Big clubs stories will always get more attention but that doesn’t mean that it’s just an excuse to have a pop at arsenal. Arteta claimed that he would be using 2 number 1s and rotating when in fact he was dropping ramsdale for raya. If he’d said that at first there would be so much less drama.

Also ramsdale is English and was a fan favourite last seaosn. He was talked about as a potential England number 1 and now he’s number 2 for his club. That’s always going to genesate more interests and gossip.

It’s subjective and there’s really no clear answer. People will say premier league is harder because it’s more games and is a slog and that’s fair. look at some of the teams who’ve won champions leagues that had no shot at the premier league but got hot or lucky at the right time so people say the premier league is harder.

But to win the champions league you have to be perfect for 7 games one bad half an hour can ruin your season. It’s a completely different type of pressure and can be just as difficult. You can’t afford a bad night.

Looking at this season for Man City winning the premier league is likely easier than winning the champions league. They have the best squad and they are able to have some dodgy games because they have time to make it up whereas if they have a bad night in February or march then the champions league is done. For Newcastle, arsenal and united the champions league is easier to win because they only have to be great for 7 matches rather than 38. Different teams will find different competitions challenging at different levels

If you’re going to introduce a new card then the best best would be to follow the field hockey format of green yellow red. Green card is for low level offences like arguing with officials, build up of tackles, late but not dangerous or malicious tackles, time wasting etc. green card is just a warning.

Yellow cards are for either 2 green cards or more serious offences, deliberately breaking down play, persistent bad tackling, repeated abuse of officials, serious tackles that don’t meet the red card criteria such as reckless rather than deliberately dangerous tackles (if have high foot in this catergory) yellow card results in a sin bin either 5/10/15 minutes what ever we things fair after don trials.

Red cards are split into 2 categories like they now. Technical red cards are for 2 yellows. This means you miss the whole match and the next game same as now. You then have red cards for dangerous play which means you miss the rest of the match and the next 3.

It allows the ref to manage the game better. They can give warnings for time wasting and slowing the game down without risking an early red card and you can punish players who deliberately prevent attacks with time off the pitch so there’s an actually punishment for their team but they still come back later in the game so it’s not as final as a red

Weirdly the time early Klopp time was more enjoyable and relaxing than the successful Klopp years. Don’t get me wrong the victories where amazing and some of the best moments I’ve had celebrating with fans around town and the parades.

But it’s so god damn stressful, every draw feels like a tragedy and defeat feels like the end of the world (chasing Man City does this for you) there’s also just so many games that matter it gets mentally tiring. The end of 2021/22 season was a slog with massive games every 3 days and frankly I was happy when the season ended and didn’t really get into the start of the next season for ages.

That said I wouldn’t want to go anything else the highs of winning the champions league and European trips are some of the best memories you can have

What I think fans don’t realise and ex players forget is how small the margins are between the best players and teams and crap ones. Small changes in confidence and form can have massive consequences to results.

Look at Liverpool last year. Over the last few years Liverpool are a team you’d never accuse of ‘downing tools’ one if their biggest strengths was their mentality and fighting spirit. They also had a proven world class manager who the players wouldn’t go against but at times last season they look liked they’d forgotten how to pass the ball 5 yards. The reason was they where all mentally tired from the season before and a few of them had lost half a step. This completely ruined a well oiled machine and the results reflected that.

If that can happen to a successful group like Liverpool it’s no surprise it can happen to united. The problem is Man U is a confused and dysfunctional club and this feeds into the players. When things go wrong the players heads go down and people hide. Players don’t want to be in firing line and everyone just focuses on not making a mistake rather than trying to win a game.

What I think fans don’t realise and ex players forget is how small the margins are between the best players and teams and crap ones. Small changes in confidence and form can have massive consequences to results.

Look at Liverpool last year. Over the last few years Liverpool are a team you’d never accuse of ‘downing tools’ one if their biggest strengths was their mentality and fighting spirit. They also had a proven world class manager who the players wouldn’t go against but at times last season they look liked they’d forgotten how to pass the ball 5 yards. The reason was they where all mentally tired from the season before and a few of them had lost half a step. This completely ruined a well oiled machine and the results reflected that.

If that can happen to a successful group like Liverpool it’s no surprise it can happen to united. The problem is Man U is a confused and dysfunctional club and this feeds into the players. When things go wrong the players heads go down and people hide. Players don’t want to be in firing line and everyone just focuses on not making a mistake rather than trying to win a game.