There are many things I really hate about wider football. More specifically the obscene amounts of money involved, the internet cess-pit, "talking points", the removal of the game from the interests of match-going fans.
This year has also been a weird one for me. Not just because of Covid-19, but because I moved away from Liverpool and out of the country at the end of last year. I realised that a lot of my attachment to football was the attachment to the rituals I had with all my mates, whether watching it in the pub, a mates house or more irregularly the stadium, and the wider social aspect associated with it. Moving away meant I have had to learn to enjoy the football more on my own, or otherwise watching with people who don't share the same passion for this club (or the city itself).
Obviously the removal of fans from the stadiums, and being denied a trophy parade, which I had already booked planes home for and all the rest of it, was disappointing. In fact, despite waiting my whole life for it, there was a few games towards the end after the Covid-induced break that I missed entirely. All that said, I still wasn't prepared for how emotional I would be watching us lift the league trophy for the first time in my life (even if I was just sat on a park bench watching it through my phone), and despite not having so many people to share it with, the buzz is still strong months later. So the passion is definitely still there.
As for today, I'm now absolutely buzzing for the new season to start. With the so-called monkey of our backs, I am happy to just sit back and watch us have another go without that additional pressure. That said I want to win it more then ever, because I want that trophy parade and I want it won in front of a full Anfield! That is the new driving motivation that I think will help push us above and beyond, aside from the usual. I also know this is going to be perhaps our toughest season yet in terms of competition, and that's got me even more excited. It just means I am going to have to try harder to avoid social media after we inevitably drop points, because it is going to be more a cess pit then ever.
But remove yourself from that, and I still love this club and all its associations, and I still love the sport itself. So lets have it!