Kevin Campbell: 'Mikel Arteta will not replicate Pep Guardiola success'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 08 April 2020

Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell warns that Mikel Arteta does not have the players capable of replicating the success his mentor Pep Guardiola has achieved.

Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell has warned supporters against expecting Mikel Arteta to produce similar levels of success as his mentor Pep Guardiola.

Arteta learned the managerial ropes under Guardiola during a trophy-laden spell at Manchester City before taking his first head coach job at Arsenal in December.

The Spaniard has already overseen an improvement in results at the Emirates Stadium, losing just two of his 15 games at the helm, but Campbell believes that he does not have the players capable of replicating the style Guardiola has implemented at the Etihad.

"Everybody thinks Pep Guardiola's system is attack, attack, attack. Pep Guardiola's system is work hard, graft and press the ball. That is what his system is," he told The Chronicles of a Gooner podcast.

"Once you can do that you can play all the pretty football you like because you wear teams out. You have to, one: be extra fit, two: you have to have the buy-in from the players in order to do it, and three - and this is probably the most important thing - you have to have the right players to play it.

"Unfortunately, Mikel Arteta this season is our third manager, so it may take a bit longer because now I think we've got the right manager, but now we're going to have to get the right players in. I don't think we've got the right balance of players in our system to play the way Mikel Arteta wants."

Arteta has won eight of his 15 games in charge of Arsenal so far - as many as they managed in their 25 outings prior to his arrival.