JÜRGEN Klopp’s Liverpool are a big noise. Like beating drums. A rumble a year ago, intensifying with each passing month. A cacophony in the league, a march in Europe. By April, Reds were pounding. Manchester City were deafened, Roma drowned out. Tempo is everything in...
THE mornings of Champions League finals are unique days. Days when we feel special but equally full of trepidation. Like children on their birthdays or confirmations or Bar Mitzvahs. In Liverpool there’s not a stranger, a shop assistant, an acquaintance you won’t...
JÜRGEN Klopp says we must only think about Brighton this week, and that’s the way it should be. I deviated from the script. I also thought about Huddersfield and David Wagner a lot too. Said it before, I’ll say it again, but you get more for your buck at this stage of...
I MAY burst. We may burst. This is what it’s all about. I’m just so red right now that if you cut me open you wouldn’t notice the difference between my fleshless exposed innards and my crimson exterior. We – breathes – are in a European Cup final. And everything is...
WE have conquered all of Europe. I never want this to stop. Let’s not fall flat on our faces at this stage. Let’s win the fucking pot. ALLEZ, ALLEZ, ALLEZ! At each stage of this European Cup journey I’ve said to myself “just let us reach the next round”. I’ve not...
I DIDN’T sleep last night. Spent the small hours fighting with my pillow, turning the TV on and off, getting up to take unneeded pisses. I’m not in a fit state now. I’m a troubled soul. Why? I’ll tell you why. Sadio Mane is injured. And Liverpool have a European Cup...
WE were chatting yesterday about the game. There was talk of needing to enjoy the occasion — it’s not often we’ve had a European cup semi final to savour — and not to be shredded by nerves nor filled with dread and foreboding. I’ve dwelt on this overnight....
GET out the way, West Brom. Just move, will ya? Only the European Cup matters. I think only the European Cup has ever mattered. All else is chimera. Can you even be a Liverpool supporter without feeling this way about the European Cup? It defines no English team the...
IT’S gonna be a bit all “after the Lord Mayor’s show”, isn’t it? Whatever that actually means. It must have been some spectacle — that show — to induce the comedown it’s credited with. As an expression, it obviously harks back to simpler times. These are...
WE all offered silent prayers a week ago. Pleas to higher powers not to spoil this for us. We should trust more. I like to keep my expectations modest. A not very wise man once said to me “don’t cry before you’re hurt”. That can fuck right off. I like to...
