Gabby Logan's damning verdict on Mikel Arteta as Pep Guardiola point made

• 

• Arsenal
• Arsenal News
• Mikel Arteta

Arsenal are reeling from a run of three defeats in four games under Mikel Arteta, including a surprise 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium

Gabby Logan believes that Pep Guardiola has "got into Mikel Arteta's head" with his training ground tactics and touchline behaviour prompting questions about the Arsenal manager.

The Gunners have suffered defeat in three of their past four matches across all competitions, with Bournemouth the latest side to overcome them. Their victory at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday has handed Manchester City renewed hope in the title race. Arsenal now risk surrendering another advantage at the summit of the table.

Arteta faces mounting pressure to deliver silverware with the north London side. The Spaniard has not lifted a trophy since the FA Cup in 2020 and has overseen three consecutive runners-up campaigns.

In a bid to restore the club's fortunes, he's introduced some unconventional training techniques, with sports broadcaster Logan observing that David Raya showed minimal engagement with them and was instead "focusing on his job" when questioned about them days afterwards.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Speaking on The Sports Agents podcast with co-host Mark Chapman, she said: "I can't get my head around it. Honestly, having covered them so much early in the season in the Champions League, and you know, seeing them play some great, composed control football, just what's going on?

"What's happened to that Arsenal team? It feels like Arteta has definitely, watching him on the touchline, it feels like he's become even more maniacal in his behaviour. And there are more people around him, and they're doing things they haven't done.

"And there's all that footage last week of them walking around with footballs, five of them having a football on their head, and that was a team building exercise. And then David Raya coming into the studio at Prime saying, 'Well, I didn't do that because I was focusing on my job.'

"It feels like Pep's got into his head. It's impossible for us to measure that, isn't it? And it's impossible to us to ascertain.

"He didn't come in the studio pre-match, you know, pitch side, as he normally does last week. They're changing things, and they're changing players at a different stage of the game as well."

City have succeeded in overhauling Arsenal during two of the previous three title battles.

This Sunday the top two sides will meet at the Etihad Stadium, where a victory for the home side would prove monumental and leave them merely days from potentially claiming first place.

Arsenal had been discussed as potential quadruple champions only weeks earlier, but have fallen to City in the Carabao Cup final and been upset by Southampton in the FA Cup last eight.