ROLL UP, ROLL UP FOR THE BIGGEST BATTLE IN TOWN!
DEJAN LOVREN v MAMADOU SAKHO
DIVOCK ORIGI v DANIEL STURRIDGE
JORDAN HENDERSON v EMRE CAN
JOE ALLEN v JAMES MILNER
BRENDAN RODGERS v JÜRGEN KLOPP!!
Have you done battle on Twitter yet? It’s great. You’re not a REAL Liverpool fan if you can’t choose between a series of arbitrary decisions presented to you by someone else. Then, even if you CAN decide and explain why you think what you think there’s a strong likelihood they’ll call you a cunt.
Winning on Twitter is almost as good as watching Liverpool win in real life. Almost.
There were seriously some people in the aftermath of Thursday night who would have been secretly fuming that Sakho and Lovren got the goals that drew us level and won us the match. They’d have tweeted something like, “He got the goal but what was he doing for their second?!”
It’s a weird phenomenon that’s doing the rounds at the moment — the notion that you should choose one player over the other.
Given the imminent arrival of Joel Matip and the blessed bombing out of Martin Skrtel, some Liverpool fans seems desperate to make a point that either Lovren or Sakho is the better player and should partner the incoming Cameroonian centre back next season.
When it was announced by the club that Jordan Henderson would almost certainly miss the rest of the season with his knee injury, some Reds fans announced on Twitter that they were glad he’d be out. They suggested that Emre Can could become a midfield dynamo in his absence, as if the captain had somehow been holding the German back.
Then we get to the continuing debate surrounding Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge. When the former was chosen to lead the line for the first leg in Dortmund the immediate reaction from the press and some supporters alike was to suggest that Sturridge had been DROPPED. I sent a tweet suggesting that actually it was merely a case of Origi being selected for tactical reasons and was immediately lambasted from numerous quarters.
One person told me Klopp would never be picking Origi had Sturridge been knocking in hat-tricks every match and that his ‘poor performances’ of late were the reason that Origi had started, hence Sturridge definitely was ‘dropped’. \
When I replied saying I didn’t agree but that it was ‘ok to disagree about something’, he said I ‘couldn’t answer a simple question’ and then called me a silly cunt. I’m not sure what the question was I was supposed to answer and don’t always love being called a silly cunt, so I blocked him.
Moments later I had a mate of his tweeting me — neither of these people follow me, by the way — saying I was a twat for blocking the original bloke and that it was pathetic that I just ‘ran away’ rather than trying to answer the question.
To this day I’m still not sure what that question was. For my money Jürgen Klopp believed that Origi would run more and offer more of a physical challenge to Dortmund’s defence than Sturridge and even if the England striker had been fully fit and firing he’d still have favoured the work rate of the Belgian.
I said all of that to my new friend but he wasn’t having any of it and called me a twat, so I blocked him too. Admittedly I didn’t help myself when Origi scored and I searched out the original fella to ask ‘who’s the silly cunt now?’, but I was excited and felt Klopp’s decision had been vindicated and we all act badly sometimes. In fact I’m regularly being told that I act badly, but that’s a different story.
The point is, of course, why is that people feel the need to ‘win’? And why do people find it so difficult to agree to disagree? Surely right now we can all admit that losing Emre Can and Jordan Henderson at the same time means we’re going to suffer in the middle of the park? That it’s great for us to have options in attack considering the paucity of choices we had earlier in the season?
It’s also remarkable that some Reds are still keen on having a pop at Brendan Rodgers about six months after he was sacked. Tweets about his misuse of players now that Klopp’s getting the best out of the likes of Lovren are common, even though those same people would have been calling Lovren every name under the sun at the start of the season.
Things didn’t work out for Rodgers and I for one am sorry about that. His sacking means that Liverpool didn’t win stuff and I’m all about Liverpool winning stuff.
I’m made up that Klopp’s come in and I genuinely believe we’re going to win a lot more than we lose with the German, but that doesn’t mean I have to use his performances as a stick to beat the previous manager with. 2013-2014 was the best prolonged period of time as a Liverpool supporter that I’ve enjoyed in my adult life. For that I’ll always be grateful to the Northern Irishman.
Thursday night was, without question, the single greatest experience I personally have had at Anfield. From the comeback through to the performance and the atmosphere, it was amazing. I, like many of you, have spent the last couple of days nursing a hangover and watching the highlights of the game on repeat.
