While the weekend presented us with no more football than we usually see, it certainly felt more hectic.
Perhaps it was the schedule delivering a number of significant contests. Newcastle ended their trophy drought with success over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final in what was the highlight of Sunday's action.
But that same day also gave us an Arsenal victory over Chelsea, United edging past Wednesday in the Steel City derby in Sheffield and Rangers beating Celtic in dramatic fashion in Glasgow.
We get to pause from the majority of the domestic action for the final time this season as World Cup qualifying begins. There's also a new dawn for England, but more on that in a bit.
It's usually met with disgruntled groans yet international football is good. Stop pretending it isn't. You often get some good match-ups during each break.
Come on, you don't *really* hate the international break as much as you say you do. You're just heightening the faux hatred because that's what social media wants you to think.
The Nations League play-offs also take place this week, and while we may not truly care who wins it, you are getting some top-level match-ups in games which could easily be major tournament finals.
Here's a few points from the past few days which I felt worthy of highlighting.
A proper winger's performance
I spent my Saturday afternoon in Manchester. Luckily, I avoided the large majority of themed bars the place seems obsessed with and headed to the Etihad, taking in Manchester City vs Brighton from the away end.
Although I did end up in one place near Victoria station which, having reflected on it afterwards, charged what I believe was £7.55 for a pint. SEVEN POUNDS AND FIFTY-FIVE PENCE.
The match itself was a terrific watch at least. It also remains a weird feeling to see a City side so uncomfortable on their own patch - it's a feeling which I expect will be disappearing next season so we don't have to be used to it for too long.
Brighton were the better team and both of City's goals came from their mistakes. The one positive part from an otherwise flat showing was the performance of Jeremy Doku.
Given City are often a televised selection it feels like I've seen plenty of him and that was his best performance in a City shirt.
Players were quite literally bouncing off him as they aimed to dispossess. I can't actually recall too many moments where a Brighton player managed to stop him.
The stats back that up as he was successful in 15 of the 19 dribbles he attempted.
That is a staggeringly high number and is the joint-most he's seen in the Premier League this season with 15 also coming in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.
It's a shame for him that the international break halts any City momentum but I'll be certainly looking at a potential assist or an opposition player card when they return to action.
Presence in the middle
And on the Brighton side of things the Seagulls have an incredible record of picking up players that others can't seem to spot and it seems like Diego Gomez is the next one off the production line.
The Paraguay international joined the club from Inter Miami in January and made only his second Premier League start at the Etihad.
He was superb.
The midfielder times his tackles to perfection - Gomez finished the contest with six successful ones.
You wouldn't be surprised to see some goal contributions sitting alongside his defensive efforts. He had two shots on Saturday while also creating a chance.
With competitive contests against Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest to come after the international break, I'll be looking to take a high tackles line for Gomez in both if he starts.
England's new approach
"Ladies and gentlemen, England will be playing four-four-fucking-two," Thomas Tuchel (sort of).
It's an international break to look forward to with the new Three Lions boss taking charge of his first games. They host Albania on Friday before returning to Wembley three days later to face Latvia.
They're competitive fixtures too with World Cup qualification of course expected but not guaranteed. At least the opposition shouldn't be too troubling in what is a period of implementing new ideas.
And one of those which certainly caught my eye when he was speaking on Friday was Tuchel's discussion on the style. Less worrying about the nicety of it all; more focus on being, well, England.
"It [the style] needs to reflect the Premier League," he said following the squad announcement.
"The Premier League is a very physical and demanding league. We should be brave enough to play like an England squad.
"We should not try to copy other nations or other styles. It should be the values of the country and the strongest league in the world.
"We will try to implement a direct style, an attacking style and we will try to increase the rhythm in our game and the intensity of our game. We will try to do this in a crash course from Monday and unleash the potential on Friday."
What this exactly means is still a bit of mystery at this point and we'll obviously understand more when they feature in a few days' time, but if they do go full 4-4-2 long ball I'll be the most patriotic man in the country.
It'll be interesting to see how the players interpret it too. With cards generally lower in international football and the market so one-sided for a home win, maybe there is value in taking England for a couple of cards against Albania.
Fernandes in red-hot form
Manchester United had little issue in getting past an awful Leicester outfit in Sunday's late, late kick-off.
Ruben Amorim's side secured a 3-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, a result which leaves them 13th in the Premier League table.
Bruno Fernandes returned a goal and two assists, extending his run of recent great form. He could have seen further goal involvement given the performance too.
Fernandes saved mine - and presumably many others' - FPL team and this Leicester game delivered his second-most chances created of the Premier League season.
The one game which saw more? Well, erm, Leicester at home but it's the third time across his previous five league outings where at least four chances have been created for teammates.
The Europa League win against Real Sociedad on Thursday, which delivered a hat-trick for the midfielder, was another game where the chances count hit four.
Despite United's struggles, Fernandes has been playing his part and the actual goals contribution tally would be much higher if others could convert those which came their way.
A trip to Nottingham Forest followed by a home contest with Manchester City following the international break are likely to deliver nice enough prices on a Fernandes assist.
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