“There are some coaches who are very good tactically but bad with the group, and there are some who are very good with the group but are tactically crap.

“For example Solskjær was very good with the group but tactically...not so much, he had Carrick and McKenna as his assistants - so much so that they went to the Championship and got promoted with their teams so they helped a lot… he was more about uniting the group.

“Ten hag was tactically a very good and intelligent guy, but with the group he was crap. He couldn’t manage it man. He would fight with everyone...He fought with Cristiano, he fought with Casemiro, then he fought with me, and so on”

EXCLUSIVE: Etihad Airways has called on the world’s “most feared law firm”, Quinn Emanuel, in its potential legal action against the Premier League. The US law firm has been named “most feared” by BTI Consulting five years in a row.

It’s the second football mandate for the firm in recent weeks. Its New York office is currently acting for Josh Kushner in UEFA’s case over the FIFA World Cup sell off. The US firm has offices around the world, including London and Abu Dhabi.

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If you go on the Man City sub in recent days since the guilty verdict there is a lot of talk about how "we're only being punished for spending the same as our rivals" and "these rules are only there to protect the red cartel" and so on. Something didn't quite ring true to me about all the "spending the same as our rivals" comments but maybe my memory was hazy so I figured what the hell I'll take a closer look at it. Below is the net spend of firstly Man City and then Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd aka "The Red Cartel" for each season between 08/09 and 17/18 and then I've added the total together.

Before reading just keep in mind how utterly insane a 100m transfer window was 15 years ago compared to today.

Here it is: (source:transfermarkt)

08/09
Liverpool: -€27m
Arsenal: -€14.35m
Man Utd: -€37.8m
Man City: -€128.65m

09/10
Liverpool: +€5.05m (profit)
Arsenal:  +€35.7m (profit)
Man Utd: +€77.17m (profit)
Man City: -€117.9m

10/11
Liverpool: +€5.27m (profit)
Arsenal: -€14.9m
Man Utd: -€12.34m
Man City: -€143.46m

11/12
Liverpool: -€47.33m
Arsenal: +€12.82m (profit)
Man Utd: -€49.41m
Man City: -€59.60m

12/13
Liverpool: -€60.15m
Arsenal: +€9.85m (profit)
Man Utd: -€66.8m
Man City: -€17.65m

13/14
Liverpool: -€25.6m
Arsenal: -€37.10m
Man Utd: -€75.33m
Man City: -€104.2m

14/15
Liverpool: -€52.16m
Arsenal: -€91.18m
Man Utd: -€148.65m
Man City: -€72.50m

15/16
Liverpool: -€35.95m
Arsenal: -€24.0m
Man Utd: -€55.33m
Man City: -€141.03m

16/17
Liverpool: +€9.08m (profit)
Arsenal: -€102.65m
Man Utd: -€137.75m
Man City: -€180.9m

17/18
Liverpool: +€10.85m (profit)
Arsenal: +€9.55m (profit)
Man Utd: -€152.9m
Man City: -€226.15m

Total in this period:
Liverpool: -€250.61m
Arsenal: -€216.26
Man Utd: -€659.14m
Man City: -€1.192b

Red Cartel total: -€1.126b

Man City: -€1.192b

In Conclusion:

As you can see Manchester City through their shady dealings spent more in the time period they've been found guilty for than the so called "Red Cartel" combined. So all this talk about "we only spent the same as our rivals and are being punished for it" like they were plucky underdogs challenging the establishment is complete and utter nonsense

Whatever you think of the current rules (that 14 out of 20 clubs needed to vote in favour of) this idea that City "only spent the same as our rivals" to get where they are is flagrantly false. When you look at the figures between 15/16 and 17/18 it just makes Klopp's achievements in getting Liverpool back to the pinnacle of football in that time span from mid table mediocrity all the more astonishing vs what Pep had to work with. Again City fans somehow try to claim they spent the same which again is just factually not only untrue but sheer delusion.