IDENTITY. Brendan’s word. The team’s getting its identity back.
I’ve said this before; I have blue family. Wife and son both season ticket holders on the other side of the park. I know there’s plenty of us in similar situations: I like to feel that we have some kind of insight into how the minds of the blue half of the city work.
The Blues hate us. I mean, we know that anyway but when you live with it you start to realise exactly how much they hate us. The Ev despised Luis, they hate Brendan (far more even than the #Rodgersout Twitter brigade), they don’t like the way Raheem runs. There are so many things they hate about us. So many things that we love. But what they really hate, what they really don’t get is the flags, is the crowds welcoming the bus, is the way we support. They don’t do flags, they don’t do fanaticism they way we do it.
Christ, Saturday must have sent them all apoplectic.
I wasn’t there.
Full disclosure; I’ve never done an away game in the league.
Hey, I worked Saturdays for the best part of thirty years, I’ve got an excuse, I can get you a note and everything. And since I stopped working Saturdays I haven’t exactly picked up the habit. So I wasn’t there, I didn’t experience it. I didn’t see it. Couldn’t find a stream, couldn’t be bothered going the pub. So I listened to the radio. Which, all due respect to the lads on CityTalk, is nowhere near as much fun. The first half sounded dull (looked better on TV though), the second half sounded like hanging on in the face of a Villa based bombardment. It sounded like a wait for the inevitable, sounded like two points waiting to drop again. Until Rickie, obviously. Until the relief, until the joy.
And the radio didn’t capture that. Not really. It said that Lambert had run to embrace the fans, made it sound like the fans were swarming toward the touchline. Couldn’t really give the full picture.
The TV couldn’t really give the full picture. It was a day for vines, for Facebook and Twitter posts, a day to be there. A day when you needed to be there, when those were there were luckier than you. It was a moment.
It was the Lucas moment. It may have been Lambert’s goal, it may have been his reaction, his relief at the frustration of the last few months exploding with one exquisite turn and curled shot, he may have been the catalyst but it was Lucas’ moment.
Markovic buried and screaming, Skrtel crowd surfing, the whole team as one with the fans, one wonderful moment of absolute communion, team and support all part of one massive whole. Exactly the spirit that all opposition supporters hate about us because they don’t get to feel it. They don’t get to feel the joy of the spectacle, of the belonging, of the knowledge that we’re all part of a slice of the sheer weight of history that we carry with us and breathe every day. This is Liverpool, this is ONLY Liverpool. There is no other club that has this. It’s Shankly’s legacy, it’s the holy triumvirate of manger, team and fans. It’s unique moment in which the team acknowledge that we are as much the club as they are, that they’re as much fans as we are. They’re acknowledging the 3,000 in front of them but they’re sending a message to every single one of us.
And it’s more than that. Within the relief of seeing out the Villa fight back, within the joy of Rickie Lambert shrugging off the heavy shirt he’s been carrying, within the celebration of Skrtel and Sakho and Can and Mignolet suddenly looking impregnable there is the Lucas moment.
There is the moment when Lucas hurls himself into the mass. Hurls. Runs at the crowd and launches himself. Because he knows. He knows that we thought he was going and he knows what was said about the idea. He knows how we felt about the concept of losing him. He has to know. He can’t be unaware. Look at his face, look at the joy; that’s a man who knows he’s wanted, who knows he belongs. Who knows exactly where he belongs.
THAT is the identity of the team. That’s the ‘meeting the bus for the first time’ moment. That’s massive. That’s a beginning. We haven’t refound our identity, we’ve found a new one. Last season may have been about the madness of Luis Suarez, may have been about imprinting his manic attitude to the game all over the field, this season looks very like it’s about the diligence and assuredness of Lucas Leiva. It looks like it’s about his desire to still be here, to be involved in every second. This season is about wanting to BE Liverpool.
The first few months have been about the hangover, about the not winning the title, about losing a genius, about more transition than we’d expected, about watching our icon reach the end of the road, about the shock of loss. Saturday was a turning point. Saturday was about becoming the next Liverpool, a Liverpool that embraces everybody again. The frustrations gone, the divisions gone, the goals coming from the players we didn’t rate, the impetus from unexpected areas. It was about resolve under pressure and character. On all fronts. The eleven on the field, the 3,000 in the stands.
It was, let’s not make too many bones about this, about rebirth.
Something started on Saturday. Those of you that were there, those that saw it, those that embraced those lads in yellow as they celebrated as though they were you, as though they were fans – the lad from Brazil as Liverpool as the lad from Kirkby – you were the lucky ones. You were there when it started.
Can you feel it? That’s the future starting.
Amen.
I love Liverpool and their game, but they should buy world class striker.
How do you read a brilliant piece of writing like that and respond with nothing but a whinge.