Still there’s some Reds that want criticise us for doing that. ‘We haven’t won anything yet!’, is the common cry. There were more than a few people having a pop at the notion of heading to the ground early to welcome in the team bus. Doubtless they’ve since retweeted Albie Moreno’s video of the crowd from inside the bus and referred to us as ‘the best fans in the world’.
Imagine being a Liverpool fan and not wanting to soak up every single moment of Thursday night. Imagine sneering at fellow fans who appreciate just what that comeback means, even if we don’t go on to win the competition. That’s the sort of thing you expect from Bluenoses and Mancs, not Liverpool supporters.
Nights like Thursday are why you put in the hard yards. That experience is up there alongside anything I’ve experienced in any walk of life, not just football. If you’re the sort of person that wants to belittle that or suggest that fans shouldn’t enjoy moments like those then why do you even bother?
Video from inside the team bus taken by Alberto Moreno. We willed that to happen tonight the Reds, willed it. #LFC pic.twitter.com/Qp36c10CTO
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) April 14, 2016
I’ll be gutted if Liverpool don’t go on and win the UEFA Cup after that comeback, but during the game and in the aftermath of the result I had a bloody brilliant time. It was a genuine joy to be in the room recording The Pink after the match, watching John Gibbons strip down to his boxers because what he doesn’t know about football isn’t worth knowing. They’re the moments I’ll remember.
If Dejan Lovren partners Joel Matip on a regular basis next season there’ll be loads of people saying ‘I told you so’ and loads of others refusing to acknowledge his good play and picking up his every flaw to suggest Sakho should be playing instead. They’ll retweet things said by journalists or TAW contributors to make them look foolish, as if anyone other than them really gives a shit.
At the risk of sounding like someone with a ‘Make Peace Not War’ bumper sticker, can’t we all just get along? Can’t we acknowledge that it doesn’t really matter which player ‘wins’ as long as Liverpool Football Club wins the most?
Jürgen Klopp has picked the right team for Liverpool more often than he’s picked the wrong one and sometimes it may not even have been the wrong team so much as it was the other side getting more things right than we have. Next time you see the starting XI maybe don’t slag our own players off and just wait to see how the game pans out?
Football isn’t about being ‘right’. It’s about winning. And as we all know by now, When The Reds Win, We All Win.
You do know that you’re just going to get loads of tweets and comments calling you a silly cunt now don’t you?
You silly cunt.
and twat!
But in all seriousness I do agree with your point.
Twitter is a bit shit these days, for everything, not just football. Imagine how shit it must be to be a girl. People would be sending you a lot worse than ‘silly cunt’ and all for what? For having a different opinion on a footballer? The place is full of loons. Better discussion to be had on Facebook, less anonymity.
Every coupla weeks there pops up an article on here about people fuming on social media etc etc…..
Either fucking ignore them or get off Twitter etc.
Simples.
Whenever I encounter this attitude, in any area of life, it disappoints me. Why should not-so-miserable people be the ones who have to bend before the miserable people? Yes, it might be a pointless battle, but just speaking for myself here, I think it’s better to struggle mostly in vain to try to get people to be a little more thoughtful in how they act than to go into hiding.
I don’t see how ignoring fucktards is “bending before the miserable people”.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite!
In all fairness if you think Sturridge still wouldn’t have been selected against Dortmund regardless of his form then you are a silly cunt. If he performed like he did in 13/14, or performed like peak Messi, for the last few months there isn’t a manager in the world who would have him on the bench for such a big game. To claim form had nothing to do with Jurgen’s selection and it was purely tactical was ludicrous.
While there is a point to be made about people wanting to be right on social media, there is also a point to be made that a lot of people are far too precious & should accept that if they give an opinion that is obliterated at the smallest bit of logic and they get called out on sticking to that view regardless of the evidence presented, they shouldn’t yap, bitch and moan about it. They certainly shouldn’t feel so insecure about it they need to block those who disagree & then write an article about it.
There are more and more people being blocked by people whose ego simply will not allow them to consider that maybe the opinion they’ve just given is utterly ridiculous & not everyone will be polite about said ridiculous opinion. Sometimes people who give a stupid opinion will be called a stupid cunt. So what? What happened to “sticks and stones?” Gone I think. Bullshit PC culture strikes another blow.
