Wholesome Rivalries

Somewhere in the midst of the media hurricane whipped up by Jose Mourinho, there is a small beacon of light. It is one embodied by a 59 year old, chain smoking ex-banker turning to his grizzly German counterpart to ask why, as his Liverpool side were losing, he was smiling. He replied: “aren’t you having fun?”

It seems you can play attractive - ‘fun’ - football and not suffer the consequences. After eight games of the Premier League season, the three teams that sit level on points at the top of the table are Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. All connoisseurs in the art of attractive football. Indeed, the two teams making an ‘above their station’ surge are Bournemouth and Wolves in sixth and seventh, both with a reputation for the aforementioned attractive football. Perhaps it has become pragmatic?

The definition of attractive football is a hazy one, but there does seem to be a general public consensus on it. It is football that is attacking, skilful and dynamic played by teams who want to keep - and when necessary quickly regain - the ball. Of course, there isn’t one definitive definition of attractive football but these are usually the attributes that people attach to it.

At the top of the pile in the Premier League, we have three managers who most certainly install these features into their sides. We have been treated to a festival of exciting football: Guardiola’s Manchester City doing pretty much what they did last season, Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal football at Liverpool and Maurizio Sarri implementing his much lauded style from his time at Napoli successfully, and admirably quickly, into his Chelsea side. They all currently have 20 points, separated only by goal difference into first, second and third.

So, where are the angsty rivalries between these top managers? What has happened to those long forgotten days of Benitez vs Mourinho vs Ferguson vs Wenger? The touchline fisticuffs, awkward (non) handshakes and press conference shenanigans have gone. Instead, we have managers smiling and laughing, joyously entertained by the football they have helped to mould playing out in front of them.

Of course, the circus of Jose Mourinho still provides headlines that are part entertaining, part tiresome. His fellows of the noughties era are no more however. Ferguson and Wenger have since retired, and Benitez, now at Newcastle, has somewhat mellowed while his remaining grievances are directed towards Mike Ashley. Mourinho now parties alone. It is, though, a party that still booms loud enough to wake the neighbours.

While Mourinho’s loudspeaker plays on at Old Trafford, managers elsewhere are letting football take over their party. Guardiola vs Klopp is fast becoming a historic managerial battle, but it is one that is not dominated by any tetchy press conference remarks. It is one dominated by their football, with Klopp’s style the only one to have consistently challenged Guardiola’s. Their first ‘exciting’ clash this season ended (ironically) in a 0-0 draw, the great supernova-esque matches of last season seemingly collapsing in on themselves. The two managers appeared to have cancelled each other out, but you can guarantee that their next move will be to devise more ways to overcome each other on the pitch, rather than snipe at each other in the press. Is it too much to hope for that this might now be the new norm?

With Sarri now in the mix after receiving great plaudits from Guardiola last season, the merry manager rivalries look set to be heightened. We have already been gifted two exciting encounters between Sarri and Klopp, which saw smiles on the touchline rather than handbags. In the upper echelons of Premier League managers, it’s all becoming pleasantly (and unusually) wholesome.

(Photo: Daily Express)