HAS everyone calmed down yet?
It was heavy that, wasn’t it? It was always going to be a graft that game. Sunderland away, in the freezing cold, about half an hour after the Manchester City game finished, against a manager who is so negative in everything he does he makes The Hodge look like Jim Carey on the balloons. Even still, the manner of the goals and the referee, combined with the relentless pressure of a Liverpool title charge, was enough to make pretty much every Liverpool fan go bananas. Not just a little bit bananas, full on ‘who are you talking to’ bananas.
I was watching it in ours, in the back room, surrounded by Christmas debris. As the referee gave that free-kick a rather smug looking Father Christmas got a volley to the kite. It didn’t knock the smile off his face, though. Look at him, the little prick.
As the penalty was given, an innocent packet of Batman Lego copped for a mauling and was probably a bit confused as to whether it was a case of mistaken identity when I screamed about him being a horrible Manc, Alex Ferguson puppet of a prick. Poor Batman and his squad of pieces might have expected an apology when the replay was shown, but instead their big, dopey snowy mate got his head smashed in. Don’t look at me, lads. Blame The Reds.
The thing about anger is that over time it dissipates. After a while, and a fair bit of distraction, I managed to calm down a bit. Steve Peters, the former Liverpool ‘Director of sorting your head out’ has a theory that we have a chimp in our brain that is an irrational bellend and is responsible for our emotional responses such as anger. The theory goes (I’m half paraphrasing and half making this up here – soz Steve, your book is sound and that you know) that the chimp’s anger can only last a certain timescale, about seven minutes, from when it first starts unless it is provoked into starting again by being challenged or argued with. If we remove our monkey from provocation then, in theory, we should calm down.
Which brings me to the social and specifically Twitter. After I had suitably calmed down yesterday, I made the mistake of getting on Twitter to see what was being said. I was instantly furious; King Kong in our kitchen trying to get out furious. It wasn’t necessarily that people were being more mental than normal, it was more the constant reminders, the constant probing, the flashing memories of the referee, the manager having a cob on and the gut-wrenching disappointment. It was all of it and the fact that, when I read a bit more, it turned out people were being more mental than they normally are, which takes some doing.
This relentless tide of anger and emotion is definitely linked to the social, it has got to be. People react instantly to events, fair enough. They kick inanimate objects in their own house; they shout at the telly even though it can’t transmit sound to the referee’s ear. When we react in real time by writing something bananas about the team we love there are consequences.
That’s the point, isn’t it? People react. They come back, tell you that you are chatting shit, or favourite it, or retweet it, or finger it or whatever they do over on Facebook. One initial thought, which may or may not be what you actually think, is now floating around all over the gaff and pissing everyone off. The issue for me is that it is very, very addictive, isn’t it? You almost want to get pissed off, you almost want to revel in the anger for a bit; it is human nature. A little bit, anyway. I tried to put my phone down and couldn’t. It was like a car crash – don’t look, don’t look, don’t look, oh go on then. But I tell you what, I’m going to work on it.
I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, I think they are shite in the main (with the possible exception of the one I apparently committed to in a drunken haze after the Manchester City game about being less funny than I already am — which is funny, thereby breaking my own resolution at precisely the moment it was made). But I am going to make an exception this year and state, right here and now, that my resolution this year is to stay off Twitter whenever The Reds don’t win.
I don’t want to be angry at these Reds. I don’t want to be angry at my fellow Reds either. I don’t want anything to detract from the pleasure of this title run, because that is what it is. Yes, it is long and hard and it hurts when we don’t win but it is a pleasure to follow these Reds, to scream these Reds on, to get behind them with everything I have got, regardless of whether they win the league or not. They are, I think, the best Liverpool side I have seen. They have just got to the halfway point of a Premier League season with their record points total. I don’t want to moan and be angry at them.
They have got a manager who has built this side, the side that has got the best ever Premier League points total at the halfway stage, by spending hardly anything and making the players that he already had well better. Yes, there are weaknesses in the squad. Yes, there are possibly issues about a lack of rotation. Perhaps they are linked in some way. But do you know what? I don’t care. I don’t want to be angry or pissed off at these Reds when they are literally one of the best performing Liverpool sides at this stage of a season during the Premier League era. They do not deserve our anger. They do not deserve our criticism, I’m not having it. So I’m not putting myself through it and I’m not contributing to it. Well, aside from this column, like.
The all-consuming, prodding nest of hatred that is Twitter after a Liverpool setback isn’t worth the damage it does to my mental health. There is also literally no point to it. It brings about no results so I don’t want to contribute to it. Jürgen Klopp isn’t going to see a tweet from me about a lack of rotation and change his mind.
