We’re coming towards the business end of the season and wouldn’t you know it with all the red tape and new rules and regulations that we’re seeing. It’s hard to keep up. It’s been that kind of week.

I’ve spent a large percentage of my life in the United States as you all know, and something I’ve noticed since the restart of the Premier League is how quickly the league is becoming Americanised. There are plenty of good things to take from American sports but there are certain aspects of football that shouldn’t really be tampered with. I understand that in the short term these were measures that had to be taken but it does concern me that these measures will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The water breaks are an obvious disruption. Sometimes it even changes the pattern of the game. That’s what half-time is for. And then you have the number of substitutions, which will apparently now remain in place for next season too. Well, that’s lucky for the big clubs who play lots of games and go for all the trophies, isn’t it? Squads are getting bigger and this will encourage that, because it’s going to be easier to keep fringe players happy.

There’s no convincing argument that the increase in substitutes is good for the game overall so what started as a temporary act to relieve some pressure on those smaller squads is now going to be something that can be exploited by the bigger ones. At United, we’ve spent the last couple of weeks speaking so excitedly about the fact we played the same team for a few games in a row! Consistency breeds consistency and meddling about – as United have found to their cost in the last seven years – creates instability.

These should have been emergency acts but instead the powers that be have used it to see if certain things could be worthwhile moving forwards. It’s not “Do the water breaks provide hydration?” because that has never been an issue in over 100 years of the game being played in England. It’s “Do the water breaks provide enough time for a commercial?”

This is the basic premise of the game which is being meddled with. But that wasn’t the only big news to hit this week. Manchester City were given a reprieve after their European ban was overturned and Pep Guardiola got his violin out. This is a difficult thing for me to talk about because I always try and concern myself with what is happening to affect the game on the pitch and it is clear to see this is about politics. I give my opinion as a former player because I was one and hopefully people might find that interesting – so I try and keep out of what happens off the pitch.

But, the City ruling was hard to ignore. It’s ridiculous to suggest money hasn’t played a massive part in their success and it’s insulting to the intelligence to suggest Manchester City – a club who had their own history to be proud of – were now magically creating the sort of revenue that made them exempt from the punishments that Financial Fair Play was established to try and govern. Loopholes and technicalities – it goes against the spirit of the game.

Some might argue that City’s money meant their success had less credibility anyway – how much do they have now? It’s that old saying – one rule for one, one rule for another. Now FFP has been undermined, all sides have lost their credibility, it has brought the game into disrepute and as far as I’m concerned City got out of jail with that one.

For a period of time it was said that whoever finished in 5th place would benefit because City’s Champions League space would go to that side. That’s out of the equation now for Chelsea, Leicester City and United, who have to finish in the top four in order to qualify.

You have to put these things into perspective. For United, obviously they want to be challenging for the top honours, but considering where they were when Jose Mourinho was sacked, it’s been a long process of sorting out a lot of issues and getting some settlement in the team. It’s been a lot of turmoil at Old Trafford, so you have to consider the last few weeks a huge success for Ole, despite what happened on Monday. I think that has been his main achievement and he has accomplished it.

For me, then, whatever they win from here or however they finish up is a bonus. It’s a big weekend for league and FA Cup ambitions and whatever happens it’s just fantastic that United are at this stage of a season competing for these prizes instead of staggering through the last weeks of the campaign in games which mean nothing. If they finish in the top four that will be higher than what many had tipped for them at certain stages this season. If they win the FA Cup or Europa League that will be a bonus. The real achievement is the progress Ole has made. Supporters can now see what is being developed. They can see that progress – they can look at it and see what he is trying to do. They’re enjoying watching the team play.

And most supporters already can’t wait for the new season and a blank page to see if United really can challenge the top teams – whatever happens, though, the most important thing is that Ole is building his team with young players with the drive and motivation to play good football again. I think the supporters have been missing that more than the trophies.