Morning all.

Stuck the heating on last night for the first time since summer. Random bit of knowledge no one asked for.

Sitting watching BBC News watching Mr Motivator telling everyone they are “Flawsome”; someone who embraces their flaws but is still awesome.

In football you can not really be flawsome.

You need to work on your flaws to continue to improve, not just embrace them whilst still thinking you are awesome.

Mr Motivator was on TV due to him being awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours.

Also getting an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours is Marcus Rashford for services to vulnerable children in the UK during COVID-19.

It is a much deserved award for Rashford. He has actually contributed to society with his actions, rather than footballers in the past who have got some just for scoring a few penalties and deflected goals.

News about Arsenal is fairly thin on the ground during the international break.

England play Belgium tomorrow and we might get to see Bukayo Saka and Ainsley Maryland-Niles again.

Both lads performed well against Wales and their versatility gives them an outside shot to make next years Euros.

Yesterday it was leaked that Sky and BT, with the agreement of the Premier League, where going to charge £14.99 for games that were not scheduled as part of your normal subscription.

I am conflicted on this.

On the face of it, £14.99 is a lot of money. But then we’re fans expecting Sky and BT to add an extra 250 games for free?

Likewise clubs were always going to look to try and recoup some of the missing money from fans not being on the ground, and take advantage of more fans sitting at home.

Ultimately it is the consumers choice.

You can’t choose to pay for the extra games, or you can choose not too. To watch them on an illegal stream or listen to them on the radio. Or wait till MOTD.

If games were not originally scheduled for TV, they would have been your options anyway.

It will also not affect Arsenal that much.

We average around 25 games on BT and Sky a season. That would leave just 13 games not normally on TV.

Total cost to watch the remaining Arsenal games will be less than £200. That is a lot less than your season ticket.

Ultimately it is the consumers choice whether they buy the extra games. Just like it is the consumers choice whether they subscribe to Sky Sports or BT Sports in the first place.

There are millions in the UK who do not subscribe to Sky because they find it overpriced. That is there choice. Like buying the new games will also be an individuals choice.

My advice. Get a few people round the house, split the cost with your mates, and we are talking about £3-4 a game per person. Like the boxing.

But £14.99 still feels steep.

Music has shown that by providing a a high quality streaming service for a reasonable cost, consumers will shun free, illegal services.

Football needs to follow this and realise that a lower, more reasonable price will lead to more fans paying, and in turn higher revenues.

To finish, you can not demand your clubs signs the best players available, but not have the income to go with it.

Like kit deals.

Adidas pay Arsenal £60m a year. That leads them to bring out 3 kits a year at £60 a kit. We complaining about the kits and cost, but celebrate the record kit deals.

Premier League clubs need to replace match day revenue to finance their big spending summer.

Enjoy your Saturdays

Keenos

The big news from yesterday was that Kieran Tierney was to enter a period of isolation following a teammate giving a positive corcoronavirus test.

Whilst Tierney has tested negative, the Lothian Health Protection Team (LHPT) have decided that he had been in close contact with teammate Stuart Armstrong.

Tierney has stated his frustration at the situation, saying “I have adhered to all regulations and made sure I was socially distancing from my teammates in the hotel”.

Arsenal are right to demand answers from the Scottish Football Association.

Reports are that Tierney was playing a computer game in a hotel room, but had remained socially distanced.

A further test has also shown that Tierney has Coronavirus anti-bodies, indicating that he has probably already previously had the virus.

Arsenal are demanding to know why he has to isolate when he has produced a negative test and anti-bodies.

When you consider 3 Liverpool players have tested positive in recent weeks, but not a single player has had to isolate, you have to question the motive.

You have to wonder why international football is going on under current circumstances.

Domestically, football teams are within their own bubble in accordance to the country they play in. They play against sides in similar bubbles, playing under similar rules.

And then we have international football.

It brings together multiple different players, playing for multiple different teams, in multiple different countries with multiple different rules.

For all intents and purposes, a 25 man international squad could be made up of 25 different players playing in 25 different countries. Some tested every few days, others never tested.

If the message is “stop the spread”, how does international football fit in?

In England we have the Rule of 6 – where you can only have 6 people socialise together.

Up on Scotland it has just been announced that bars, pubs and cafes will have to shut at 6pm.

There are also quarantine periods that people coming from abroad have to undertake if they arrive to the UK, depending on which country they are coming in from.

We are all having to sacrifice our lives to ensure we limit the spread of COVID19.

But then we have international football which brings many different people together, living in many different countries.

It will be a breeding ground for COVID19, similar to what we are seeing at universities. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see a spike in positive tests in footballers following the international break.

Keenos