Arteta Moves Past Hurzeler Feud as Arsenal Aim for Historic Start at Brighton

Mikel Arteta insists the row with Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler is over. The cameras may linger on the technical areas on Saturday, but the Arsenal manager has already moved on.

Last season at the Amex, Hurzeler lit the fuse after a 1-0 defeat, claiming “only one team tried to play football” and accusing Arsenal of “making their own rules.” It was a pointed dig at the champions’ streetwise edge and game management.

The German has not exactly backed away from those words this week. Asked to revisit his comments, he doubled down on the principle if not the fallout.

“I think it’s very important that in football there are opinions,” he said. “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.”

Arteta, though, has no interest in turning this into a sequel.

“That’s all done. That’s all in the past,” he told reporters on Friday. “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.”

Champions in full flow

The backdrop to this touchline subplot is a ruthless Arsenal side setting the early pace again.

Four wins from four in their Premier League title defence. Top of the table. Momentum already building. On top of that, a confident Champions League opening victory against Napoli and safe passage into the League Cup fourth round after a midweek win at Ipswich.

Including the Community Shield triumph over Manchester City, Arsenal have strung together seven straight wins. One more on the south coast would match a 123-year club record for the best start to a season.

“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 period immediately after the World Cup, when uncertainty hung over every 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.”

The performances are coming thick and fast now, and so are the selection headaches.

Dowman makes his case

At Ipswich, 16-year-old Max Dowman stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The teenage playmaker scored twice in his first appearance of the season, a sharp reminder of why many inside the club regard him as one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League.

He had spent the opening weeks as an unused substitute. That may now change.

Asked if Dowman had been knocking on his door to demand minutes, Arteta’s answer was blunt, and very much in keeping with his standards.

“The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office.

“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 his signal. Whether Brighton away is the stage for the next step is Arteta’s call.

Contract talks in the background

All this comes with one unresolved issue hovering in the background: Arteta’s contract.

Talks over an extension have been ongoing for months, but the Spaniard remains relaxed and insists there is no tension behind the scenes.

“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.

So the focus returns to the Amex. Hurzeler’s words from March still echo, even if Arteta refuses to fan the flames. Arsenal arrive as champions, in form, and one win away from equalling a record that stretches back more than a century.

If they leave Brighton with that mark in their pocket, the conversation will shift quickly from old grudges to a more pressing question: just how far can this Arsenal team run away from the pack this season?