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."
PSG boss Luis Enrique expects entertainment in Champions League semi-final with Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund served up plenty of entertainment in the Champions League quarter-finals, and their last-eight meeting promises more of the same, says Luis Enrique.
Both sides came back from first-leg defeats to reach the semi-finals, PSG winning 4-1 in Barcelona after a 3-2 loss in the French capital and Dortmund downing Atletico Madrid 4-2 to recover from their loss in Spain.
"I think that is the way it went in the quarter-finals based on the playing style of Dortmund and the way that we play," PSG head coach Luis Enrique told a press conference.
"I think it could be a wonderful spectacle, not just for the two fan bases, but for everybody who loves football. I think there will be goals, given the quality and the ability to reach the opposition goal on both teams."
PSG had never before overturned a first-leg defeat at home in the Champions League, and while the Spaniard believes it can help his players, he also knows that history counts for little at this stage.
"I do hope it liberates us because this is something that we haven't done before after losing the first leg. I also have experience that shows how important it is to be competitive tomorrow," Luis Enrique said.
"What we achieved previously doesn't matter. History is great, but our goal is to win tomorrow. We don't want to leave it to chance and think about the second leg at the Parc des Princes."
History may weigh on the minds of PSG, too, given they have lost all four games of their previous two-legged Champions League semi-final ties – against Milan in 1994-95 and Manchester City in 2020-21.
The Parisians did win their one-legged last-four meeting with RB Leipzig in the disrupted 2019-20 season, though, while Dortmund have reached the final on two of their three semi-final appearances.
Dortmund and PSG have already met in this season's competition as well, with the German side topping their group, but PSG beat them at Parc des Princes and managed a 1-1 draw in the away meeting.
Luis Enrique thinks his team, who secured their third consecutive Ligue 1 title on Sunday, have improved since then – and suggested there is even more to come.
"We have improved in all areas. We are better defensively, better going forward," the former Barcelona boss continued.
"We can keep improving for sure. And that is one of the characteristics of our way of managing the club and the team, by trying to be demanding, not thinking that everything is done."
PSG appear favourites to go through given Dortmund have only won one of their six meetings with the French side in all competitions (D3 L2).
Dortmund overcame PSG 2-1 in the first leg of the 2019-20 Champions League round of 16 before being eliminated 3-2 on aggregate, and Luis Enrique expects another difficult task on Wednesday.
"That shows that the press doesn't know much about football," he joked ahead of the first meeting at Signal Iduna Park.
"I have said that for a long time. What is great about being here is enjoying a really special game at a unique stadium in Europe and having the chance to make our fans really happy by reaching the final."
A tough challenge awaits for PSG, however, considering Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 10 Champions League home games (W6 D4), their longest-ever such run in the competition.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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