Topic: Are you enjoying it?

[Cafe De Paris]

Flogging a dead horse comes to mind… The players just don’t seem ready for the intensity.

[plura]

Yeah I’m not enjoying it either. In retrospect, I don’t know if I enjoyed a lot of last season… I more remember tension & anxiety then outright enjoyment.

Definitely need to work on letting results impact my mood too much one way or the other. These types of performances just leave you … I don’t know, dispirited?

It’s been a while since I saw that fast paced Liverpool team. That excited you with hunger, speed and talent. We’ve moved into a slow dulling controlling team without that spark. And without a midfield that can compete with the best. At least not in the PL, CL and more at the same time.

[Van Halen]

I think it can come together. Belief.

I still think/sorta believe the players will come good.
I still believe the sun will rise tomorrow
I still have not an inkling of doubt about Klopp
I still know, with 100% certainty, as fact and no matter the passage of time and the tricks memories play that John Terry is a c*nt.

A bit drunk and dismayed otherwise. That sucked.

[Cormack Snr]

We have grown old together and have had a wonderful life, a few years in The Wilderness now until next time. Unless you are City with billions to throw around all good things in life come to an end.

[NaivetyinBlack]

Feels like the 2014-15 season.

[TipTopKop]

We have grown old together and have had a wonderful life, a few years in The Wilderness now until next time. Unless you are City with billions to throw around all good things in life come to an end.

I know we have injuries, but with every passing game it does feel like this is a changing of the guards, yes.

[Benimar Col]

No I don’t think they are and that’s the problem. They’ve finished with two of the three of the highest points tallys in premier league history and ‘only’ won the league once

Heartbreak in the final last year. These boys are human at the end of the day and the ones that have been around for most of it like VVD, Trent etc the effect to me is obvious as form is affected

Which underlines for me even more why Mane wanted out

not a bad suggestion,  we’ve got used to being mediocre in the League for twenty odd years, then Klopp arrives,, but surely their wages soften the blows ?   we are looking just like ManUtd were when they played Brentford,, but our malaise is extending and extending and doesn’t seem to be abating

[Simplexity]

This is somewhere between 09-10 and 14-15 for me. Not quite as bad as 20-21, that one was absolutely brutal.

[meady1981]

Got to take the rough with the smooth.
Always enjoy this team.
The levels have been up there with any team in history.
Football never ends.

[JP!]

Yes.

Greatest football club in the fucking world.

[duvva 💅]

Something wrong if you aren’t

[meady1981]

Got to take the rough with the smooth.
Always enjoy this team.
The levels have been up there with any team in history.
Football never ends.

Well said mate

[Boaty McBoatface]

[Redbonnie]

 

[ToneLa]

It feels more like a duty than a pleasure
A part of my soul than a pasttime
It can drive me to tears as much as joy

so no I'm not enjoying it exactly

But I wouldn't change it

Having a massive reason to REALLY enjoy it would be welcome though

[damomad]

I start each week of the season with a bottle of optimism. The past couple of weeks, as each day passes I start getting more and more tipsy until pre game day I'm absolutely bladdered on it. I then start to sober up badly in the first 0-15 minutes of our games, the hangover starts to kick in just before half time peaks at full time and lasts all the way through until the day after (dependent on how much time I've spent on RAWK).

Once it passes, I go out and get myself another bottle of optimism.

[Black Bull Nova]

Not this week

[StL-Dono]

Not this week

Struggling to remember a worse week in at least the last five seasons.  I'm sure there probably have been, but this feels especially bleak after the fiasco at OT.  That one really hurt and I hate to say, but it looks like the team hasn't gotten over that match any better than I have. 

[Clint Eastwood]

Struggling to remember a worse week in at least the last five seasons.  I'm sure there probably have been, but this feels especially bleak after the fiasco at OT.  That one really hurt and I hate to say, but it looks like the team hasn't gotten over that match any better than I have.

The week where we missed out on the title because Gerrard’s Villa couldn’t hang on to 2 goal lead and also lost the CL final (amidst the Paris chaos) wins easily.

[StL-Dono]

The week where we missed out on the title because Gerrard’s Villa couldn’t hang on to 2 goal lead and also lost the CL final (amidst the Paris chaos) wins easily.

Recency bias. 

You're right of course.  That week was worse (but we only lost one match that week as opposed to this one. )

[Clint Eastwood]

Recency bias. 

