I think it makes sense when you look at who he was as a player and who he is as a person. I reckon people make way too much out of him working under Guardiola at Man City. Arteta didn't grow up idolising Pep the manager, he grew up idolising Pep the player; the archetype of the pivot position where a technically gifted player sacrifices himself to bring balance to the team. It's a position and a responsibility that he has built his career and character around: mature, hard-working, accomplished. I don't think words like Attacking and Entertaining even entered the equation for him though.
His football has been like that as a manager too. The manager he resembles isn't Pep Guardiola; it's David Moyes, who he played under for seven years. And that style could probably have worked to be fair. It would never have been dazzling like Wengerball but it could have been successful; there's more than one way to skin a cat. I think he's just not good enough to get it to work unfortunately, and his high demands means he has too little patience with players who don't behave impeccably or are perceived to not bust a gut on the pitch. The whole idea of going in so hard for Willian seems to havebeen to show that effort is more important than ability. It's why Laca always finds a way back into the team. It's why he doesn't like Pepé too, whose irrational style means he can't be depended upon to execute just one specific instruction.
