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Although Mikel Arteta attempted to quieten a lot of the noise around Sunday’s febrile Manchester City vs Arsenal match by Tuesday, some of his staff were still privately ranting about it. It was no different up north. Modern footballers are by now diligently trained to ensure their media comments bring no controversy, but that's precisely why it was so striking that Bernardo Silva felt the license to just let loose following that 2-2 draw.
“Liverpool always faced us face to face to try and win the game,” the Portuguese said, having already pointedly mentioned how Jurgen Klopp’s side had actually won the Champions League and Premier League. Unlike this Arsenal. Through that very specific reference, Bernardo signalled how this new Premier League rivalry has also gone to a level beyond City-Liverpool. Or perhaps deeper.
There's a rare rancour to it now very much firing the dressing rooms, in a way that arguably hasn’t been seen since Arsenal’s own great duopoly with Manchester United. City-Liverpool never quite got down to the players or managers in the same way, although there was genuine “hatred” between the clubs. Much of that stemmed from the different ownerships, although Klopp became one of the few figures in football to ever bring that up. City saw Liverpool as among the prime agitators regarding the champions’ numerous disciplinary cases, with Guardiola even naming them as one of the nine clubs who pushed for a Champions League ban.
Another club was Arsenal, and City were already starting to get even more aggravated about their positioning on all of this. Executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis is known to be one of the most vocal figures in the Premier League about the problems of state ownership, regularly bringing up issues with Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City and Saudi Arabia-owned Newcastle United.
Some at City quip that Arsenal evidently see no issue in having their stadium named after UAE-owned Emirates, or taking training trips to Dubai. Others at the London club have meanwhile discussed how, if the Premier League case is proven, the charges are of such a nature that expulsion for City should be an option.
To go much further back, officials at the Etihad remember when they felt ostracised by such establishment clubs at big European meetings following the Abu Dhabi takeover. They did respond by trying to buy all of Arsenal’s best players, specifically targeting direct competitors as they rose up through the table. Such aggression led Arsene Wenger to coin the phrase “financial doping”, if not “sportswashing”.
It’s just as well the current players were not involved when Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie got into it back in 2009. That flame has been revived, though. And this from two clubs that had never previously finished in the top two together before 2022, nor even met in an FA Cup final.
There are more modern concerns.
The two ownerships ultimately represent philosophically opposed outlooks on football. Abu Dhabi see their club as a political tool and projection of the country’s image, and are willing to spend as much as allowed to achieve that. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, like the owners of Liverpool and Manchester United, see their club as a way to make money. One of the Arsenal hierarchy’s arguments is that it’s impossible to have a sustainable sport if states with fossil-fuel economies are financially influencing the game. City have long characterised this as the establishment protecting themselves, pointing to how the owners of England's three most successful clubs - Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United - are all American. All of course signed up for the Super League.
One reason this type of talk never really gets out is because it is usually confined to boardrooms, as well as legalese-filled Premier League meetings.
That was also why Sunday was different, and maybe marked the start of something new and more acrimonious.
Figures within Arsenal have been aggravated by talk of “dark arts” and arguments about cynicism and the right way to play from City. Even Bernardo’s comments have been perceived as an attempt to put some moral spin on how the teams play, given the allusion to Liverpool essentially fronting up.
“There was only one team that came to play football,” Bernardo said on Sunday. “The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately.”
Many at Arsenal find such talk to be the most astounding front given the Premier League hearing that is hanging over City, as well as the fact they previously agreed to a 2014 settlement with Uefa over breaches of Financial Fair Play rules, and were even fined for non-compliance in the overturning of the initial Champions League ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020.
Those close to Arteta similarly point out how Arsenal are going head-to-head with City despite the last reported figures showing the champions having almost double the wage bill. While Arsenal paid £234.7m total salaries according to the last accounts, City are at £422.9m, albeit with bonuses included.
Such discussions have now filtered down to the dressing room, as have social media posts about refereeing decisions. Even before the Leandro Trossard red card on Sunday, some of the Arsenal dressing room had complained that moments like Declan Rice's red card against Brighton never seem to happen to City. City have meanwhile been keen to privately point to Arsenal's timewasting and other on-pitch issues. There was some behind-the-scenes furore about reported complaints to the PGMOL regarding the gamesmanship of Arteta's team. That came as news to those at Arsenal, given it had never been mentioned to them. For the London club's part, even referees feel “everyone uses dark arts”.
City’s squad are meanwhile just seeing a rival team frustrated that they haven’t matched the champions. The Arsenal dressing room, by contrast, feel they have “rattled” City. These are the petty levels elite sport can get to, that can actually enrich performance.
That is perhaps the wider point of this story, beyond the political complications from the Premier League’s modern dimension of owners. The strength of feeling is such that it is going to fire the game, and perhaps shape the league table.
Some of City’s players are now even more determined to prove their superiority and rub Arsenal’s faces in it. Arsenal are now driven to knock City off their perch.
That could be witnessed in two players who spent a lot of Sunday trying to knock each other to the ground, and who will directly go head-to-head again. Gabriel is going to remember Erling Haaland bouncing the ball off his head, the Norwegian remembers some of the challenges. Haaland, at least, seemed to be relishing it all. It might put a different tone to his lively but friendly exchanges with Martin Odegaard in the Norway national team’s Whatsapp group.
Standing a little uneasily amid all this are the two managers. Arteta is one of the few people at Arsenal who doesn’t really discuss City, given his history there. Guardiola gave the Basque his first coaching job. They remain on civil terms.
The confrontations between the benches after City’s late equaliser, however, show that can change. Guardiola is known to be warm to younger coaches and mentees until they start competing against him. Arteta is ultimately ultra-focused on succeeding. That can bring friction.
These fixtures have already witnessed enough of it, for a rivalry the Premier League has not seen for some time.