You're right of course.  That week was worse (but we only lost one match that week as opposed to this one. )

True, but after that week I wanted nothing to do with football for a good while. Despite an awful week I'm excited to see what the future holds with a new structure and young squad. Having said that, it helps that I'm less invested in football these days (I think the end of 2021-22 has a lot to do with this). Also, unlike previous title races, I just had a small feeling that we wouldn't make it over the line regardless of my excitement about it all. I was convinced we would win the Europa League though, so that's shite.

Football has always impacted my mood too much, particularly during the rollercoaster that has been Klopp's tenure. I've distanced myself from it all because it wasn't really worth it.

[Black Bull Nova]

Struggling to remember a worse week in at least the last five seasons.  I'm sure there probably have been, but this feels especially bleak after the fiasco at OT.  That one really hurt and I hate to say, but it looks like the team hasn't gotten over that match any better than I have.

Not really sure they got over the QF to be honest. To play United 3 times this season without beating them has cost us dearly this season, I don't know how we managed that to be honest.

[Black Bull Nova]

The week where we missed out on the title because Gerrard’s Villa couldn’t hang on to 2 goal lead and also lost the CL final (amidst the Paris chaos) wins easily.

Yeah, I just blank out those sorts of weeks as a black cloud which disappears as you move away from it. I try and distract myself by avoiding football all together.


Imagine if your whole season was like that, or most of the last 30 years.

[Black Bull Nova]

I was convinced we would win the Europa League though

Unfortunately it seems like the players felt like that as well

[Jwils21]

First seven games unbeaten, then we’re fucked over by VAR against Spurs. Despite the odds being against us we battle on, only to lose due to an unfortunate OG.
Denied a clear penalty against Arsenal and go onto draw the game.
Denied a clear penalty against City in the last minute and go on to draw.
We’ve now fallen away from the top 2, but today brought another farcical refereeing decision.

As if the shambolic refereeing, PGMOL boys club and forensic overanalysis by VAR weren’t enough, you’ve then got the complete circus that surrounds the game.

Rather than being called out as outrageous, the above decisions become “discourse”. Talking points for vacant headed tribalistic point scoring online, cheap narratives and content generators for media companies. They absolutely lap it up, they love pointing the finger at the “moaning scousers” rather than actually calling out this blatant incompetence.

It might be naivety, but in my 20+ years of being an “active” fan I’ve never known it to be like this. Maybe it’s the cost of success, but the mud slinging and bile directed at us is off the scale. Between that and the PGMOL boys club trying to become the chief orchestrators of the league, no I’m not really enjoying it at the mo.

[bradders1011]

The Banter-Industrial Complex goes from strength to strength. A newly-assembled Liverpool side not quite getting there in a 3-way title race is 'bottling' and cause of mirth. People going on about Liverpool thinking they were on for a quadruple...of course we did, why wouldn't you? Why would you bother with it if you didn't aim to win stuff?

It's not just us, Arsenal went out to Bayern in the CL QFs and were laughed at by the social media fuckwits.

The tribalism means nothing will ever improve. We all know social media is cancer and one of humanity's worst ever inventions. It's all so tiresome. I don't know, I'm just shattered after 8+ years of pretty much every single game and loads of ones involving our rivals having existential meaning.

We as Liverpool fans get the butt of most of the mainstream banter culture and we all see the poverty, calm down, tragedy shouts. United are getting it too and are in our 90s cycle of despair. Even City winning stuff know deep down that it's hollow, and if they don't they spend most of their time arguing against people telling them it is. Everyone else in the country is fighting for survival or for a sweet lick of that PL cash, despite the likelihood of being battered every week.

VAR, the refs and sportswashing too - need I elaborate?

The grounds (not just Anfield) are increasingly full of moaners, tourists or, more and more, chinged-up wannabe hard lads.

Oh, and it matters more when you give your hard-earned money to billionaire bookies.

Is anybody having fun any more?

[Black Bull Nova]

Struggling to remember a worse week in at least the last five seasons.  I'm sure there probably have been, but this feels especially bleak after the fiasco at OT.  That one really hurt and I hate to say, but it looks like the team hasn't gotten over that match any better than I have.

How about the week after then?
All in all feels deflating but if you'd said at the beginning of the season, challenge for the title and CL plus silverware, most of us would have taken it.

