Is there a prize for it? Nope, it means fuck all.
It means we’ve enjoyed a hell of a season and can shake any negativity in the summer. It provides context and reminds us just how fucking good we are and we’ve been.
Nobody can take the highs of this season away, whether we end up lifting a big shiny thing round our city or not. You don’t need to wait for the end of the season to know whether you’re allowed to lay any significance on what has come before.
We didn’t get a prize for Tuesday night. Does that mean it meant fuck all?
I can’t believe anyone came away from Tuesday with it meaning nothing to them. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything physical, maybe it doesn’t give us anything tangible but it sure as hell means something!
If you’re going to rely on the tangible to define meaning or significance then you’re very rarely going to be happy because the greatest moments of meaning aren’t presented to you all silver and shiny, they’re experienced, lived.
We’ve had one of the greatest seasons in football history, and we’re being told we’ll be disappointments if it doesn’t culminate in silverware. I call bullshit. This team is something to be proud of, something to admire. If they don’t end up winning a trophy, I’ll be damn sure they’ve given everything for it.
How can that be disappointing?
We’ll go to Madrid and we will fight for every last minute of that game to come back with our Big Ears. But if we come up short, as can happen in this game we love, then I’ll still have nothing but love, pride and admiration for this wonderful side we have, because I’ll know they fought until the last for us.
I don’t doubt that trophies will come but nobody is entitled to them and I’m not waiting round for that day to heap adulation on to these players. Their greatness is unquestionable, with or without a medal round their necks.
Enjoy them now. They won’t be here forever. Don’t leave space to regret not appreciating what you had, because you were waiting round for a trophy to verify what you already know. This team of ours is greatness personified, so don’t be afraid to shout it from the rooftops.
If outsiders want to try and cut us down, then so be it, it’s a sign of respect and fear for what we are. Don’t let yourselves as supporters be fearful of enjoying them to your full extent for fear of ridicule if it doesn’t go according to plan, because that won’t change how incredible this side is. Their laughter comes from relief. Our happiness comes from pride.
For years we’ve yearned for the title, when in reality it’s not the title that brings you joy, it’s the steps taken to get there. Winning the trophy will bring its own joys but it won’t make up for not letting yourself enjoy the ride. And before you know it, it’ll be next season and it all starts again.
If football should teach you anything it’s the old adage that happiness is all about the journey and not the destination. Winning the league is a moment in time that will soon be brushed past and before you know it someone else will be lifting it again. It’s the emotion along the way that will define us.
From Istanbul we talk of Luis Garcia’s Chelsea goal, his Juve goal, the comeback against Olympiakos, Dudek’s mad save etc. We rarely talk about the trophy without thinking about those moments, because they’re what the trophy really means to us.
Whether we win the league or not. Whether we win the European Cup or not. I’ll still have Divvie’s Everton winner. His Newcastle winner. His Barca winner. I’ll still have Salah’s thunderbolt against Chelsea. His winner against Southampton! Mane’s wonder goal v Bayern. Etc. Etc.
We go the game to be part of something in that moment that is bigger than ourselves. We go the game to experience the moments, the brilliance and the connection with thousands of others. If it was all about the trophy why would we bother.
The record I posted reminds us of the brilliance we’ve witnessed. The brilliance we’re witnessing. It is to be lauded no matter what. Enjoy everything about these beautiful relentless bastards. Because they’re ours and they know it. Because they’ll fight for you until the last.
This is no time to be shy about dishing out the praise. We getting to see the greatest football team in the world fight for us, for our city. What a time to be alive!