Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 7y

Arsene Wenger tells Pep Guardiola to stick to his philosophy despite critics

LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told Pep Guardiola not to change his ways even though it may take time before he can fully implement his ideas and philosophies at Manchester City.

Wenger and Guardiola will face each other in the Premier League for the first time on Sunday, with third-placed Arsenal sitting one point and one place ahead of City in the standings.

The crucial clash comes at a time when Guardiola's tactics and focus on attack-minded football are being questioned after losses to Chelsea and Leicester dented City's title challenge and exposed defensive frailties in his team.

But Wenger, who has often faced similar criticism, insisted Guardiola should not listen to his critics even though it may take time before everything clicks.

"People are always resistant to radical change, but they are as well ready to cope with it if it's successful," he told a news conference. "Our job is to always accept that you want your own philosophy but at the right pace.

"Sometimes you have to analyse what's going on and to bring in your own philosophy at the pace where you think they can cope with it. Every manager has a personality, and he can only act within his own personality. You cannot copy a manager, you can only be who you are.

"He [Guardiola] has been influenced at Barcelona by the [Johan] Cruyff period when he was a player. He has strong beliefs, and that for me is the most important when you're a manager."

Guardiola has been likened by some to a young Wenger because of the way he has brought new ideas to the game like the Frenchman did when he took over Arsenal 20 years ago.

Wenger, though, pointed out that while their playing styles are similar, their pedigrees when arriving in England were quite different.

Guardiola won every major club title at Barcelona and added three Bundesliga crowns with Bayern Munich before moving on to City this summer. Wenger was relatively unknown when he came from a stint coaching in Japan to take over the Gunners in 1996.

"He's further [ahead] than I was 20 years ago. He started at Barcelona, I started in an academy," Wenger said. "I must say he has done extremely well, and he's one of the most respected managers in the game, if not the most. And maybe rightly so."

That has not shielded Guardiola from being questioned after an inconsistent start to the campaign, with City sometimes struggling to replicate the free-flowing football that was the hallmark of the Spaniard's Barcelona and Bayern sides.

But Wenger insisted it is still much easier for a foreign manager to introduce new ideas in England these days than it was when he took over at Arsenal.

"I should get some newspapers from when I arrived here, and you will see that it's easier today for the foreign managers," he said. "I would say when I arrived here it was difficult for the foreign managers. Today it's difficult for the English managers. That's what has changed."

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