[rushyman]

A resounding no

And it's going to clearly get worse unless something special happens. Saying Slott is on a hiding to nothing is genuinely putting it mildly

[GreatEx]

Good parts from bradders and Jwils. As the excitement of the Klopp era dissipates, I find myself asking when was the last time football actually brought me joy. Even the cup wins in 2022 and 2024, did I enjoy those or did I just feel a lot of anxiety followed by relief? I think the COVID pause might have been the end of football joy for me. The way everyone tried to get the season annulled, the way even friends of mine said with straight faces that our title should have an asterisk over it... perhaps this was the tipping point where it became clear that what some call banter is really just psychological cruelty. I know, strange that this should be the tipping point when we've had 35 years of tragedy/ poverty chanting, but I suppose it was just the sheer lack of acknowledgement of excellence that did it for me. Like, I despised Ferguson with a passion, and might have mitigated some of his accomplishments, but I always respected his undeniable greatness. That has gone from the game, spirited away by brazen cheating, washed away in oceans of cash and political power plays, obfuscated by confected outrage and false equivalence. All that's left is a vehicle for hatred in a disintegrating society. The last bastion of decency is exiting the stage and the audience are shouting good riddance you c*nt.

[G Richards]

Yes, I am enjoying it. LFC is one of the great loves of my life. Been a fan since a nipper, can just about remember back to Kenny coming in, and everything since. I live overseas these days and watch all our games on tv.

Obviously there are issues. Man City are cheats and the Prem needs to be strong, and thorough, to see that through.
The refereeing is bad, and Tomkins wrote a large piece that strongly suggests deeper issues than them just being bad.

So I’m not blind to the issues.

With the tiniest bit of luck, Klopp could be leaving with 3 league titles and 3 CL titles. He has been a great leader and great manager for us. But all things come to an end, and his time is coming to a close.

We have a very good squad and some great youngsters coming through. A new manager is on the way. I’m excited to see what he will do. We have a structure at the club that will hopefully set him up to succeed. There are a few issues in the squad to resolve and I am looking forward to seeing how we handle it.

Gutted this season hit the wall late on. After unexpectedly getting into a title fight, I would have loved to win it - for the players, fans, and especially our great leader Jurgen Klopp. But it wasn’t to be. Instead we have a cup in the bag, a probable third spot in the league, and a new chapter is about to begin with the club in a strong position.

Yes, I am enjoying it, warts and all. Our games are in my diary, I will arrange work things around it if I can, I watch with my lad, I phone my dad back in England to talk about it all and it gives me a sense of where I am from and an abiding connection to my roots… yes, I am enjoying it.

YNWA

[nerdster4]

I still love watching us despite the way this season is ending . There are so many positives like Bradley and Quansah emerging , Gomez’ reinvigorated form , Mac showing signs of being world class and Kelleher being so reliable .

What keeps me going is thinking about how we could improve further next season . I do worry deep down though that there are very few trophies left to collect until the City/Madrid domination subsides .

I think quadruple chasing is a bit of a disaster . It almost feels like one or two competitions need to be allocated entirely to fringe players if we are going to keep going in other ones.

Massive pre season ahead. Massive decisions I feel about lots of positions . A Dutch manager makes me think vvd will stay but we will see in relation to Trent and Salah. I have concerns about whether Robertson and Alisson can remain at the level they have shown for so long . Perhaps 200 million on the correct left back , DCM and versatile forward who can finish will be enough for another title challenge .

[Party Phil]

Good parts from bradders and Jwils. As the excitement of the Klopp era dissipates, I find myself asking when was the last time football actually brought me joy. Even the cup wins in 2022 and 2024, did I enjoy those or did I just feel a lot of anxiety followed by relief? I think the COVID pause might have been the end of football joy for me. The way everyone tried to get the season annulled, the way even friends of mine said with straight faces that our title should have an asterisk over it... perhaps this was the tipping point where it became clear that what some call banter is really just psychological cruelty. I know, strange that this should be the tipping point when we've had 35 years of tragedy/ poverty chanting, but I suppose it was just the sheer lack of acknowledgement of excellence that did it for me. Like, I despised Ferguson with a passion, and might have mitigated some of his accomplishments, but I always respected his undeniable greatness. That has gone from the game, spirited away by brazen cheating, washed away in oceans of cash and political power plays, obfuscated by confected outrage and false equivalence. All that's left is a vehicle for hatred in a disintegrating society. The last bastion of decency is exiting the stage and the audience are shouting good riddance you c*nt.

This strikes a chord with me. The last game I remember really going mad celebrating was the CL win against Tottenham. The league win kind of passed me by, mainly due to COVID, and the CL final in Paris sucked any remaining joy from the game.

[God's Left Peg]

Yes, I am enjoying it. LFC is one of the great loves of my life. Been a fan since a nipper, can just about remember back to Kenny coming in, and everything since. I live overseas these days and watch all our games on tv.

Obviously there are issues. Man City are cheats and the Prem needs to be strong, and thorough, to see that through.
The refereeing is bad, and Tomkins wrote a large piece that strongly suggests deeper issues than them just being bad.

