It can still bring great joy, the LC Final was up there with alot of bigger triumphs for me because of how it was won and what it clearly meant to everyone, on and off the field.
I think Liverpool have just become a part of "modern football" so the things I dislike about the game have inevitably seeped over into things I dislike about the club in particular. I dislike missing games when I can't get a ticket then watch on tv and see hordes of tourists and idiots sat there looking like they're at a show, not really arsed about the outcome because "being there" is the main thing. I hate that we sell thousands of hospitality seats for the equivalent of 3 or 4 weeks salary for some people in the city, and hate how there are hardly any groups of teenagers in the ground because the club don't prioritise them. But these are football-wide problems, it's just that Liverpool have jumped in with both feet and embraced it.
On the field, I hate the cheating, the constant play-acting, but more than that I hate the general acceptance and support for it now. The people who should be gatekeepers in the media call cheating "clever play" and "the dark arts" and so normalise it to the extent that you're an idiot if you don't know do it. Kids now think that cheating and going down is what you do, it's sad, and even though this is a football-wide issue you'll hear people saying Liverpool are "too nice" when what they mean is they should cheat as well.
The refs are abysmal, and the decision to hand VAR to the refs is beyond comprehension. The lack of consistency, the blatant ineptitude and lack of footballing common sense is there for all to see. Only yesterday Onana gives a pen away for doing exactly what he did on the opening weekend. Two exactly the same situations, two different outcomes. The Diaz non goal I can almost accept as a lad not understanding what was being said to him, but the inability to rectify it 10 seconds later and the lack of flexibility within the VAR system is ludicrous. Offside is now also a joke. If you need to draw a line, don't draw a line, no unfair advantage was gained, let it go. Part of the enjoyment of football is that explosion of joy when a ball hits the net, and that has been taken away by people who don't understand the game or the emotions involved.
The banter culture isn't a football issue per se, it's a societal issue connected to social media and the ease at which idiots can communicate freely and without consequence. Some of those idiots like football. It'll get worse as the generation that didn't grow up with it (and to some extent shun it) drift off and the social media generation take over. Easy to ignore it I suppose from Mon to Fri, hard to ignore when it manifests itself in influencers in the grounds and away fans mocking the dead for "bantz init".
With Klopp leaving it feels like a turning point. How I feel isn't really relevant given that I more often than not can't get in the ground in the first place, so someone like me saying he isn't enjoying it makes little difference in terms of club revenue or the bottom line. But I am part of a generation that grew up in the 80s, lived through the terrible days, kept the culture and history of the club close to the heart and has high expectations for both the club and from those who say they follow it. When people like me move away, it dilutes that in a very small way and over time if that attitude stops becoming the norm we simply become another club, another fanbase. Listen to the Ev fans on Wed, they're just another fanbase, they sing all the shit that no-mark clubs sing like "your support is..." and they regale their keeper as "England's No.1". Take the accent away and they could be Brentford or Derby fans, nothing unique about them despite them having a predominantly scouse crowd. When enough people drift off we become the same, and whilst it won't affect the bottom line, the profit margins, the numbers who follow us globally, it will mean we've lost our greatest asset, our uniqueness.
This was a rant, some not about Liverpool, but the end of the title challenge and Jurgen's era has brought it out I suppose. The stuff you ignore because the dream means everything become a bit bigger once the dream isn't there anymore. I'm sure I'll be back again next season, struggling for tickets, struggling to look beyond all the shit, but probably enjoying it all a bit less as we go along.
