Softfootball understands that Pep Guardiola calling Arsenal the best team in the world should have been a routine headline. Instead, it turned into a full-blown football argument across X, with fans reading between every word.
The comment came after Manchester City’s shock 3–1 Champions League defeat to Bodo/Glimt, in a press conference video shared by Fabrizio Romano on his official X account.
Watch the video below:
Timing, as always with Pep, made people suspicious. Some felt it sounded like surrender. Others heard mind games.
One of the loudest sceptical reactions came from Queen Bee (@RealQueenBee__), whose post carried more confusion than anger. Her message suggests she sees Guardiola’s words as oddly uncharacteristic, almost like a man lowering the bar earlier than expected. To her, it didn’t sound like respect; it sounded like doubt creeping in.
She said:
I can believe that Pep is saying this. Has he lost hope already almost mid season? That’s not a hallmark of legends.
Fritolaze (@FritoLaze) took a colder reaction, from his angle, football greatness isn’t hypothetical; it’s proven in medal counts, and Arsenal simply don’t qualify yet.
He stated:
Majority of Arsenal players are trophyless, Arsenal team are yet to win a major trophy…. They are not remotely close to being the best team in the world.
A more calculating perspective came from Bankole (@bankysux01), who treated the praise like a chess move, not a compliment. His post frames Guardiola as a master manipulator, someone who flatters opponents publicly while preparing something ruthless behind the scenes. For him, Pep’s words are never just words.
He posted:
Guardiola praising you mid-season is not a compliment. It’s a setup. He’s lowering expectations while sharpening the knife. Every time Pep flatters a rival, he’s already mapped how to dismantle them. Compliments are part of his MO
Interestingly, not all Arsenal fans were buying it either. Mr Rabo (@AFC_Rabo) responded with a tone that felt worn, cautious, and almost defensive. He refuses to celebrate too early. Big names, he reminds everyone, still sit above Arsenal in the football food chain.
He said:
Common Arsenal? Best team in the World? Naahh. What have we achieved? Never won anything. Real Madrid are there. Bayern Munich. Manchester United ffs! We are nothing but a team chasing a dream one game at a time…Not falling for no Pep mind games this season.
Then there was Arsenal Rep (@Arsenal_rep1), who went in the opposite direction completely. His reaction didn’t question Guardiola’s words, it embraced them fully.
He concluded:
Pep Guardiola giving us PR is out of this world Rival fans will say it’s a mind game but it’s not, it’s the truth Arsenal are the best team in the world EPL, UCL, FA, Carling Cup and the Super cup are all coming in this season… The Lord is restoring the year the cankerworm has stolen from us..
Whether Guardiola meant it as genuine admiration, subtle pressure, or something in between, the reaction shows how powerful his words still are. One sentence, one clip, and suddenly everyone’s arguing about belief, fear, history, and what comes next. In football, sometimes the talking does almost as much damage as the playing.
