Pep Guardiola's influence on Mikel Arteta is clear to see at Arsenal this season, former Gunners midfielder Paul Davis has told Stats Perform.
Arsenal are the only Premier League side to have made a perfect start to the 2022-23 campaign with three wins from their opening three matches.
It is the first time the north London club have achieved that in 18 years and has left fans excited about an unlikely title tilt – or a top-four finish at the very least.
Arteta previously spent three years working under Guardiola on the Manchester City coaching staff, which Davis believes has made the Spaniard a better manager.
"If you're not going to become a better coach when working with someone like Pep, you shouldn't be there," said Davis, who spent 15 years at Arsenal prior to departing in 1995.
"He's obviously learned so much and he's now using a lot of that with Arsenal. You can now see that in games."
While supporters are now firmly behind Arteta, it was a different story 12 months ago after Arsenal lost their first three matches without scoring.
"Arsenal are in a good place now and everybody's happy," Davis added. "But all the fans last year were saying we've got to let him go. They're not saying the same thing now.
"Last season they were going through a bad time. When people were telling me he's got to go, I was saying 'Hold on, he doesn't have to go yet – give him some time'.
"It doesn't surprise me that he's been given time, and now you can see the development of the team and the players."
Arsenal's fast start comes on the back of a busy close season in which they signed Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the latter two joining from Man City.
Jesus has been involved in five goals in his first three Premier League appearances, which is the most of any Arsenal player in their first three games in the competition.
And Davis, speaking exclusively on the release of his new book, Arsenal And After, can see comparisons between Jesus and another Arsenal favourite from the past.
"What's surprised me about him is the hunger he's shown – it's like he really wants to be here," added Davis, who works as a senior coach developer at the Football Association.
"Someone mentioned the other day that Jesus reminds them of Ian Wright, which I can see now but couldn't at the time.
"Ian had that enthusiasm of wanting to score goals, and he scores goals similar to the ones we've seen from Jesus. They have a similar type of game in wanting to get in behind.
"If he can carry on scoring goals like Ian, Arsenal fans will be happy and I'll be happy. He's made a great start and I can't see why it won't continue."
Deschamps braced for intense clash with rivals Belgium
Didier Deschamps is preparing his France team for an intense meeting with rivals Belgium in Monday's decisive Nations League clash.
Belgium have not overcome Les Bleus in competitive action in 43 years, last managing to do so in 1981 in a World Cup qualifier.
Domenico Tedesco's side will be desperate to atone for that poor record in Brussels, knowing a defeat could end their top-two hopes.
France are two points clear of third-placed Belgium, who are three behind group leaders Italy, and Deschamps anticipates an enthralling clash with their quarter-final qualification chances on the line.
"We will have a motivated Belgian team, like they always are, but even more so on Monday. There's definitely a rivalry," Deschamps told reporters on Sunday.
"We face each other often in competitions, but not so much in friendlies. We often meet in decisive matches. So there’s a rivalry since we are neighbours, but not animosity and no bad blood because the players know each other."
As for France's impressive record against Belgium, Deschamps does not expect that to play any influence on Monday.
"I'm not convinced our past wins give us a psychological edge. It is history ... and the players aren't the same either," the France boss added.
Les Bleus thrashed Israel 4-1 in Budapest, while Belgium earned a 2-2 draw in Italy on Thursday, having been two goals behind inside 24 minutes.
France will again be missing talisman Kylian Mbappe, who is facing criticism at home for not taking part in the games against Israel and Belgium while being fit to play for Real Madrid.
Mbappe's Real Madrid team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni will continue as France captain after taking the armband in his absence.
Shaw lauds Man City comeback as vital in WSL decided by 'fine margins'
Khadija Shaw hailed Manchester City's comeback victory over Liverpool as "fine margins" will decide the Women's Super League.
City striker Shaw was twice on target at Anfield on Sunday in the second half, netting a late winner with a ferocious finish from close range.
That capped a remarkable turnaround for the visiting City, who had earlier trailed from Olivia Smith's stinging 41st-minute strike.
Victory lifted City to the top of the league after four games, and last season's top WSL scorer Shaw referenced the importance of such wins in what is expected to be another tight division.
"It's a very important win because we know how tight this league is," Shaw told Sky Sports. "Fine margins will decide the championship.
"We knew it was going to be tough but we wanted to stick to what we know we are capable of doing.
"It was very difficult as they went with five at the back; credit to Liverpool. We spoke at half-time about how we can cause problems with balls into the box. I got the goal so it worked!"
The victory also ended a fantastic week for City, who beat Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
City are now unbeaten in their opening four WSL matches for the first time since 2019-20, and last year's runners-up look well set to challenge again this term.
Such a start would not have been possible without Shaw, however, as the forward shrugged off the challenge of Niamh Fahey and lashed into the top-right corner to secure the points for Gareth Taylor's team.
"For me, I knew where the goal was and so I positioned myself in between the ball and the defender," Shaw said of her late heroics.
"I just focused on hitting it as hard as possible and getting it on target."
Liverpool were without manager Matt Beard due to illness, though his assistant Scott Rogers felt the Reds deserved a share of the spoils at home.
"I thought we deserved a point from the game," Rogers said. "We frustrated them for large periods which was part of the game plan and we were dangerous on the counter.
"We got our goal from Olivia Smith from that kind of situation in the first half. We limited them to two shots on target in the whole game and we had three, so that tells you a lot about the game.
"We didn't have a lot of the ball but I felt we were in control in periods. We made one or two defensive errors towards the end and they punished us."
Carsley: England deserve 'world-class coach'
Lee Carsley's ambitions for the permanent England role remain unclear, acknowledging the position "deserves a world-class coach" after Sunday's win in Finland.
The Three Lions responded to Thursday's defeat against Greece with a 3-1 victory in Helsinki as Jack Grealish opened the scoring before second-half goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice.
That made it three wins in four games for Carsley as the interim England boss since Gareth Southgate left the role following July's Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain.
Thomas Tuchel has emerged in recent times as the frontrunner to take charge of England, and Carsley suggested his side need management from someone who has silverware to their name.
"I've not really thought much about it. I keep saying the same thing. My remit was six games and I'm happy with that. This is a privileged position," Carsley said when asked about his full-time ambitions on ITV.
"I'm really enjoying it but I didn't enjoy the last two days. I'm not used to losing in an England team, I don't take losing well.
"People are always going to try and put their chips on one side. I'm in the middle. My bosses have made it clear what they need from me.
"This job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that."
England underwhelmed in a 2-1 defeat to Greece on Thursday but Carsley was delighted with the response.
"We were looking for a reaction, that was a big thing," he added. "I think they've shown that they respond well, in the best way. I thought we were a lot better.
"We played a lot more controlled, we had massive possession, created a lot of chances, but I think we can still do better.
"The way they set up, they were well organised. Not a lot of space, we had to create that space, but if you have as much possession as we did then you're always going to get a chance."
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