Pep Guardiola gave Mikel Arteta his backing after Manchester City thrashed Arsenal 5-0 to pile the pressure on his former assistant.
The two Spaniards enjoyed a successful spell together at City but things have been far from plain sailing for Arteta since he left to become Arsenal boss.
Guardiola's side dominated the Gunners at the Etihad, leaving Arteta's side with no points and no goals after three games and rock bottom of the Premier League table.
Pressure is mounting and questions are being raised regarding Arteta’s future after 20 months in charge.
But Guardiola leapt to the defence of his former coach and issued a plea to Arsenal to take various issues into consideration when judging his recent results.
Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Guardiola said: “All I can say is we worked two or three years together.
“What I learned from him is that he’s a good manager. The character, the personality, leading.
“He’s incredibly loved by all of us. We were sad when he left and sometimes people expect or want results immediately.
“The squad today is not the team like he dreamed because they have six, seven, eight injured. Important players, really important players, like Ben White, Thomas Partey.
“He cannot use the players he needs to do it. All the managers need the squad, depth of the squad. All our players except Kevin (de Bruyne) and Phil (Foden), they are completely fit.
“I absolutely am a big fan of him, and I’m pretty sure if they trust him, they are going to do a good job at Arsenal.”
Speaking about his own side, Guardiola declared: "Well, we found the goals without deserving it.
"We had a problem within the first few minutes and we had to improve. Our process against man to man wasn’t good.
"But we found the goals and after the sending off of Xhaka, then the game was done and it was easier for us.
"The game was good, especially after one or two-nil. We had the problems.
"We know that Mikel will play man to man, but when we were able fix that, our process was good. After 2-0, when they played with 10-men, it was a different game.
"It was ok and we could’ve scored more. We respect the opponent and it’s another victory."
