THE VIEW FROM THE STANDS

ARE MANCHESTER CITY REALLY THAT GREAT?

Now that the dust has settled on Man City’s domestic treble, some objective assessment is required.

City are without doubt a great side, but the conduct of their FA Cup final victory was a cause for concern. Just winning the game is not enough for Pep Guardiola’s team. They have to crush the opposition to the point of humiliation, then celebrate with barely disguised arrogance.

It destroyed the game as a spectacle and left Watford with an embarrassing memory at Wembley. Humility may be an alien concept in the modern game, but showing some respect surely isn’t asking too much?

I quietly snigger whenever people refer to City as the greatest English side ever. They only won the Premier League by one point, lost four games and lost to Spurs in the Champions League last eight. Hardly the greatest. Brian Penn, Ilford

LESSONS CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE BUNDESLIGA

The Premier League could learn a lot from the Bundesliga. As someone who doesn’t live in England or come from England, maybe I’m not the best to comment on this, but hear me out.

Safe-standing and designated areas for active fans are ideas that could be implemented by Premier League clubs to make stadiums safer for supporters and improve the atmosphere. Even in Australia, there are active supporter groups comprising 100-200 people. Owners should also try to take risks in their managerial decisions, instead of going for the same three or four names. Clubs like Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig have employed young managers, and their gamble has proven worthwhile.

If Premier League clubs implemented even one or two of these ideas, English football would benefit. Allan Riley, via email

FFT WERE RIGHT

As a 15-year-old Liverpool fan, my life peaked on June 1. It was the best day of my life seeing us win the European Cup for a sixth time.

Your ‘new Liverpool’ feature [FFT 292] was perfect, breaking down how Jurgen Klopp has transformed us into dominant world-beaters again. You were right and our success shows that. I hope this is the start of more titles in the Klopp era. Issam Mushtaq, Greater Manchester

THE PERFECT XI

Just a quick thanks for restoring the great Perfect XI feature at the end of the magazine to its original format. I have been meaning to email about that for a while, but clearly someone else beat me to it!

Reading all of the respected figures’ views on fellow professionals is always very interesting. For some reason, not many Sheffield Wednesday players make into the XIS, though. Maybe in time this will change... here’s hoping!

Keep up the good work. I’ve been a subscriber for bloody ages and don’t plan on changing this. Chris Wells, via email