Ross – @rossic89
Well here we are again for the second game in a row, player ratings in the fucking mud. Quite right too, not sure anyone out there deserves a rating and to be perfectly honest I don’t have the energy or mental capacity to give my opinion followed by a number only for @dave23028238 or @negativeneco to disagree by one number. Doesn’t feel like it but there is much more to life than that right now. Not even sure where to start with that. Team news is probably a good place. A mixture of concern and hope. Fresh legs. Yay. Something different. Yay. FUCKING HOPE. Yay. Jota starts. Yay. Naby in the side. Yay. A strong bench. Yay. Meanwhile, back in realityville…no intent, no cohesion, no press, no confidence, no sense of urgency and no fucking hope.And from Fulham’s point of view, Liverpool have just lost five at home, they are trying to fight for survival (Fulham, not Liverpool) and the team sheet has Mané, Trent, Fabinho and others on the bench. Despite them being below their usual standards for a while, what incentive does that give to Fulham?! It’s already a great time to play Liverpool. I bet Fulham laughed their fucking tits off when they saw the Williams’, Phillips, Shaqiri and others starting today. I’ve not singled anyone out there, just examples. Freshness on Liverpool’s behalf. A mark of disrespect and confidence boost on Fulham’s. And you know what, it fucking showed. I hate to make this about me but my relationship with football has me slowly turning into Roy Keane or Graeme Souness. Fucking hate it. Feel sick. And I don’t mean to be dramatic but I cannot wait for the International break. That’s how bad things are. Not to watch the football, it’s shite. I need a fucking break. You need a break. Liverpool need a break. Switch off, refresh. A mental break from having moods and weekends ruined by the result and performance of a bunch of lads kicking a ball around. Mad when you think about it. But this is what we have chosen to invest our time in. We take the highs and unfortunately it’s part and parcel of being a fan, but we must also face the lows.Bizarrely though, the drop off isn’t normally this quick or sharp. I’m think I’m one more defeat away from Dog The Bounty Hunter storming into my gaff with Beth and Leland mid-game and telling to stop watching Liverpool Football Club. A desperate attempt to save me from my Liverpool addiction which isn’t only having an impact on me, but those around me. Liverpool and we as fans are quickly running out or reasons and/or excuses to these poor performances and I’m reaching the point of being unable to defend them. You can still support them and you can still love this team whilst at the same time having the ability to criticise them without going over the top, without shouting Klopp out, without blaming anyone else and calling it how you see it. So how did we all see that? Shite. Fucking shite. Almost to the point where we are laughing or simply don’t have the words. Are we now happy Naby played ninety minutes or no fucker got injured? Is that where we are all at now? Is this the fucking standard? Is this a consequence of the season so far? Is it too much to ask for a few shots on target? Maybe even a goal? I’m not asking for a lad to round 6 players, a few nutmegs and a rabona finish. JUST DO A FUCKING GOAL. Give me some happiness lads. Please.Millions of Liverpool fans who still haven’t celebrated the team winning the title and now to see the “defence” of it literally fall apart completely like this… It’s just shit and empty tbh.
— Emma Sanders (@em_sandy) March 7, 2021
— Ross (@rossic89) March 7, 2021
In truth, even if we won that game, things wouldn’t have been fixed. It wouldn’t have been sunshine and lollypops. I mentioned after Chelsea there is no quick fix. Not until this season is over. Even then we have to hope that everything that is going wrong is to do with having no fans and injuries. Because if it isn’t we seriously have bigger issues. And without overreacting I’m starting to think there might be. Fans and injuries might be the reason, we can still hold onto that. But some of that is the same for other sides and they aren’t performing this poorly against every type of side in the league. Fatigue and confidence also play important roles in high level sports. Now again, this is not an excuse but something we have to take into consideration. Confidence is on the floor. You think those lads aren’t fucked off too? Shattered. Fed up. Drained. Just look at Salah v Chelsea. Of course he was annoyed to come off. But you reckon he was also annoyed we played a bit shite, that he didn’t score, that we didn’t win? It’s because those lads care. The bond between fans and players is lost. On it’s arse. It doesn’t exist. Which is all well and good but Fulham had no fans. Chelsea had no fans. Brighton, Burnley..the list is getting longer. That’s the bit that hurts. That’s the bit that is killing me right now. That’s the bit I cannot defend. We’re all in the same empty, soulless fucking boat.With no disrespect to Fulham – We shouldn’t be losing that game. We still have Champions League winners in that side. Title winners. If you showed that game to a mate who hadn’t seen football and told them that, they’d have laughed right in your fucking face. And they’d have thought they could have been a Premier League footballer in red too.
You can make your own mind up on this Liverpool side or how this season pans out but in my personal opinion, top four is out of reach. I thought THIS was going to be the game. The platform. The confidence booster. What a fucking idiot I am. I’ve no idea where we go from here. All the eggs in the Champions League basket? Perhaps. But it’s a dangerous game to play and with Leipzig flying high in the Bundesliga they will fancy their chances and without being defeatist, I’m hardly full of confidence that it will be a piece of piss. There’s no sign of Liverpool improving and getting a few bodies back along with trying something different was the last roll of the dice for me. I’ve nothing to hang my hat on anymore. I don’t look forward to games, I was never really confident ahead of this. So what else is there? I’ll tell you what there is. Defiance, support, delusion maybe, stupidity, an undying love for your club that says no matter what, you will be there. You will support. As much as it pains us. We will sit through every last second of this Liverpool side until the end of the season. We will support the champions we’ve not had a chance to celebrate just yet. When the anger and frustration dies off we will all remember why we are in this together. Four words. You’ll Never Walk Alone
Do yourself and your wellbeing a favour. Turn off social media. Mute the group chats. Do something that is a distraction. Don’t get sucked into Tweets that are just fucking silly. There’s some big social accounts out there with some terrible content designed to bait people into a fucking argument. Not Redmen obviously, that’s the best account there is. You’re better than that. Move on. Have a beer. Drink responsibly. Enjoy life. Choose a washing machine. We will be back to do this all again on Wednesday.Ross – @rossic89
