of the club.
- The Catalan coach focuses on the clash of the City Champions League with Madrid
Pep Guardiola struck a blow at Arsenal’s board on Monday, further underscoring Manchester City’s discontent with the London club.
City believes the Gunners were leaders of the so-called ‘Eight Hateful’ clique who attempted to obstruct the finally successful appeal of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Sportsmail revealed.
Guardiola, whose team lost Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final to Arsenal, did a shallow dig before the trip to Watford on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola has hit the Arsenal board for actions taken behind the scenes
He is not happy with his role in ‘Hateful Eight’ and with the appreciation of the club’s Mikel Arteta (L).
“Opponents always deserve my respect and credit,” he said. “Arsenal, I have all the respect for what they are on the field, not much off the field, but a lot on the field.”
It is also understood that there is dismay at City with the way Arsenal recruited former assistant manager Mikel Arteta last December.
Guardiola also asked last week if Arsenal would support Arteta enough in the transfer market. However, the Catalan has bigger problems at the moment, as the European date against Real Madrid is getting closer after two meaningless games in the Premier League.
City players will not have free time before the local Champions League champions spend 16 seconds with the LaLiga champions on August 7. They have a one-goal advantage from the Bernabéu and, on the contrary, Zinedine Zidane can give his players a break. given week the Spanish season ended earlier.
City has two league games left, but Guardiola is focused on the Champions League
“We will have two (rest) days after Watford, but after Watford we will have two weeks of training sessions,” Guardiola said.
‘We will try to keep our rhythm in our sessions. We are going to find a specific way to play against Madrid.
“They don’t have (Sergio) Ramos, so we’ll see how (Eder) Militao and (Raphael) Varane have come together in their games.” It is an advantage that we have more time to prepare specific things about them.
‘We are excited and optimistic against Madrid. If we play at a decent level we will have our chance, if not, we will be out. Saturday was not good enough.
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