If someone says Barcelona are not in the top 10 biggest clubs in the world then that person is a moron & is deserving of being called a moron. It’s that simple. Crying about such is a joke.
I don’t use or read any social media these days. The only ‘forums’ I use are the ones that relate to my interests, where for the most part you know you’re going to get a more measured and thoughtful discussion, TAW for example. As the poster above said, either ignore them or get off social media. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion even if you think it’s bullsh*t.
P.S. Can is definitely better without Henderson next to him.
Hashtag: Yeah, I went there.
(What do you mean that’s not how you do it?)
Indeed, Chris. I’ve personally experienced incredible misogynistic comments and abusive insults on Twitter just for having an opinion. Today some moron wrote, after not being able to rationally defend his own irrational opinion, “…and don’t think for a single solitary second that you will ever know more than me.” Mind, he doesn’t really know what I know because he doesn’t even follow and read what I Tweet.
The only way to deal with such jerks is to block or mute them and to resist the urge to get into arguments with them. Some are on Twitter purely to vent personal anger and frustration and they’ll use any target to do so. They’re cowards and are best left to stew in their own rancid juice.
Regarding the Origi vs Sturridge thing, after the game Jürgen said to a reporter “We wanted to change offensively with Daniel but with Dortmund’s style of play each offensive player opens naturally a space to play for them.” This makes it clear that the decision to save Sturridge for later in the game was tactical and was a blend of both offensive and defensive planning and in-game awareness and intelligence. Jürgen’s acute knowledge of Dortmund’s style is something that no Liverpool fan has. So no Liverpool fan was in a position to judge the team he picked to start or his strategy regarding the subs he lined up on the bench. As it played out, it was the players who made the decision to win that game come hell or high water, and they did.
Excellent opinion piece, Adam. I hope it gets widely read.
When the reds win with Mignolet we all lose loads more games next season when everyone’s once again tricked into thinking he’s a good enough no.1 to be going on with. Bit wordy that one tbf.
Twitter just sounds like it’s chock full of know nothing shithouses telling Sturridge or Allen to leave. So I guess it’s representive of Anfield in a way.
Meanwhile Skrtel is going under the radar picking up serious wedge and no one’s even that bothered. He should be going down with Villa playing next to Micah Richards and Jolean Lescott while *still* being the weak link in his back line.
As for Lovren vs Sakho, Klopp needs to go like Brendan and change to a back 3 to accommodate them both and Matip so I can stop hearing about it. I’m fucking sick of it. The only sides in European football this season who look like they know how to defend like proper teams did ten years ago are fucking Leicester and Athletico Madrid. Everyone else is shite without exception. Lovren and Sakho, Pique and Mascherano (playing back there), whoever it is for Bayern, Hummels was Beckenbauer Thursday night until he was conceding four in one half and he had no answers… City have spent £100m odd on partners for Kompany and I wouldn’t trust a single one of them to carry Sami Hyypia’s bags for him. All shit.
Dont really understand this tweet thing,I mean why would anyone want a reply from someone who they didnt know firstly,then apparently get excited by the response from a 2 line message that they tweeted.
World has gone mad now,was on a ferry last week from the Lido entering Venice and everyone instead of experiencing the view,sat there glued to their mobile phones,texting away,not even talking.
Although into my late sixties now I realise the convenience of being able to phone or communicate with friends and family,work etc but somehow I am despondent how are young children and youth can all sit together in groups and instead of talking seem content to look at who may be trying to reach them or are sending them messages as to where they are.
Try leaving your phone off just for a few days and experience the calmness that you can get.
Not gonna happen I know.Pretty soon there will be some kind of image in front of you and instead of being a phone it will be something else that takes over your life.Cant wait.
Love your comment, i feel the same way. Weve been duped into believing we need to be “connected” all the time.
A wise man once said “you support you’re Liverpool and I will support my Liverpool” perfect.
Why do you even bother getting so aggravated over this. Would you rather have all the fans behave exactly the same way as you do? If they’re arguing about something that means they care- their methods might be stupid as they’re a bunch of 13 year olds but they’ll grow up to be level headed supporters (hopefully). Let them be.. The world’s too big for you take concern with everything people say.
Hi Adam I think Twitter has a mute button that allows you to not see other peoples puerile replies, though they have no idea they’ve been muted thus launch torrents of abuse into the ether with no reply.
