Klopp, Guardiola, Arteta: Premier League’s equivalent of the Big 3 | Football News

Just like that, with a handshake and a hug, ended the rivalry that defined the English Premier League post the heady years of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, who between them have won everything football could offer, who embellished the league with their tactics as well as personas, would no longer duel on the English shore.Their last encounter, a 1-1 draw, might not be remembered as a classic. They have produced games of higher standards and heightened levels of drama. But the match possessed all the ingredients that made clashes between Liverpool and Manchester City a spectacle over the years – the energy and edginess, the madness and imperfections, the genius and chaos, the fire and ice. The match, like most of their games, leaves the watcher discontent that it ended all too soon, despite the clock stopping at 100 minutes, despite the players expending the last drop of sweat and energy. Theirs is not a traditional or bitter rivalry, but rather an accidental one. City and Liverpool just happened to be the best teams of their era, fuelled to success two generational managers. It would never be the same again.
Their meetings were not always about titles or points — thought it always had a bearing on the title race; City is third, a point behind Arsenal on the table, while Liverpool is second on goal difference with the Gunners — but about the coming together of two great managers, from two different schools, from two countries proud of their heritage in shaping revolutionary football tactics. The Emperor of pass versus the Czar of press, even though the lines between them have blurred, even though the methods are not antithetical. Essentially, every contest is a tussle for points, but there always seemed a larger, different contest unfolding in the shadows. A game of pure tactical out-maneuvering.
Constant evolution
In their latest face-off, Guardiola positioned Julian Alvarez on the left side in place of the audaciously-dribbling Jeremy Doku, who tends to lose possession once too often. Alvarez, a more central player, would swap his spot with Bernardo Silva, who began just right of Kevin de Bruyne. Their movements startled Virgil van Dijk and Co, before full-back Joe Gomez effectively became their centre half. Klopp’s men fed on the irresible energy the crowd provided. The introduction of Mo Salah and the redeployment of Luis Diaz shook Anfield with its aural intensity, as the Red shirts buzzed. Guardiola repelled this sacrificing the creativity of Kevin de Bruyne with the compactness of Mateo Kovacic. To make the game more direct, to exploit the tiring legs of Liverpool ’s wingmen, he unleashed Doku, who indeed came close to restoring their lead. In the end, it became a game of pure passion rather than tactics, less about shape and more about tackles and shots. It’s how their games have traditionally progressed, a reaction to reaction, a counter-tactic to a tactic.
Having joined the club as manager back in 2015, Klopp went on to lead the side on to the Premier League, FA Cup as well as the Champions League title during his stint with the Merseyside club.
As a reaction to Liverpool’s twinkling front-three of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Guardiola began to thrust his full-backs into midfield for better defensive cover against the counters. The one big flaw of several Guardiola teams has been their susceptibility to the break against quick transitions. Klopp has exploited this both in Germany and England. Klopp thus has influenced the structural shifts of Guardiola.
Later, the Catalan manager converted John Stones into a sweeper to telling effect. Klopp, on the other hand, sought more control and less chaos in midfield, precision replaced pace. Liverpool morphed into a possession team as well. They became a more patient team, just as Guardiola adopted a more direct approach.

Each thus helped the other evolve. Klopp would buy a player forged in Guardiola’s ideals — passing metronome Thiago, injuries robbing him of a splendid career. Guardiola would acquire the services of a midfield hustler moulded Klopp, Ilkay Gundagon. Guardiola would accept the exchange of ideas: “His teams helped me to be a better manager. It is the reason why I am still in this business. There are some managers who challenge you to move a step forward.” Klopp would reciprocate: “I do the job myself so I see excellence when I face it and Pep is definitely that.”
The third wheel
Both though would remain protagons for the remaining weekdays of the season too. But it would not only be about them either. The slick silhouette of Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, lurks. He is a curious blend of both, inheriting the theatrics of Klopp on the touchline but the wardrobe taste of Guardiola, whose disciple he was. Like Guardiola, he was schooled at Barcelona’s La Masia Academy too. But like Klopp, he has harnessed the emotional energy of his players and the spectators. He only pushed for the pre-match anthem, Louis Dunford’s The Angel, thus stirring the atmosphere in home games, akin to the passionate Anfield crowd belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Arteta, 41, served as assant to Pep Guardiola at City from 2016-2019 before taking the reins at the north London club and leading them to the FA Cup trophy in his first season in charge. (File)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates at the end of the match. (Reuters)
The teams are similarly frameworked. Klopp’s cornerstone has been Salah, the left-footed winger on the right flank. Arteta’s fundamental block is Bukayo Saka, a left-footed winger who plays off the right. Klopp functioned with a Brazilian striker, Firmino, who created more than he scored. So has been Gabriel Jesus. In as much as the same way Virgil van Dijk emerged as the tour de force for Liverpool, Arsenal’s William Saliba has been a titanic figure in Arsenal’s ascent. There was a similarly chaotic order about Arsenal, though like Klopp, Arteta has embraced more control these days.
Though they have clashed on the touchline, Arteta has profound respect for Klopp. “ Especially the identity that his team has, the identity that the club has. It is very clear. He is someone who is so determined to make sure that stamp is put in across the club. The team has very clear intentions and behaviours, regardless of where each player plays. I love that,” he had once said.
Perhaps, he would fill the vacuum of Klopp, and where the Guardiola-Klopp chapter ends, the Arteta-Guardiola pages would start writing themselves. But before that, there is a title at stake, and all three have major stakes in it. The next two months, thus, could define the careers of two great managers of the league, and one on the way to potential greatness.