analysis Resounding victories for Manchester clubs at the weekend could well prove a watershed moment for the English game, says Richard Wilson

The sheer scale of the victories wracked up by Manchester United and Manchester City on Sunday afternoon left the scorelines looking like admonishments. Every goal they struck against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur carried a blow to the esteem of their opponents, and the English game did not know whether to be thankful for the glory, or wonder if the even the elite clubs are beginning to be divided.

It was a “humiliation”, Wenger said of his side’s 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford. Redknapp grumbled about a pre-season of rumour and discontent, then revealed Luka Modric had not wanted to play against City. Even at the peak of his game, the Croatian midfielder would have felt abandoned by team-mates who could not live with the sophisticated menace of City’s attacking resources.

The 5-1 win at White Hart Lane owed much to the resourceful finishing of Edin Dzeko, but also the brilliant and nimble cunning of his three fellow attackers, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and David Silva.

An aggregate score of 13-3 suggests that the Manchester clubs have moved beyond the reach of two of their London rivals. Andre Villas-Boas has yet to find the style or panache that he hopes will transform Chelsea’s muscular superiority into something more discriminating, but his work already seems belittled by the dominance of the teams that United and City have assembled. “Boring, boring City,” the away supporters sang gleefully at White Hart Lane, but at the same venue last season Roberto Mancini sent out a defensive team seeking a 0-0 draw.

Now they seem irrepressible. City have scored 12 goals in three league games, a total bettered only by United’s 13. Sunday felt like a private tussle between the two Manchester clubs, as they sought to outdo each other for pre-eminence. It is too early for sweeping judgements to be made, with Chelsea winning their opening two league games last season 6-0 and 6-0 but failing to win the title, yet there are reasons for English football to consider Sunday’s results as a potential watershed moment.

Arsenal were weakened at Old Trafford by injuries, suspensions and a drastic loss of nerve, but United lined up without Rafael da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia, and were still devastatingly fluent.

Some of t hose players were on the bench, yet the average age of United’s starting XI was 23, and five of them -- David de Gea, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck -- spent last season at different clubs. Still United played with a sharp-witted coherence, with the most cutting analysis coming from Gary Neville, the former United defender and now television pundit, who remarked that the performance was still some way short of the best of this side.

If Wenger felt reduced to haplessness by the way his young, naive players were so mercilessly punished, City also delivered their own rebuke to the Arsenal manager. Two of his former players, Gael Clichy and Nasri, were prominent in the victory over Spurs, with the latter talking afterwards of his conviction that, “we can win things’; a belief that Arsenal fans have already discarded for this season.

Throughout the second-half at Old Trafford they sang “we love you Arsenal” but it must have felt like a hollow obligation to remain so faithful to a side crumbling before their eyes.

The concern among the fans is that the 8-2 defeat marks not only a low point in Wenger’s career, but an indication of his waning powers. The lament around the Emirates is for figures of old: redoubtable, fiercely competitive men such as Frank McLintock, Tony Adams or Patrick Vieira.

Arsenal will refund the supporters who made the journey to Manchester, but the gesture will not subdue their exasperation in learning that Wenger made an enquiry to Chelsea yesterday about taking Yossi Benayoun -- another small, flighty attacking midfielder -- on loan. The Frenchman’s portrayal as a manager so stubborn and self-deluded that he cannot see the obvious flaws of his squad may never have seemed so apt.

Tottenham slipped out of the top four last season, and although Redknapp will strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes tomorrow, he must already feel as though his side has fallen further behind their rivals. Chelsea remain in the trio of leading sides, as much through their spending power -- the club still hopes to bludgeon Spurs’ resolve with a significant offer for Modric -- as the current form of the team.

By signing Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Oriel Romeu, Villas-Boas has brought a freshness and vibrancy to his squad, and they might yet gather the momentum and belief to be credible title challengers. Yet City were able to overwhelm Spurs while leaving Carlos Tevez, James Milner, Adam Johnson and Mario Balotelli on the bench.

Afterwards, Mancini complained about the goal his team conceded and he will trust that his reputation as a manager obsessed by defensive security will prevent complacency from undermining his players.

United and City have met already this season, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side winning the Community Shield 3-2 at Wembley. Their next encounter is at Old Trafford on Sunday, October 23. It already looks like a battle not only for command of their city, but of the English game.