Arteta: “Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the league with fewer points than what we had in the last two seasons. With the points of the last two seasons we would have two Premier Leagues.”

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hippo wrote: ↑05 Sep 2023, 16:59 Nu bet vienas dalykas yra blogas išsilavinimas o biški kitas buvimas debilu ir žmogum-šūdu.

hippo wrote: ↑05 Sep 2023, 14:36Čia koks tai nebežemiškai pribloškiantis šūdų fontanas. Kaip gali žmogas būt ant tiek debilas?

Ornstein: There was an article I read before this interview that sort of said that you’re being used — not just you but others as well — to help grow this league, and that is part of an attempt to improve the country’s image. Did it never get to a point where you listen to the people you were talking to before, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, and think, “I can’t do this”?

Henderson: It’s hard to know what the reality is and what’s not true. Because you hear about stuff and you’re like, “Is that true?” But when you speak to people who are close to me and have had experiences over in Saudi or over in the Middle East, it’s like, “Well, actually, that’s not the same.”

A perfect example would be before Qatar. We had a meeting with the FA about human rights, about the issues around the stadiums. I think it might have been Amnesty who had sent the images and stuff. And then, half an hour later, I go into a press conference or some media and I’ve commented on that situation. I was like, “Well, it was quite shocking and horrendous” and that was quite hard for us to see. But then when I went to Qatar and we had the experience we had at the World Cup, you get to meet the workers there and it was totally different.

Crafton: I suppose people would come back and say what you were presented with in Qatar as a high-profile footballer was always going to be different, a choreographed, manicured perception…

Henderson: I’m not saying that it wasn’t true. All of this stuff might have been. But when you go there and experience it for yourself, it is totally different. Now, what I would say is that if, let’s say, all of those things are true, is it not good that it highlights the problems and we’re trying to make positive change, slowly? You know, Qatar made rule and regulation changes for the World Cup. Is that not a positive thing? Is that not what we want? Otherwise, if we don’t have the World Cup there and nobody goes there, then nothing really changes for the people that are living there.

Crafton: I don’t want to dwell on this topic too much longer because I feel the intensity here now. But just a, really, almost yes-or-no question: as part of your agreement, will you receive payments for any sort of social media posts promoting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Henderson: No. Anything contractually was all to do with football. But there’s a lot of stuff that gets reported in the media and on social media. And I’ve learned over the years that you don’t know what’s true and what’s not. So you’ve got to go and experience it for yourself. So my (reported) wages, for one, are not true. I see stuff about me that’s just not true. There’s loads of things. Do we sit over in the UK just criticising everything that goes on in the Middle East when really, when you’re there, it’s not quite like that. And I’ve found that over the past few weeks that the perception that I’ve seen in the media here, to what is the reality over there isn’t the same.

Henderson: If one of those people said to me, “Now we want you to stay”, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And I have to then think about what’s next for me in my career. Now, that’s not to say that they forced me out of the club or they were saying they wanted me to leave but at no point did I feel wanted by the club or anyone to stay.

Hendo knew exactly the situation - that we wanted to keep him. It was full of respect and full of everything you need in a situation like that