Michael Carrick's five-and-a-half-minute press conference monologue on Friday was admirable, heartfelt and will deeply resonate with Manchester United's core fanbase. It also showed exactly why he is almost certainly not the right person for the job and why he is unlikely to be in charge much longer. 📝 @TimSpiers 🔗 nyti.ms/4dWlV76

Plenty of managers are known for a possession-based style of football and take pride in their appearance. A plethora of them have a ginormous ego. Well, pretty much all of them. But none of the above seem to be castigated as much as the head coach of Leicester City, Russell Martin. So why is he the subject of a walking culture war? 📝 @TimSpiers 🔗 nyti.ms/4BjVmms

CBS has plenty of pundits capable of doing forensic interviews. On Tuesday’s evidence, Peter Schmeichel is not one of them. While Amazon’s Gabriel Clarke expertly handled Lisandro Martinez’s outburst in Madrid, Schmeichel’s interview felt like United’s in-house PR. It dealt CBS a harsh lesson in the art of the post-match interrogation. 📝 @TimSpiers nyti.ms/4dxQwI4

Sky Sports is in a bind over the Manchester City judgment. If its commentators and pundits say the club’s Premier League matches are meaningless then it devalues its own product, an unfortunate situation given it coughed up a significant chunk of 2023's £6.7billion record TV rights deal. Go soft on the seriousness of the situation, however, and it will be accused of being a corporate stooge. No wonder Super Sunday made for awkward viewing. 📝 @TimSpiers 🔗 nyti.ms/47fAgIc

Portugal won again on Sunday night but the narrative was all about a man who wasn't playing: Cristiano Ronaldo. Will they ever be able to move on from him or are they stuck in a Ronaldo doom loop? @TimSpiers reports from Porto ⬇️ 🔗 nyti.ms/4zi0CVV

Declan Rice and Cole Palmer have both withdrawn from the England squad due to 'load management' reasons — a phrase that has drawn curiosity from some quarters. @TimSpiers explains exactly what load management is and how clubs go about controlling it during intense periods for players. 🔗 nyti.ms/4iDsLl8

Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur's £1bn stadium and it’s unnervingly quiet. There is a buzz around the ground as thousands of people rush to make kick-off, but no chanting, no shouting, no singing, no anticipation. A lone man in his thirties with bloodshot eyes yells, “Come on you Spurs”. He is drunk and an anomaly. The boos are what generate the headlines but what hits you harder is the silence. What has happened to Spurs? @TimSpiers heads to Tottenham for the latest instalment of Our League. 🔗 nyti.ms/3SSCHNi

Just when you think the Premier League could not get any madder... the 20 clubs go and spend around £3.44bn between them on 154 players. So, of course, we have ranked every single one of them. Here's @TimSpiers' list, from worst to best... nyti.ms/463yusT

■ Which new Premier League signings have impressed? ■ Which clubs still need reinforcements? ■ And should the transfer window shut before the season starts? In the Premier League Forum, @Conor0Neill_, @TimSpiers and @TansleyEduardo discuss the weekend’s action as the transfer deadline approaches. Read their views and have your say. 🔗 nyti.ms/3SykCUv

■ Provocative celebrations ■ Fans hurling objects ■ "60,000 people insulting my family" ■ Players and staff brawl in tunnel Fenerbahce's Matteo Guendouzi is a former player - and fan - of Marseille. His current team's victory over the French side's bitter rivals, Lyon, led to violent scenes after the Champions League play-off victory last night. @TimSpiers breaks down the drama. 🔗 nyti.ms/4wQnSs8

“I felt like he'd just slightly outstayed his welcome. I think the fans weren't having him anymore. “They were sick of his excuses.” Tim Spiers believes Eddie Howe’s exit from Newcastle United was the right decision, especially given the failure of the club’s recruitment last summer. 🎙️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐂 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭

Newcastle's new head coach Matthias Jaissle has been described as 'a rock star' by the club's CEO. Which musical icons would Premier League managers be? 🎸 Mikel Arteta as Phil Collins? Michael Carrick as Michael Buble? Oliver Glasner as Lou Reed? @TimSpiers has his say... ⤵️ nyti.ms/4gx3TKd