HERE we are again. Face to face with the future we crave. All we’ve ever wanted. What we’ve ached for. It’s carved in angry biro into every fibre of our long-suffering, Liverpool-loving beings. We get up in the morning to win the league. We put up with the working...
I HOPE you’re reading my preview a bit pissed and soaked with Christmas cheer. That way you’ll be kinder with me and my flow. I’m not sure exactly where I’m going with this other than to say it will be off somewhere near the deep end. Keeping it together at the moment...
THERE’S something about a game on the edge of Christmas. Tensions are heightened in the best way. The seasonal context inexplicably enhances the sense of excitement. Maybe it’s because we allow ourselves to be lovingly brainwashed from a young age to associate...
YOU know what I love about Anfield? Every time I go there I feel like a child. I was a kid when I first went there. I’m far from one now, but in that place, I will be forever. As Liverpool summoned the gods and overwhelmed Napoli on a chilled Tuesday December night, I...
IT’S an odd competition at times, the Champions League. Its group phase is unsettling. The matches are all obviously very important. They must be, as teams — especially those in the Premier League — have sweated nine long months to qualify for them. Yet...
MY first league match missed this season will be Liverpool’s 15th. I’ve set out to do the full 38-game complement on about 10 occasions, but always come up short by a fixture or two. I’m like a metaphor for past Liverpool sides. We’re all nearly people, ultimately....
WE have a drill for Burnley away. It’s often felt like a rush to be getting there. It’s close, but there’s never quite enough time to fulfil all ambitions and expectations. This Wednesday will be a challenge. We’ve got to scoop my youngest, Rafael (Benitez) Gutmann...
THE Blues. The fucking Blues. And I guess that’s why they call them The Blues. I just cannot be arsed with them right now. And annoyingly, inevitably, they will be so invested in this weekend’s derby. Blues, blue men, blue people, you may well get your win, that win,...
IT’S a bigger game than we’d budgeted for. Yes, when the draw was made it was appreciated that a bum hand had been dealt, but still. Liverpool are often careless in Champions League group stage games, but now is not a time for regrets as we approach the decisive...
I LIKE a bit of Watford. It’s a no-nonsense away. Not so close that you barely feel you’ve had a day out but far enough that it feels like going on a mission. I’m becoming fonder of aways the older I’m getting. When I was young it was all about Anfield. That was going...
