First things first. There absolutely is a weird subset of "fans" for whom football is largely about transfers and online bragging rights. They're generally anonymous weirdos with pictures of footballers as their avis and names like @ManeMentality or whatever. These people are totally divorced from the idea of going to a live football match or even watching the match in the pub with their mates. It's almost totally an online experience. They generally have no connection to the city and, it's probably important to say, are almost certainly children or young adults. They're fairly easy to ignore, even easier to dismiss and have no real power whatsoever.
The internet has seemingly created a weird dichotomy where you're either an oddball obsessed with transfers and success or a stoic bore, perched upon a pedestal, above it all and filled with a sense of pride. Maybe it's about identifying exactly what it is we want from football. Some sort of real, shared experience or simply Liverpool winning a lot of football matches?
The trouble for me is when this idea is used to deflect any reasonable criticism or stamp out any discussion at all. It's not childish or ungrateful to have wanted to the club to buy another forward of, say, Jota's level this summer. However, if you dare to moan loud enough it becomes very easy for others to misinterpret your motives and push you into the weird grey-zone between "top red" and "bottom red." Worryingly, it seems to be another type of fan, those with some small amount of power, (local journalists, fan-channel personalities etc) who tend to be most guilty of stirring the pot.
