"To be the best, you gotta beat the best". In life, there are certain quotes that you just carry with you until your end of days. Words that resonate so strongly within you that they become the cornerstones of your very character. I still remember as he took the microphone, praised his would be opponent but reminded him of the task ahead with those immortal words. And all this from a man most associated with screaming "Woooooooooooooooo" or walking in a straight line before falling flat on his face. So probably not the ideal role model then or someone to look at for words of wisdom that would shape the way you see the world.
Yet when Ric Flair uttered those words, it struck a chord with me and to this day I still believe it to be true. No, not the WOOOOOOO part, although it is my go to phrase when I orgasm. I mean the beating the best part. I scoffed at United Europa League run last season: - Rostov, Anderlecht, Celta fucking Vigo - are you shitting me??? An Ajax team with an average age of just 14 in the final. "It doesn't matter, all that matters is they are Champions" - well it fucking matters to me. For me winning just isn't enough - I want to know I looked the favourite in their eyes and took away from them everything they thought was theirs. Because fuck you, this is our time! I have no respect for fighters who duck tough fights. I have no respect for athletes who dope to win. I get no enjoyment in playing games with cheats on. On the easier difficulty that presents no challenge. And I get little enjoyment taking the easiest route to victory. So in 2005 I wanted the would be Italian Champions - Juventus. The would be English Champions - Chelsea. The side with legitimate world class in almost every position - Milan. In the Europa I wanted to dump our biggest rivals out - United. I wanted to beat the perceived best team in the competition - Dortmund. And I absolutely wanted to beat the team with whom winning that trophy had become synonymous - Seville. ARGH! Almost... bastards!!! But if I am going to believe we are the best, then I want to beat whoever is perceived as the best along the way as well as anybody else who thinks they have a legitimate shout too.
"Bring on yer Roma by the score, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Who the fuck you tryin to kid." So once we are past the seeded draws in the first knockout round, I am looking at who is left and I'm making a list. Who is the perceived best in the competition? Man City! Who are the best in this competition for whom winning it has become synonymous? Real Madrid! I don't care what order we do it, but if we are going to be the best in Europe then those are the teams I would like to beat along the way. Now that we have beaten an old European foe in Roma, beaten "the best in the world", twice! All that remains is to walk up to the team who believe the trophy is theirs, look them dead in their eyes, then take away from them everything they thought was theirs. It is just meant to be. I felt it the moment we drew the hardest team to qualify in Hoffenheim. I felt it again when we drew Man City. I feel it again today. We are here because we are meant to be right here!
"Be careful what you wish for" That moment when you see the name of Man City appearing and you immediately feel that pang of regret. Like somehow you influenced the universe into giving you exactly what you want - by far the hardest draw you could possibly have - and you suddenly think "What the fuck have I done?" But you regroup, collect your thoughts. "Get a hold of yourself, this is what you wanted, we can do this! We WILL do this!" You remember the very reasons you wanted them in the first place. It is a good match up for us. Klopp has Pep's number. We proved in January we can take them. Plus, if we are going to be the best, we want to beat the best. The first step is just in believing in this team. In believing that they can do this. No, they WILL do this.
Yet even now some are held back by fear. A fear of losing. A fear of the heartbreak that only comes with truly longing for something. A fear that if they start to believe, start to dream with the rest of us, that they are vulnerable to the chance that they could also get hurt. They have seen us make mistakes. Seen us lose before. Seen Real Madrid succeed when they look beaten. Why should this time be any different? "Give me a reason, any reason" they say. So I'll give you a reason. In fact I will give you 13 fucking reasons why we are absolutely battering this lot in Kiev.
... Reason 1 of 13 coming soon ...
