Ken Early: Compared with Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola had it easy
The unusual thing about Guardiola is that he started coaching at the very top and stayed there his whole career
Ken Early: Mikel Arteta’s Monster Truck Arsenal proved themselves the strongest team in the league
Newly self-assured team and coach now have the challenge of proving they can find new ways to win
Ken Early: Any fair-minded person wanted Celtic to fail, but Hearts’ ‘cheat code’ takes the gloss off
Veteran manager’s title success achieved by old-school values against a data-driven opponent
Ken Early: Arsenal will be the champions this fearful Premier League deserves
The fact the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year award went to Bruno Fernandes tells us something
Ken Early: Liverpool have become awfully comfortable with losing under Arne Slot
Kobbie Mainoo caps comeback win amid mounting pressure on Arne Slot
Ken Early: Mohamed Salah will long be remembered as one of Liverpool’s best players
Never a lethal finisher like Messi, Son or Kane, but he was the best at getting chances to score
Ken Early: A last redemptive twist is still possible for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s squad did not play terribly against Manchester City and the worst has already happened
Liverpool want fans to keep singing as they lose 4-0, then say nothing as they charge more
The club seems to be saying: your job is to keep singing for us even as we lose 4-0, then shut your mouth when we charge you more
Ken Early: Chelsea’s model would work if it wasn’t reliant on human beings
At Stamford Bridge, it seems the manager needs to be more attuned to board morale than player harmony
Ken Early: ‘Why won’t Ireland score?’ – Six-year-old fan at Aviva sums up the eternal mystery
But goalless draw against North Macedonia shows glimpse of future Irish talent despite World Cup hurt
You have to wonder if the Ireland players were affected by people totally losing their heads
The emergence of the self-aware, self-memifying crowd has been an unfortunate development for Irish national team fan culture
Ken Early: Ireland’s loss to Czech Republic leaves us in a Kafkaesque nightmare
There’s little point raging at Ryan Manning, Finn Azaz, Alan Browne, Hemir Hallgrímsson or any other individual
This Ireland team gave everything in Prague. It wasn’t enough
Ireland let their grip on this game slip in the first half by giving away a penalty
Ken Early: Ireland may want to avoid penalties in the home of Antonín Panenka
Scorer in 1976 Euro final has seen penalty technique copied worldwide, and Czechs have shootout record
Ken Early: Caution and stop-start play are taking all the fun out of football
Arsenal’s boring, risk-averse game backfired spectacularly against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final