Arsenal and Manchester United are unlikely to ever revisit the conflict-ridden "pizzagate" days due to the nature of modern football, says Mikel Arteta. (More Football News)
United travel to Emirates Stadium on Saturday aiming to recover form a shock loss to bottom club Sheffield United that dealt a blow to their Premier League title ambitions.
Either side of the turn of the century, Arsenal and United were typically the top two clubs in England and that battle for supremacy led to some feisty affairs.
From Roy Keane threatening Patrick Vieira pre-match in the Highbury tunnel to Cesc Fabregas hurling a slice of pizza in Alex Ferguson's direction near the Old Trafford dressing rooms, it was a rivalry not confined to more traditional combat on the field.
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Although he feels the competitive spirit remains, Arteta knows those urges must be channelled in different ways in the modern game.
"I think it has calmed down, not only with the Arsenal-Manchester United fixture but in general," he said when asked whether compatriot Fabregas had regaled him with tales of his unsavoury use of the savoury buffet.
"You see the way the derbies used to be played, and it’s not the same right now. The game is evolving. We are educating players in a different way as well.
"Things that were allowed before, now they are for sure not allowed, with VAR even less. I think it’s a different game to that time.
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"You are more controlled and policed, so you know that you are not going to get away with certain things that you got used to before. It’s the way the game is evolving. It’s a natural thing."
Arsenal are on a run of five wins in six unbeaten Premier League games, a record their head coach is keen for them to extend in a fixture that still captures the imagination.
"You need that passion to defend your position and to show how much you want to win. I think that’s part of a winning mentality in a team, that’s for sure," he said.
"Before there were those two teams that were the candidates to win the league, now there are six or seven teams every season that are capable of doing that.
"That’s where the league has gone, and that’s the difference from 10 years ago and now in this league."