Sorry, everyone. We were going to play the same team but some surveyor from the North End reckons that we should rest a couple and play some of the young lads. So, Adam Lallana, you are on the bench. Roberto Firmino, you aren’t playing at all.
I don’t know more than our manager about our team and I’m alright with that. So I’m jibbing it.
Up the non-criticising on social media after we have dropped points Reds, for we are the greatest of them all.
Happy New Year.
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I’ve calmed down, don’t criticize the lads, the team as a whole or the Manager. Don’t understand why it’s done really, they’re my team and I’d never criticize mine publically. Will fume and have a couple of bad days but that’s it.
Well said … a True supporter …
Well put Meg.
For me any anger after home games dissipates after two pints in the Harry. I don’t get to many away games these days so I go to my local, the Freshie, where miraculously two pints does the trick too. I think the divs on Twitter or whatever have no other outlet and need to vent whatever venom they have to someone, so why not to the listening world? Sad that really, but as I assume the vast majority of these people never get to a match or have a local with Liverpool mates it’s a natural, if pointless response.
Just jib the social media altogether* and blissfully avoid the ignorance.
*this doesn’t count.
That’s exactly what I did. I was just about ready to roll up my scarf and call it a day on football entirely from the warped view of our supporters when seen through the lens of social media. Just wasn’t worth the aggravation from all the Little Trumps out there. And then, at a certain point, I realized it was possible to enjoy The Footie without social media. Apparently, people had been doing it for well over a century.
While I don’t agree with everything everyone says here – and they certainly don’t always agree with me – opinions around TAW tend to be considered and considerate. Which is why I’m happy TAW has remained the one big asterisk to save my soul, cause I’d hate to think of life without the club. And, of course, it would be the season we win the league. So I’ll be having none of that nonsense.
A small part of me will grumble that we could be just 3 points off the top now, but it remains a small part of me. The big part says we’re boss and that’s the fact, Jack.
Up the mighty, mighty Reds.
This is how you do it: Just score more against the lower teams in the table because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain from now on.
Until recently, I thought I enjoyed it to be honest. I might talk shit on here but in general I’m fairly on the level, bit like the Grand ole duke of York’s men, neither up nor down. I think I’m a fairly optimistic fan but my head was coming off after Sunderland although my focus was on the fixtures not the team. When I’m in that vile mood and I see the smugness of Liverpool fans on Twitter saying how we’re not good enough to win the league I want to take them on. I wanna destroy them. I thought it was healthy for me because without football I’d be not far off flat lining. I need some peaks and troughs on the graph to make me feel alive. Same job for 14 years, same girlfriend for 23 years, largely the same social circle since school in the mid 80’s, Liverpool is the only thing I’ve got left to take me out of being content and into madness, worry, stress and unpredictability. I’ve always thought I loved that side of it and needed both the highs and the lows it brings and one side of me thinks it’s better to vent to anonymous people on Twitter because it stops me doing it with people I know. But, something happened recently that showed me how pathetic social media is and if I’m honest how dangerous it is and how weird people are. A lad I know put a joke on fb about Everton wives etc but mentioned my brother in laws bar. I saw the anger and the fallout from it. The national media and every woman’s charity in Britain were on the phone, there were death threats and people waiting for him outside the bar. He was naive in what he put but he’s a young lad who meant no malice in the same way the Kop don’t when they sing their similar songs. He didn’t think that’s all. It struck me what a pathetic nation we are. We turn a blind eye to all the evils of the world but if something is said on fb or Twitter then we can’t wait to be outraged. I feel we’ve got our priorities wrong. I think my new year’s resolution will be to not let the chimp out after the 7 minutes. Maybe I don’t need to aggravate it. Let them get on with it. It’s not my issue if people don’t believe. It just annoys me because despite what we may think, the vibe does actually get back to Klopp. I’ve heard him reference enough to know that. It makes me feel like we’ve let him down and makes me want to go on the defensive.
Hi Robin, How you doing? Hope you feel a little better now that Spurs did a number on the Plastics. Really enjoyed that game. Btw good call on the City game as well.
I know what you mean by the danger of social media. I myself only got onto FB and instagram last year, and mostly for reasons that concern what I do for a living as a visual artist. I took one look at Twitter and just the interface put me off. I don’t post much on the said two SM outlets, and when I do it’s strictly within limits to related stuff – I’m not good at it either.
