Pep Guardiola gets honest message from Mikel Arteta over his Man City team ‘going backwards’

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has set the bar so high at the Etihad that he can no longer improve, says Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Despite being reigning Premier League champions for four consecutive years and coming into this season aiming for a record-extending fifth, City have faced widespread struggles. They have already doubled last season's number of defeats in the English top flight, leaving them trailing behind Liverpool by 12 points and six points adrift of the second-placed Gunners heading into this weekend's clash at the Emirates.

City's head coach had a particularly tough time over the Christmas period and Arteta, who previously worked as Guardiola's assistant, fears that the expectations set by his impressive six league titles in Manchester are almost impossible to surpass.

"The bar is so high for him that he can't go higher," Arteta told Marca. "So either you maintain it, or people will say you're going backwards based only on the results they see, not on the work being done.

"Everyone knows how much I love him and how grateful I am for the opportunity he gave me. We've known each other for many years. Apart from the competitive aspect between our clubs, I always wish him well, and he knows it's a genuine feeling. Regarding results, he knows things change very quickly."

Arteta's squad, despite not hitting their own heights of their last two seasons, remain hot on the heels of the leading Reds with 47 points, even after eight league draws.

They await a crucial crunch match against Guardiola's City, who have recently improved their league form by hammering Ipswich Town 6-0 and narrowly beating Chelsea 3-1. Nonetheless, a recent European loss to PSG and a less than convincing 3-1 home win against Club Brugge signal that City may still be not up to their impeccable standard.

"Life is not the next 20 years or century that City are going to win [all] the Premier Leagues. Sometimes it happens: accept the reality, we're struggling," Guardiola himself acknowledged in early January.

"We will be back again. I want to fight and try to deliver to make people proud. Of course, if they (the fans) help us it will be easier, that's for sure.

"If they help us to come to the distance that we were, it will be shorter. They are human beings, and they want to do it. My players, I know them perfectly. All of them want to do it, and that's enough."