Twitter was made for gobshites and gobshites were made for Twitter. If you don’t like being abused stay off it and that’s my very best advise to you
In a recent survey, 87.567%* of keyboard warriors accusing people of not being “Real” supporters were away fans.
* Data Metrics 88 Corp. February 2016
Football is about opinions…..you silly cunt!
I gave up on twitter the day I gave my opinion of Hodge, (the worst appointment Liverpool ever wade), Twitter, told me to shut up, give the man a chance and support the club. OK, this was the day of the announcement, I was still bitter about Rafa being stabbed in the back and the front. Any lingering doubts about the Hodge were soon dispelled once he opened his mouth at his first presser. Funnily enough my opinion of the Hodge did not change over time, and i think i only have 26 followers, one of the problems of only a few words is that it is difficult to explain complex grey areas so people are either legends or shit depending on each pass. That is one reason I dont tweet often, the main one is that people on twitter went out of there way to defend the Hodge. Thus proving that there are some real dickheads on Twitter. There is always a line in the sand that is crossed when you realise that something is not for you. People defending the Hodge was my tipping point. The Hodge made a brief apperence on BT Sport on Thurday night, all around people were cheering and the Hodge was there with that vacant look on his face still not understanding. Yet there will still be people out there in Twitterland defending the Hodge, the point of no return.
That’s exactly the reason why I left Twitter and never started Facebook as its full of wankers wanting to dissect and argue every word you write, football discussions used to fantastic, all our lives are littered with fantastic sometimes ridiculous footy chat, sometimes we chat shit or get things totally wrong but it’s a debate and it’s great, that’s what it’s all about, we don’t all agree but we make or points and see if we can get some backing from our mates but the Internet has just allowed wankers to be wankers without comeback with the power to call people cunts when it suits! It’s just sad really… Great article though..
‘Football isn’t about being ‘right’.’
Sadly for many fans it is. It’s more about personal validation than anything else. I truly believe there are fans who don’t want certain players to score because it would contradict statements they have made about them previously.
As for those who try to dampen Thursday night’s delirium: if somebody could point out one fan who believed they were celebrating winning the Europa League then maybe I could take the ‘we’ve won nothing yet’ statements with anything other than contempt.
‘Twitter was made for gobshites and gobshites were made for Twitter.’
I don’t think anybody, anywhere, could sum it up better than this.
I got one loose rule for using the Twitters: follow mostly societies/groups/ charities/orgs/ thinktanks rather than individuals and stay away from ‘below the line’. Every time things get personal I read the Twitter piss-take column in Private Eye to get things in some perspective. Keep up the good work. Bogbrush.
I agreed with every bit of this lovely bit of writing. Right until the end, where I had to disagree.
Football is not about winning. It is about glory. Winning is one of the clearest forms of glory, but they are not synonymous. Anyone who has played footie with children knows that winning can come without glory, and can even be inglorious. At the same time, anyone who lived through the 13/14 season knows that glory can be found in the smallest of moments. The three goals that followed cannot lessen the glorious moment of Suarez grabbing the ball out of the net at Palace. The Aristotelian fall of Gerrard at Chelsea cannot diminish the “We go again” speech. There is even a glory in the arc of Sturridge’s chip over Tim Howard. A glory of audacity and the joy of a player in his prime exploding with youth and physical charisma. This is football.
The end of the Rodgers era was a dark time to be a Red on social media. Like the end of the Rafa era, only with technology offering a shiny, new microphone for the thuggish. Balance, context, respect, empathy, and decency are some of the first casualties of social media.
There were dark parallels to be drawn from the fans – I hesitate to use the word “supporter” – who actively sought to root out those who were not the “true” Reds, trying to humiliate them in whatever pathetic means seemed most frightening in their own truncheon minds. You could almost hear the sounds of jackboots in the distance at times.
It is sad to see so many ready and willing to denigrate Rodgers to this day in order to raise up Klopp yet higher. Sad on many levels, not the least of which is how antithetical such sentiments are to Klopp’s whole persona. It is not hard to imagine Klopp being embarrassed and even angered by the disrespect shown to his predecessor.
These thugs, online or otherwise, are not football. They are a parasitic attachment. An opposite of football that has come to be considered inevitably intertwined. But that doesn’t make them any less the little shits that they are.
Some fannies taking themselves too seriously on here.
Is there some form of irony in everyone hammering social media on an interactive social media forum?