Is Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City team becoming too arrogant?

It's not often Manchester City are thrashed, but their Champions League clash against Sporting Lisbon was certainly one of those occasions, with the Cityzens losing 4-1 away from home. Their performance, and performances this season, have raised the question, are City starting to get too arrogant for their own good?

Earlier this season, Manchester City were held to a 2-2 draw by Arsenal at the Etihad, but the defending champions celebrated in a style we aren’t used to seeing.

Rather than remaining cool, calm, and collected, the reigning Premier League champions showed signs of arrogance that could come back to bite them if the 2024/25 season isn’t a successful one.

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Against a 10-man Arsenal side, following Leandro Trossard’s controversial red card, Manchester City needed nearly every second of stoppage time to secure a point against their probable title rivals.

Erling Haaland took the opportunity to throw the ball at the back of Arsenal defender Gabriel’s head following the goal, with the City man rubbing it into the distraught Arsenal man.

Following the final whistle, Haaland was seen telling Mikel Arteta “stay humble, eh” in what can only be described as one of the more ironic comments we’ve seen in recent football following the Norwegian striker asking Arsenal debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly “who are you?” late in the game.

Arteta’s side has been accused of practicing the “dark arts” of football in recent times, with John Stones telling reporters that Arsenal, “have done [dark arts] for a few years -- you can call it clever or dirty,” per ESPN.

Man City’s Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva had multiple choice comments after the game, claiming, “the referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events,” per The Daily Mail, whilst also accusing the referee of making mistakes for both Arsenal’s goals.

Silva also claimed Arsenal weren’t brave in their approach at the Etihad, with the Gunners not willing to take City on “head-to-head”. It’s worth noting Liverpool have never beaten City at the Etihad in the Premier League during Pep Guardiola’s reign, per Liverpool’s website.

City’s reaction to Arsenal’s performance and the end result suggests there is growing animosity between the two teams, with Mikel Arteta’s men now undefeated in three games against the champions going back to last season.

Arteta responded to City’s criticism by saying, “I don't know. It's opinions and that's it. But as I mentioned before I think other things will be factors and that's it. We will use the facts.” before adding, “It's part of football, part of sport. After the game, all that goes away and we move on. That's it,” in response to Haaland’s “humility” suggestion, per ESPN.

Man City have certainly earned the right to arrogance given their incredible recent record, having won four Premier Leagues in a row. However, the expectation they seemingly have that teams must meet them head-on is arguably beyond the pale given their excellent home record and Arsenal losing a player to a sending off.

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We are going to be waiting patiently for the next matchup between the two sides, which is currently scheduled for the 1st of February. City look to have lost star midfielder Rodri for the season, which could throw a spanner in the works given his importance and Arsenal will be keen to get another victory against a team they have yet to finish above in Arteta’s reign as manager.