Man City vs Arsenal: The evolution of Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta as both managers and friends

While Arsenal learned to compete at the highest levels, Guardiola continued to develop.

That tension – between embracing an idea and remaining loyal to it – has defined the 55-year-old’s career.

“He starts incorporating new concepts,” Segura said. “The ultimate defensive transition – that’s where he thrives.

“Arteta incorporated a more physical profile than Pep. Pep is looking for more technical players… Arteta is looking for strength, pace, and power.”

But there are still plenty of points of convergence.

“Both of them are looking for pieces to improve the offensive transition,” Segura said. “With the city [Erling] Haaland…with Arteta [Viktor] Gyokres.”

There is one element where the comparison becomes most obvious. In elite football, the thing that defines coaches is how they respond to difficulty.

Arteta is at that moment. He has built a team that is capable of competing with the best. However, the ultimate goal for him is to consistently win at the highest level.

When results don’t come, the temptation is always the same: change and respond to external pressure. Arteta has not abandoned those views. He has doubled. He has asked more from his players and placed greater emphasis, but he has done so within the same framework.

In elite sports, losing is considered part of the process. The next step is to evolve and try again with the same or greater effort.

Guardiola has lived that cycle over and over again. After failures, and criticism, he returned to his principles and expanded them.

Sean Dyche, the former manager of Burnley, Everton, and Nottingham Forest, has witnessed this resilience firsthand.

“Pep doesn’t panic in difficult times,” he said. “He adjusted, but stayed true to what he believes in.

“I think it’s brilliant management from Pep and Arteta… They’ve tried to win in a certain way, but they’ve also evolved to play in ways that we knew before.”

There is another layer of challenge facing Arteta, partly created by Guardiola himself.

“The most significant change in football now is that winning is not enough,” Dyche said. “People ask how you win.”

Guardiola changed expectations.

So now Arsenal, despite their development, are certainly judged on results but also perception.