Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay can take their bromance to new levels this weekend.
Their teams — both owned by Stan Kroenke — are playing in the same city. To boot, their respective opponents — Fulham and the Jacksonville Jaguars — are both owned by Shad Khan.
On Friday, Arteta spoke glowingly of his Rams counterpart. They regularly exchange Whatsapp messages.
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“Sean is someone that I admire a lot, not only for what he has achieved, but the way he is as a coach, as a person, the way he presents himself,” Arteta said at a news conference. “I learn a lot of things from him.”
The pair have chatted tactics over the years, even COVID-19 protocols back in 2020.
Arsenal played a preseason friendly at SoFi Stadium — the Rams’ home — both last year and in 2023. During last summer’s visit, Arteta and McVay ran a coaching clinic for local children.
Arteta is still seeking a Premier League title as manager. The Gunners won the FA Cup in his first year in charge — 2020 — and have been the league runner-up for the past three seasons. They haven’t won the Premier League title since 2004.
In February 2022 at the age of 36, McVay became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl.
Arsenal travel across London to face Fulham in a Premier League match on Saturday evening. The Gunners enter the weekend atop the league.
The Rams and Jaguars traveled just a bit farther to play at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
“We’ll be connected,” Arteta said of McVay. “It’s going to be a really tight schedule for both teams because we have the Champions League after coming up on Tuesday, but it’s great to have them. It’s great to have Stan and Josh [Kroenke] here as well with us. It’s a good opportunity as well to connect everybody.”
Before leaving for the British capital, McVay told reporters about his admiration for Arteta.
“One of the things that I love about him that we try to be able to do is he’s so reflective on where can he continue to grow, and he’s not afraid to ask questions that he wants real honest feedback from his guys of where he can improve for them,” McVay said.
“The great pressure or whatever it is, it’s a privilege, and he embraces it,” he added. “It’s cool to watch him move and how he handles it all.”
