The World Cup games are coming so thick and fast that, in the time between me sending this to my editor and you lot getting to read it, another 196 matches will have been played.

Okay, I exaggerate. It’s only about eight games. But even so, with things moving quickly, there’s little point in writing about specific results in too much detail. Instead, here are a few Qatar observations to chew on.

Offside laws: The introduction of painfully accurate and precise offside technology at this World Cup has made one thing strikingly clear: the offside rule itself needs reviewing. Seeing as the authorities insist on using all technological means available to ensure every tiny offside decision is caught, then the rule needs changing so marginal decisions are no longer offside.

I am sick of watching someone ‘score’ only to see the goal ruled out by technology. And this World Cup, with its added tech, is only making it worse. It has to stop and, if the technology is going to stay, then the rule itself must be the thing to change. Maybe the pointless offside calls on display in Qatar can inspire an overall change that may save football.

I am sick of watching someone ‘score’ only to see the goal ruled out by technology. And this World Cup is only making it worse

Injury time: Fair play to FIFA for making sure the added time in games better reflects the time that is wasted during the 90 minutes. Yes, it has meant some bizarrely long matches, but at least we are getting our money’s worth considering the extra substitutes, VAR pauses and other ways that effective playing time is being slowly eroded.

Hopefully, this approach will also deter teams from tedious time wasting, especially as we head into the later stages. And maybe it will inspire domestic refs to add on a proper amount of time in future.

Commentators: I am suggesting we make it illegal for commentary teams to include anyone from one of the competing countries. I watched the Wales vs USA game on a British channel with a Welsh co-commentator. It was strikingly obvious from the word go that this man wanted to have Gareth Bale’s babies, so perpetually full of praise was he for the Welsh captain. And that was despite Bale’s contribution being close to negligible until he took the equalising penalty, which caused said commentator to have an on-air orgasm. It really was quite embarrassing.

I suspect it would be much more fun having a co-commentators with no allegiance who can say what they really think without holding back. Let’s make this a rule. Who’s with me?

Complete courage: The not-entirely-football-related story of the week has to be the incredible courage shown by the Iranian football team in their opening game against England. By choosing not to sing their national anthem they sent out a clear message of support to the people protesting in their home country.

But at what price? I guess we won’t know until they return home and the regime leaders get their hands on them. But their bravery is in stark contrast to those European countries who didn’t have the courage to use the One Love captain’s armbands for fear of being viciously and savagely yellow-carded…

Rainbow armbands: Talking about the lack of guts shown by those European teams in the face of FIFA’s threat, why on earth didn’t they find a simple way around it? Like, for example, starting the game with their third-choice goalkeeper as captain (complete with armband), wait for him to get booked and then substitute him for the normal captain.

A card for that keeper is almost impossibly unlikely to have any bearing on the tournament, and the teams would have made the point they wanted to make in the first place. It would have lost them one sub, but that’s a tiny price to pay. Just saying.

Japan: It’s not the first time we are saying this, but it never ceases to amaze me just how brilliant the Japanese team and their supporters are at tournaments. A photo of the Japanese dressing room after their win over Germany – spotless and with origami paper cranes lovingly crafted as a thank you – understandably went viral.

Even more impressive, though, was how their fans picked up all the litter from the stadium before going on to celebrate their famous victory. Football needs more Japan in its life.

Meanwhile, in Manchester…

Away from the World Cup, it’s been quite a dramatic footballing week in Manchester.

While most City and United players are busy in Qatar – apart from Erling Haaland, who has probably been wandering around the empty corridors of Old Trafford looking for someone to have a kickabout with – that hasn’t kept either team out of the news.

For City it was a week of celebration, with manager Pep Guardiola signing a two-year extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until 2025. Considering there were rumours Pep might be off come the end of the season, that’s quite a result for the club and their fans.

However, the real drop-your-bacon-sandwich news came from Old Trafford. First, we had the inevitable announcement that Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract had been torn up by the most mutual of mutual consents. The two sides were probably fighting over who got to do the tearing.

Then, as that news was dying down, the even bigger bombshell was dropped: after 17 years of being the most hated family in Manchester, the Glazers are finally considering selling the club they bought by saddling it with a massive chunk of debt. It’s fair to say the Americans have never been popular custodians of the club – most United fans detest them with incredible passion – and the sooner they are gone, the happier the supporters will be.

Unfortunately, with a rather hefty price tag of between £4 and £5 billion, there aren’t going to be that many potential buyers who have the resources to complete the deal. And that means genuine United fans, people with the club and its supporters’ interests at heart, could well be priced out of the market.

That could pave the way for another bunch of money-hungry Glazer-likes to come storming in with thoughts only of making their own chunk of profit. Let’s face it, the Glazers themselves will sell to whoever flashes them the most cash. They won’t care about the club’s future.

So, I am just wondering if this might turn out to be a case of United supporters being careful what they wish for. They may get out of the Glazer frying pan, but there is a reasonably decent chance they may end up in the new owner’s fire…

E-mail: James@quizando.com

Twitter: @Maltablade