Arteta and Hürzeler settle dispute in text exchange
Mar 13, 2026, 11:26 AM ETMikel Arteta insisted he and Fabian Hürzeler were on good terms after the Brighton boss reached out to clear up his critical comments about Arsenal's style of play.Hürzeler accused the Gunners of "making their own rules" following last week's 1-0 loss to the Premier League leaders and on Friday both managers revealed they had exchanged texts following the Brighton boss' criticism of Arsenal's approach."It's nothing personal and I have said it before that I have huge respect and I see him as one of the top managers in the Premier League," Hürzeler said at his news conference on Friday. "I love to see them playing and I also admire a lot of elements of what they're doing."I texted him and I said the same thing to him as well, that I have huge respect for everyone from Arsenal and that I will be the first person to congratulate him when they win the Premier League because if they win it, they definitely deserve it."But on the other side, they're just things that made me emotional. I'm a person who sticks to my principles. I'm a person who sticks to my opinion, although it created a lot of noise."Arteta refused to reveal the details of their exchange and doubled down in his defence of their approach ahead of Saturday's top-flight meeting with Everton.Mikel Arteta insists he has no issue with Fabian Hürzeler. Photo by Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images."That's a personal conversation," said Arteta. "Obviously he's made public and now said some comments that he made before and that says, I think, a lot of positive things about him as a person."So I appreciate that and the rest, you know, I think he's a fantastic coach. The job that he is doing at Brighton is really, really good and that's fine."Arsenal's critics have pointed to their reliance on set-pieces and absence of what some feel is a lack of excitement or beauty in their game.Arteta would offer no apologies, adding: "That's why there are the rules. For the long throws, we don't want to see long throws, it's very simple."Give four seconds for the long throws if you need, but the biggest issue is the man-to-man, believe me."And then all the managers have to agree, you cannot defend man-to-man and tomorrow, you're going to have a different league. I guarantee you, a different league."- 'Part of the game': David Moyes defends Mikel Arteta and Arsenal's reliance on set-pieces- Liverpool, not Arsenal, best team in Premier League - Michael Owen- Wayne Rooney to Arsenal: 'If teams can't deal with it, do it more'Arsenal sit seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.Asked if style mattered at the sharp end of the Gunners' title chase, Arteta replied: "It's playing the best football you possibly can and the game demands to give you the best possibility to win the game and that's it."Arteta has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Everton's visit, but it remains uncertain if Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard will be fit.While he would not go so far as to say he hoped relegation-battling Tottenham would survive, in order to preserve the bitter top-flight rivalry next season, Arteta did appreciate the appeal of the north London derby."I continue to say, it's one of the most beautiful games that we have, because when there is that passion and that rivalry, when it's in the right way in a sport, I think it elevates the game and the feelings and the emotions after winning to a different level."And yeah, it's not for me to say what is going to happen, but I can describe certainly how it is to play against each other."PA contributed to this report.