So I’m not blind to the issues.

With the tiniest bit of luck, Klopp could be leaving with 3 league titles and 3 CL titles. He has been a great leader and great manager for us. But all things come to an end, and his time is coming to a close.

We have a very good squad and some great youngsters coming through. A new manager is on the way. I’m excited to see what he will do. We have a structure at the club that will hopefully set him up to succeed. There are a few issues in the squad to resolve and I am looking forward to seeing how we handle it.

Gutted this season hit the wall late on. After unexpectedly getting into a title fight, I would have loved to win it - for the players, fans, and especially our great leader Jurgen Klopp. But it wasn’t to be. Instead we have a cup in the bag, a probable third spot in the league, and a new chapter is about to begin with the club in a strong position.

Yes, I am enjoying it, warts and all. Our games are in my diary, I will arrange work things around it if I can, I watch with my lad, I phone my dad back in England to talk about it all and it gives me a sense of where I am from and an abiding connection to my roots… yes, I am enjoying it.

YNWA

What's/where's the Tomkins article?

[rob1966]

What's/where's the Tomkins article?

https://tomkinstimes.substack.com/p/referees-treat-lfc-very-differently

[God's Left Peg]

Cheers

[Jwils21]

The grounds (not just Anfield) are increasingly full of moaners, tourists or, more and more, chinged-up wannabe hard lads.

Add “influencers” and “social media personalities” to that list too.

That American kid ishowspeed has so far been gifted tickets to the Ballon D’or ceremony (where he was introduced to a load of players he didn’t know, and was shouting and attention seeking during the awards), the City v Real game at the Etihad (where he was sat in the City end but cheering and attention seeking when Real scored) and to a United game to meet his “hero” Ronaldo.

He knows absolutely nothing about football aside from his opinions gathered through playing FIFA, yet he gets opportunities most real fans would kill for and rather than appreciate them he uses them as opportunities for more attention seeking “content”.

Look at some of the absolute dickheads invited to Anfield in recent years too, and worse the finals on corporate packages. Streamers who claim to be LFC fans but have a history of working with the rag.

It’s easy to say “ignore them”, but they are out there and in the world of banter culture they become the barometer for what fans are feeling, even though they don’t represent 99% of us. It’s not just us, Mark Goldbridge will say something daft and that then becomes “haha united fans believe this, they are so deluded”

[SvenJohansen]

I'm not enjoying it anymore so I'm taking a break from football as soon as this season finishes. Everything that Jwils, bradders and GreatEx said above sums it up for me. There's so much wrong with football right now. And it's not just in the PL, although that's the majority of games I watch. It's worldwide and it stinks from the top down.

The officiating and VAR in the PL has ruined any enjoyment I get from watching matches. And then there's the corruption, bias, greed, cheating, unfairness, toxic banter, tragedy chanting, hatred of opposition fans, player abuse, racism, tired narratives from the media and supporters, sportswashing, the bending & breaking of rules and lack of punishments for them, the boring and insufferable pundits and commentators to name just a few reasons. There's so much to dislike about football these days. So it's time to leave it to one side for a while.

I'll still be a Liverpool FC fan and always will be but I will follow from afar. I intend to not watch our matches, or at least only a handful. I'm curious to see what happens after Klopp goes but I won't allow football to take up so much of my time anymore. My life is more important. It will be difficult to not get sucked back in but it won't take long to see the bigger picture again. It's just not worth it any longer.

[deano2727]

I can't say I'm enjoying it. It's been that way for a while. The more the game changes, the more it loses its soul - and the c*nts in charge are hell-bent on adding change after change.

Of course, the shitshow of April has amplified it all, but even if we had won a quadruple this year, I'm one or two more major changes from packing it in. If City get off again, that would likely be the final straw for me.

I don't think I'd quit watching football, but I'd probably start following lower-level football more often.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

I can't say I'm enjoying it. It's been that way for a while. The more the game changes, the more it loses its soul - and the c*nts in charge are hell-bent on adding change after change.

Of course, the shitshow of April has amplified it all, but even if we had won a quadruple this year, I'm one or two more major changes from packing it in. If City get off again, that would likely be the final straw for me.

I don't think I'd quit watching football, but I'd probably start following lower-level football more often.

Not enjoying it, Liverpool was the only redeeming thing about football for me, Hoping for a big GAA summer though your lads ruined it last week

[deano2727]

Not enjoying it, Liverpool was the only redeeming thing about football for me, Hoping for a big GAA summer though your lads ruined it last week

One of the very few results I had to cheer this month. Hopefully, there'll be another one this afternoon.