Bouncing: “There are two kinds of people: people that are vacuums and people that are batteries, who give energy, joy, enthusiasm. And he is the biggest battery I have ever worked with.” – Heimir Hallgrímsson on the Duracell Bunny that is Séamus Coleman. Doomed: “I feel the players are always thinking about the past. They think there is something in the water here or in the food.” – Ruben Amorim after Manchester United were knocked out of the League Cup by minnows Grimsby Town. Daylight robbery: “I can only congratulate those in Stuttgart for finding an idiot who paid that much money.” – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Newcastle United deciding to pay the German club €75m for Nick Woltemade.Old pals: “Mourinho told me that I was a piece of sh*t. I told him that he was a sh*t. An enormous one.” – Henrikh Mkhitaryan reminiscing about his loving relationship with José Mourinho.Home (dis)comforts: “I really enjoy being alone. The mess at home with the three kids running around everywhere ends up saturating me and I like a moment of solitude. I’m weirder than sh*t.” – Lionel Messi on the joys of family life. Brit-bashing: “For the first time in history, no Brit was arrested during a World Cup! Imagine! This is something really, really special.” – Fifa president Gianni Infantino, talking about how peaceful the Qatar World Cup was, not quite endearing himself to Blighty. Great Scott: “After my father, McTominay is the most influential player in Napoli’s history. In Naples, we had God – for me, McTominay is Jesus.” – Diego Maradona Jnr genuflects at the feet of Scott.Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay has found great form since leaving Manchester United. Photograph: Piero Cruciatti/Getty Beyond compare: “It’s like comparing a painter to Van Gogh.” – Pep Guardiola on the suggestion that Lamine Yamal has reached Lionel Messi levels.No-hoper: “We say in Portugal, ‘Miracles is only in Fatima’ ... and he’s not gonna do miracles.” – Cristiano Ronaldo not quite expecting Ruben Amorim to bring back glory days at Manchester United. Ronaldo was right. Bleak future: “He will have to get Liverpool into the top four – otherwise he’ll be the next Tottenham manager.” – Paul Merson forecasts a dismal downfall for Arne Slot if Liverpool didn’t click. They finished fifth. Match of the season: “It was like Godzilla versus King Kong.” – Paolo di Canio excellently sums up that epic PSG v Bayern Munich game.Do your job: “It was a nice finish. Sorry, but isn’t that what he is supposed to do. It’s like Ryanair. If a flight is on time, everyone is cheering. But usually you’re going to be two hours late. You have low expectations. That’s Sesko and United.” – Roy Keane with, undoubtedly, the analogy of the season.Old Bhoy: “I was 73 on Monday, and I’m 94 now… They got me a tracksuit. I’ve got these really tight pants. I look like Robin Hood.” – Martin O’Neill who, despite those tight pants, led his band of merry men to a league and cup double.Martin O'Neill, manager of Celtic, lifts the Scottish Premiership trophy. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Meltdown: “The Third Apocalypse.” – La Gazzetta dello Sport responds calmly to Italy’s failure to qualify for a third successive World Cup.No contest: “We should respect Armenia. It’s like Iceland when we go to Eurovision: we always think we have the best song, but we never go to the qualifying round.” – Heimir Hallgrímsson before that hiccup in Yerevan. In the end, we didn’t make it to the World Cup or Eurovision.Time out: “I’m going to stop after this stage with City because I need to focus on myself. I want to watch the cows go by when the train goes by.” – Pep Guardiola in August. Plenty of time for cow-watching now. Treasure hunt: “You keep digging, digging, digging and you have to be digging because one day the gold is going to be there.” – Mikel Arteta at the beginning of the season. In the end? A gold-standard campaign for Arsenal.
The best quotes of the football season from Roy Keane, Hallgrímsson, Messi and more
Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Cristiano Ronaldo wisely hinted at what was to come this year













