Manchester City’s guilty verdict on more than 100 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules has drawn a range of reactions from rival managers, with Michael Carrick arguing that no retrospective medal could replace the emotions lost to City’s success and Andoni Iraola calling for the case to be resolved quickly.
An independent commission ruled last week that City broke more than 100 Premier League financial regulations. The club, which continues to plead its innocence, has appealed against the verdict. Should City fail to overturn the independent commission’s ruling, they will probably face a serious punishment.
Carrick, the Manchester United manager, was part of the squad that lost the Premier League title to City on the final day of the 2011-12 season, when Sergio Agüero scored a last-minute winner to secure top spot on goal difference. Carrick and his teammates were left solemn on the touchline at Sunderland while City, found guilty of breaking financial rules during a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018, celebrated.
He said that receiving a winner’s medal retrospectively would not make up for being robbed of those moments. “The emotion, the feeling about winning, a lot of it is in the moment,” Carrick said. “Once that’s done, there’s no getting that back in any direction. The feeling we all crave is coming out on top – that kind of sums it up. Whatever’s done in the past tense is in the past, but in that moment is how you feel in that moment. Certainly as a participant, as a performer, and I’m sure the supporters feel the same, that’s why we love it so much because of the emotion in the moment.”
Carrick was also part of United’s staff under Ole Gunnar Solskjær when they finished second, 22 points behind City, in 2021. “It’s affected me personally in different ways,” he said. “But as the case is ongoing now I don’t know where that stands and how it’s going to end up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. What I will say, the sooner it gets sorted I think for everyone’s benefit is essential.”
Iraola, the Liverpool head coach, also urged a swift resolution. “I think uncertainty is not good for anyone involved but there is the process ongoing and we have to be patient like everyone else and see what happens at the end,” he said. “No one knows what’s going to happen. We have to focus on Liverpool and being the best club we can be, the best team we can be. That’s my challenge. My opinion is not valid because I haven’t spent that time and I haven’t read as much as they’ve [the commission] done.”
He added that his players were concentrating on the next match rather than the fallout from the verdict. “The challenge of the game is so high that I don’t think players think too much outside of this,” Iraola said. “They are thinking: ‘I have to mark this player’ or ‘I have to go and deal with this one’ or ‘I have be at this level because the level of the game is so high’. They will be focused on those things. Obviously they will have their own opinions, but I think they will be fully focused on what happens on the pitch.”
Vincent Kompany, the former Manchester City captain now managing Bayern Munich, insists he remains “really proud” of his success with the club. Kompany won four Premier League titles and multiple domestic cups during his spell at City from 2008 to 2019, and is honoured with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium. He signed for City from Hamburg just weeks before Sheikh Mansour completed a takeover that turned the club from also-rans to serial winners. “I played 11 years for the club. I’ve loved all of the years I played for the club and everything we achieved and (did) on the pitch – that’s something I’m really proud of,” Kompany told reporters. Asked about the off-pitch issues at his former club, he said: “Everything else, as a player you’re not a part of that and right now as a coach of Bayern Munich I’m not too much occupied with that topic. I’m preparing the game next week and preparing the game we have tomorrow and everything I have as a coach.”
Mikel Arteta insisted the Premier League “100%” remains the best in the world despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding City’s guilty verdict. The Arsenal manager, who was an assistant to Pep Guardiola at City for more than three years before taking over at the Emirates in December 2019, responded “100%” when asked whether he thought the Premier League remains the best, speaking before Saturday’s lunchtime fixture against Leeds. “It’s very important that we respect the process,” he said. “I think the timelines and it’s still an ongoing process that is not resolved because it’s been appealed. And my position, I think the club’s position, is not to make any further comments.” Asked whether the Premier League’s reputation had been damaged, Arteta added: “There is a process there again that is not resolved. It’s ongoing and we can have a much clearer opinion when it’s been resolved. I’m not prepared to make any comments.” Arteta did confirm that Christos Tzolis is out for a few weeks with a hamstring issue, but said he will make a decision on whether Kai Havertz and Ezri Konsa will feature against Leeds.
Roberto De Zerbi insists he has no time to dwell on City’s guilty verdict, with Tottenham bottom of the table. De Zerbi was a Napoli player when they faced Juventus in the 2006-07 season after Juve were found guilty of match-fixing and relegated to Serie B; Juventus had an initial 30-point deduction reduced to nine and still won promotion straight back to Serie A. Asked what that experience was like, De Zerbi replied: “I was crazy as a player, I don’t remember my thoughts, just think on the ball, just think on our job. When you are a player, you don’t think too much. When you are a coach, the same because the focus is on your players, especially now because we are on the bottom of the table. I have no time to think of the other problems than my team, my club.” The Tottenham manager said the scandal did not change Italian football, and added: “There are the people who have to decide to take the decision, with responsibility, with courage, and honesty, always. It’s not my job. My job is to be a coach. But I love respecting the rules, like all people in our club.”