Arteta Moves Past Brighton Row as Arsenal Pursues Record Start

Mikel Arteta insists the bad blood is gone. The Premier League title race, though, is very much alive.

The Arsenal manager returns to the Amex Stadium on Saturday to face Brighton and Fabian Hurzeler, the coach who publicly tore into his side’s approach during a spiky 1-0 defeat there in March.

That night, Hurzeler snapped that “only one team tried to play football” and accused Arsenal of “making their own rules”. It lit up the touchline and the post-match interviews. The rematch arrives with Arsenal as champions and flying, but the subplot in the dugout has refused to die quietly.

This week, Hurzeler made it clear he would not walk those comments back.

“I think it’s very important that in football there are opinions,” the German said when asked if he regretted his words. “I will definitely always share my opinion if I am asked. But, in the end, I congratulate Arsenal for being deserved champions. They deserved it.”

No apology. Just a nod to the trophy.

Arteta, though, brushed off the row when he faced the cameras on Friday.

“That’s all done. That’s all in the past,” he said. “I have huge respect for Fabian, and what he’s done and what Brighton has done as a club.

“It’s just remarkable, and tomorrow is going to be a beautiful game to watch, I’m sure.”

No hint of a grudge. No desire to add fuel. Arsenal arrive top of the table and in ruthless form, and Arteta clearly sees more value in control than conflict.

Champions in full stride

Arsenal’s title defence could hardly have started with more authority. Four wins from four in the league have put them back on top, the swagger of champions intact. The momentum has rolled seamlessly into Europe and the domestic cups as well.

They opened their Champions League campaign with victory over Napoli, then marched into the League Cup fourth round on Tuesday by beating Ipswich. Seven games, seven wins if you include the Community Shield triumph over Manchester City. The numbers tell their own story.

“We know how complicated it is to win a football match at this level. So, to win seven, it tells a story,” Arteta said, as quoted by AFP.

He pointed back to the uncertainty that followed the World Cup and the lack of preparation time with his squad.

“After the World Cup, there were a lot of unknowns about how the players and the team were going to react. We didn’t have any time with them to work together.

“But I said from day one, the attitude and what I was seeing, I was really impressed with. Then you have to put it down to performances.”

On the south coast, Arsenal can match a club record that has stood for 123 years: their best ever start to a season. One more win, and this group will sit alongside the earliest trailblazers in the club’s history.

Dowman makes his case

Amid the winning run, one story cut through the usual early-season narratives: Max Dowman.

The 16-year-old playmaker, long talked about inside the club as a special prospect, finally stepped into the spotlight at Ipswich. On his first appearance of the season, he scored twice and looked entirely at home, underlining why many already see him as one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League.

Dowman had spent the opening weeks as an unused substitute. After Tuesday night, that status may not last long.

Asked if the teenager had been knocking on his door to demand minutes, Arteta’s answer was pointed.

“The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office,” he said. “Then you just leave out the arguments. When a player delivers constantly on the pitch, every single day in training, that’s the best way, that’s the best signal for the manager.”

Dowman has sent that signal. Brighton away, with its intensity and noise, might come too soon for a major role, but the conversation around his involvement has already changed.

Contract calm as focus stays on Brighton

Away from the touchline drama and the form table, one issue continues to lurk in the background: Arteta’s contract. Talks over an extension have been running for months, but there is still no signature.

The Spaniard, though, cut a relaxed figure when asked about it.

“I think we are all very much aligned, whenever the time is right we’ll get that done. There is nothing to be concerned about,” he said.

His attention, for now, is fixed on Brighton, on Hurzeler, and on a chance to equal a record that stretches back more than a century. The row from March might be “in the past”, as Arteta says, but with Arsenal in this kind of form and the Amex braced for another fierce contest, how long will the peace truly last once the whistle blows?