Battle of the Bosses: Poch > Pep, and Wenger explodes

Pep Guardiola v Mauricio Pochettino has become the Premier League’s Clash of the Tactical Titans this season. It was no different on Saturday when Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur met at the Etihad Stadium, and just as when they met at White Hart Lane earlier in the campaign it was Guardiola who was made to gnaw in frustration on his designer knitwear.

City were cruising, 2-0 up after 58 minutes. Then Dele Alli clawed one back and the customary City collapse ensued, with Spurs fighting back to snatch a point. The hosts were probably the better side, but runs in behind and high defensive lines allowed the visitors back into the contest, although the same thing could have seen City hit back themselves.

Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the net for what he thought was a debut winner, only for the flag to be raised on the far side. It took him a while to see it, but Guardiola, despite being out-tacticked once again by Pochettino, will have seen the impact his new signing had on his team.

“Maybe I don't explain well everything to the players,” Claudio Ranieri admitted after another damaging defeat for Leicester City. “They make mistakes, but it's me who must explain better. I recognise they felt better with the other formations and recognise the movements and shape and everything. I hope we can go back with the normal shape and improve.”

So maybe last season was a fluke after all. Ranieri tried to explain to his team how they should control possession and slow the tempo of their play down. Instead, they misinterpreted that and played on the rapid counter attack. It’s all starting to make sense now.

Watching Marco Silva on the Stamford Bridge touchline trying to explain a tactical change to David Meyler was like watching a traffic cop on Spaghetti Junction - there was a lot of hand-waving, gestures and by the end nobody was any clearer on where they were supposed to go or what they were supposed to do.

It was probably enough to send Paul Merson into a spin, uttering ‘Gary Rowett, Gary Rowett, Gary Rowett’ in apoplectic rage. But what if it was all mind games from Silva? What if Meyler knew all along what his manager wanted from him? It would be a natural progression from footballers covering their mouth so TV cameras don’t pick up what they’re saying. Silva was fooling us all (and one hopes trolling Merson).

This time, Arsene Wenger saw the incident. He saw the incident clearly as Burnley were awarded a stoppage time penalty. He saw the incident so clearly he felt it necessary to shove fourth official Anthony Taylor, not once but twice. Now the Arsenal boss will surely face a touchline ban, otherwise Jose Mourinho will start kicking water bottles straight into the faces of fourth officials.

Wenger has a history of touchline spats, but with Alan Pardew no longer in a Premier League job the Frenchman has had to spark up another rivalry to fill the void of angst. And so officials will be feeling the wrath of Wenger from now until the end of the season. He’ll be zipping up his jacket with added vigour.

There’s a discussion to be had about Liverpool. Sure, Jurgen Klopp is a loveable, grinning Cheshire cat - the best thing to happen to the GIF industry since that woman put a cat in a bin - but under his charge the Reds are drifting. Saturday’s home defeat to Swansea City means Liverpool have won just once in 2017, and that was against Plymouth Argyle. Even Barnet have managed that this year.

Klopp admitted after the defeat to the Premier League’s bottom side that defence is an issue for Liverpool. The German at least was big enough to confess his shortcomings. If Donald Trump was Liverpool manager he would have sent out his press secretary to insist their defence is the best. “I make the best defence. Everyone agrees.”

Can we just put Antonio Conte’s name in this section from now until the end of the season? On a weekend when so many of the Premier League’s top six dropped points, Chelsea were the real winners even before they had kicked off their game against Hull City on Sunday.

A 2-0 win and three points against the Tigers stretched the Blues’ lead to eight points at the top of the table, with Diego Costa’s return eliminating any lingering hopes that they might be caught. The Premier League might as well tie the blue ribbons on the trophy already. Can’t we just call the season already and go on our summer holidays?