Can’t believe the nonsense about the Everton joke, just like those fake security cameras. Well it’s not just your nation, like Baggio below pointed out, the whole world’s out of sorts when it is related to SM. Here in America it’s probably the worse. Just look at the Trump vs Hillary line of communication and it’s really disappointing. It’s very sad to know that the children growing up today will have this to their history books for reference. Only the other day my wife pointed out how her niece and nephew don’t play in the massive backyard they have, instead they are inside munching on stuff and zoned into their ipads. Apple has done wonders in moving us closer to a fragmented society in which people can’t or don’t know how to greet one another. Ironic that they used the 1984 movie to launch their “Think Different” approach.
Anyways enough of my ramble. Regarding Liverpool, yes I do get frustrated, but I’ve learned to walk away when I need to and have a think about the situation and people involved. Don’t always have the luxury to watch matches at the stadiums, so after matches, I used to only read articles and comments on the TAW and TIA. Resorting to commenting of late helps vent a little, but just enough to continue to stay positive about the team, manager and the fans.
It’s still a game for me, and I can’t imagine losing my head like those people on Twitter. It’s not healthy nor worth my time and energy.
Off topic regarding the football, but in was once told even Steve Jobs had said, just before he died, that if he had young children he would only limit them to 1 hour a day on an I-pad.
Struck me that, probably because he realised the craziness of it all. Thats if it’s true of course.
I came to this conclusion at the end of the Rodgers run and then let it slip back. I reestablished it after the Bournemouth game and stay away from everything, not just twatter. My problem is I can’t do stuff half-hearted so when I get angry I get mental so I need to remove myself. Only Liverpool do this to me, not work, not family, not mates. However, I never take my anger out on the team, I always blame myself, never the players, never the players, certainly never the boss and defo not this boss. It is not healthy and needs managing as you say. The best panacea is stay off the net, it’s always the net.
I agree. The negativity after we don’t win drains me so much. I reckon most of these are “new” supporters who don’t know how great our team is and what we stand for.
Hi Sonia, I’m not a new supporter, just new to posting on the TAW. You are right in that it can be really draining. So I just stay away from sites that post such negativity including articles and from Social Media, and clear my head and do many different things I am involved with. For me it will always be a game, to keep things in perspective.
Hope your new year turns out to be grand.
Hi Sash
Thanks for the good wishes and advice. Another form of therapy is to check our opponents sites . I’m amazed at how much they fear and admire us under klopp
If I could change one thing about the otherwise fantastic Anfield Wrap it would be the number of articles responding to the muppets on social media. I realise I don’t have to read or comment on them and won’t again but I agree with Robin that we (planet rather than nation) are in the generation of outrage. Not about global warming, inequality, etc. but because one of those sisters said something about Taylor Swift or something.
I’d suggest you all stayed off twitter except that yours in one of the two sites I follow, the other being a work necessity.
My anger has also subsided with Spurs 2-0 up. I am still a little annoyed with that f-wit Taylor reasoning that 5 + 3 = 5 1/2, which gives him the mathematical aptitude of a 5 year old.
Well said. Support the team – they’re a joy to watch and they win most of the time. We’re back. No need to lose the plot and Robin is right – it does get back to Klopp. We need to have his positivity and confidence. We need to believe we’all get back to the top. 5 points behind the leaders, record points haul, right in the mix and confident of taking 4 points against the scum and Chelsea this month. To cap it, we’ve the soundest, best and most loved manager in the world. At the end of 2014/15 season, I’d have laughed (and cried with joy) if somebody had told me we’d be in this situation. Mane mane mane….loving life.
What gets me about football is the deflation you feel when we get a bad result, especially the manner against Sunderland. I personally become so deflated and depressed that I can’t function for the rest of the day. Any plans I had for that day go out the window. Sounds pathetic I know, and it’s only football. But after that Sunderland game I’m obsessing about the game and thinking stuff like “what if Sturridge didn’t get injured, then Lucas wouldn’t have come on, we could have got a third goal”. Crazy how football can effect your mood. Anyway maybe I need to examine my life and get things into perspective. :-)
‘They do not deserve our anger. They do not deserve our criticism, I’m not having it.’
This, this and this again.
I don’t even have a Twitter account but being exposed to the social media opprobrium when Liverpool don’t win has damaged my mental health. I can feel myself becoming pale and ill as I read the endless flow of
‘told ya’ Klavan wasn’t up to it……’
‘ I always said The Weds ain’t got a good enuff defence like.’
It makes me ill, the point of wanting to smash the screen. I was almost hospitalised when Defoe got that second equaliser, mainly because of the sheer boredom of Taylor making a mess of the decision to grant the free kick.
Still, like the article said, this group of players are incredible. It’s probably the best Reds team I have seen, though the 08/09 Reds were a sensation and delivered some immortal results.
I am enjoying every minute of Klopp’s reign, to the point where I even want to see his celebrations as much as the goals.