Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has dismissed talks about the inexperience of Arsenal’s new boss Mikel Arteta ahead of their boxing day league clash at the Vitality.
Arteta, 37, will take charge of his first game at Arsenal against Bournemouth having spent the last three years as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had said before Arteta’s appointment that he had “no experience” as a manager and would need help.
But Howe, who was appointed Bournemouth’s permanent manager at the age of 31 in 2009, disagree.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Howe, 42, told reporters when asked about the advantage he had over Spaniard Arteta.
“It’s not about me and Mikel, it’s about the players, how we implement what we do against Arsenal.”
Howe, who had a short stint at Burnley before returning to Bournemouth in 2012, has already managed more than 500 matches in his career.
“The experience side of it – as I found when I first came into the job when I was coming up against managers who had had all sorts of games – the game is there to win, regardless of how many games you’ve got behind you,” Howe said.
“He’s taking over a fantastic club with great players and he’ll have his own ideas and philosophies, built up over a number of years of how he wants his team to play.”
Bournemouth, who are 14th, can move within a point of 11th-placed Arsenal with a home victory while the Gunners are looking for a first win in three matches.
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