This post! Brilliant! Gave me goosebumps and put a smile on my face in work on a monday morning. Never tire of seeing Lucas’ face when he dives in the crowd.
nice article, i don’t think anyone’s in danger of forgetting that celebration for a while.
great to see Can and Markovic getting stuck in so early in their reds careers as well.
and The Ev need to work on filling those seats before they stand a chance of understanding flags and crowds.
Great post. That Lucas leap was top class I’m surprised no else has mentioned it. Brilliant love it. YNWA
Brilliant!!
Brilliant article. We can only hope you’re right here and it does feel as if there is momentum, real momentum.
I reckon there is a part of Suarez that misses that kind of madness.
Great celebration & great post
What makes the Lucas leap even more brilliant is if you look closely, you can see that he went to jump in on the other side before an usher stepped up into his path. But that wasn’t going to stop him. Love it, just love it.
Coming off last season was like coming down off the greatest Ecstasy high in human history.
It was a shock to the system that while unexpected in light of last season, was to be entirely expected in
last of massive changes to the club (losing the highest scorer in the league is going to have an effect, no doubt).
And we haven’t turn a corner. A corner implies a sharp turn. This is more of a curve. Lose at United but with a better performance. Then a few more questionable performances, ironing out the kinks, picking up points.
It’s a slow curve to improvement. And frankly, I prefer it that way. Sudden changes to the better are prone to
sudden drops to ignominy and awfullness.
Getting better on a curve means we’re more likely to remain so (and improve further even) in the long haul
Amazing article
I love the flags and I went to a lot of those meeting the bus things. It felt like an event. I want us to be in that position again. I totally agree, Saturday felt like something was starting. Someone commented on Neil’s piece about how Gerrard was missing. I do question whether this was the future. Was it in some ways connected? Probably not. Players feeling like they’re either the rightful captain or first choice and like you say, wanted. I have to admit I’m in the group that was harsh on Lucas a few years ago. Never booed him at the Fulham game but wasn’t very forthcoming with compliments. That said, I’m made up he of all people has made me backtrack. Couldn’t be happening to a nicer person. I love it when there’s a buzz about the team (obviously, I’m sure we all do except for a few of the people who comment on here, lol. Sorry!) I’m even looking forward to the cup games now. I wish West Ham was on Saturday though. Thinking about this West Ham game feels like prior to the games last season. After it, we’ll be either delirious or shattered. There’s no inbetween. For the record, I’ll add a draw to the shattered side. Then Everton. Remember the feeling after the derby last year. It’ll be similar if there’s 6 extra points on the board between now and then.
Suppose what I’m trying to say is, we’ve got momentum now. Sturridge adds to it. The cups have become a huge part of it. I just want us to win the next game forever but it can’t be. I wonder what will happen in the games following that inevitable future defeat. How we react will tell us something about the future. For this week though I think I’ll just forget about it and watch ‘the vine’ every couple of hours. Best moment of the season so far. I felt it too. I very rarely watch Liverpool games on the TV / internet with friends. Can’t get into the zone when people are talking. Point is, I know how I react to goals when I’m on my own. This was different but in saying that, my Borini goal reaction was a lot stronger than usual. I think Neil and the podcast had convinced me it was next goal wins. If I’d been spotted when Lambert scored I might have been sectioned.
Anyway, it’s good that you’ve captured that feeling in an article because it was probably the major story of our season, on the pitch, so far. I’ll certainly remember that more than the whole CL campaign.
Great article, and it captures how I’ve felt since Saturday morning (we get to watch the Reds EARLY in Hawaii)… but I agree with Robin, above: let’s see out West Ham first, because supporters can be (and often are) fickle.
Completely choked up by that.
Great article. Love Lucas. Let’s go a bit crazy again, it’s what we do best!
Lovely article and I fully endorse the sentiments. ‘The lad from Brazil’ IS as Liverpool as the lad from Kirkby.
I don’t necessarily want us always to win, although I’d like it. What I DO WANT is for our team to want always to win, and sometimes this season it hasn’t always seemed that way. And here you had a player who only a few days ago more or less said goodbye showing in the most graphic way that he woukd not be just leaving a football club, but leaving an idea, leaving his family.
If we thought we lost our beating heart with Carra, we thought wrong. Lucas should be captain, not out of entitlement but out of commitment. Lucas’ looking after Coutino on the field is leadership, captaincy. And who better understands how the vagaries of crowd attitudes can make or break?
Well said. That celebration. Them lads. That team.
Beatiful writeup….especially the Lucas bit. Thank you
After all this negativity this season… So good to read this.. Finally a team coming to its potential
This made me incredibly happy. We’re with this team till the end. Faces come and go but our passion towards LFC should remain the same. In BR I trust. Come On You Reds!!
Great article
I was there – it was amazing. The togetherness and bond between the players especially after the 2nd goal went in was tingling
That’s what sets us apart from anybody else.
Been many home matches and had great experiences (when it was standing in Kop) but there was something unique about that goal celebration at villa
YNWA