Pep Guardiola: Man City boss demands clarity from Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta over Premier League champions' 'dark arts' tactics | Football News

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has demanded clarity from Arsenal colleague Mikel Arteta over his comments about the Premier League champions' “dark arts”.

Last weekend was exciting Great Sunday In the clash between City and Arsenal, Arteta's Gunners received criticism for their tactics, particularly in the second half of the game after they were reduced to ten men following Leandro Trossard's red card.

City duo John Stones and Bernardo Silva accused 10-man Arsenal of “time-wasting” and “dirty” tactics after a number of their players were missed for treatment during a stormy second period – but Arteta then hit back in his next press conference on Tuesday suggesting City have similar skills.

“I've been there (at City) before,” said Arteta, who worked as Guardiola's assistant before taking the Arsenal job. “I was there for four years. I have all the information, so I know.”

And in his own press conference on Friday, Guardiola called on Arteta to clarify his comments, particularly in the context of charging City with 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules. The hearing on the case began earlier this month.

“Next time Mikel has to be clearer,” Guardiola said. “He needs to be very clear next time what he means by saying he was here for four years and he knows exactly what happened here.”

“Because it might be related to the 115-count trial, he might know information about it. I don't know it.”

“Next time he’ll have to say it more clearly. Instead of seeing clouds, it needs to be more precise.”

Arteta: I love and admire Pep despite his rivalry

In his own press conference on Friday, Arteta said his personal relationship with Guardiola had not changed, despite City and Arsenal battling it out at the top of the table.

Sunday's game at the Etihad Stadium saw aggressive scenes after the final whistle when City striker Erling Haaland urged Arteta to “stay humble” while patting the Arsenal manager on the shoulder.

“I love him. I respect him and admire him. I admire his team and everything he does,” says Arteta about his relationship with Guardiola.

“One thing is our professional relationships, another is my personal relationships. If these had to be damaged because we were playing against each other, then I wouldn't talk to him anymore! I definitely never stand in the way of a personal relationship.

Further emphasizing criticism of Arsenal's tactics in Manchester last weekend, Arteta added: “It's part of what we do. I don’t want to be on YouTube because we were so silly.”

“I want to be on YouTube in May because we did the right things for the right reasons and are achieving what we want to achieve.”

“To achieve this, we have to be efficient in what we do. I didn't predict that we would play 56 minutes with 10 men. Sometimes the opponent is better at something in the game. That doesn't mean he's better, it means you do that particular thing better within a game.

“When we hear negative criticism after where we are and what we have been through in the last three games, it shows the expectations. We have to raise the level, that’s all.”

What are the 115 allegations against Man City?

Manchester City was accused of breaching financial fair play rules over a nine-year period starting in 2009 and lasting until 2018. They were also accused of failing to co-operate with the Premier League's investigation into their finances.

During this period, Man City, who have denied all allegations made against them, won the Premier League three times.

The Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules are designed to ensure that clubs spend as close as possible to what they earn. You may be able to get around this by increasing your income or hiding your expenses.

The Premier League says Man City have broken rules for nine seasons by allegedly failing to provide accurate financial information.

Among the allegations against City is that they failed to fully disclose the financial remuneration paid to one of their managers over a four-year period. It is believed that there was a secret contract so that one of the managers paid much more than officially stated.

What penalties are possible?

Everything is at stake. There is no limit to the punishment they could receive. This commission can punish them at its own discretion.

According to Premier League rules, this could be a points deduction, a fine or even exclusion from the Premier League.

When will the case be heard?

The city's hearing was moved up to Sept. 16 after originally being scheduled to begin in November.

The formal hearing before the independent commission is expected to last around ten weeks, with both the Premier League and City having to take lengthy legal action and present their case.

The independent commission will then examine all the evidence and consider its decision. Due to the level of fees and the amount of information to be reviewed, this process is expected to take several months.

Therefore, it could be March – or later – before a Commission decision is published. As soon as they have reached their conclusion, it will be published.