The Most Beautiful Club in the World
There are moments in life where history and emotions come together to write a great story. And then someone says something in the moment and those words come to define the moment forever. Virgil van Dijk did that today for our club. I wouldn’t be surprised if the phrase, captured in the title of this column, ends up etched somewhere into the walls of Anfield, becoming another part of the firmament of this hallowed club.
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Not that the result was ever in doubt, but it was – kind, I guess? – of the Reds to spot their opponents one early on. Perhaps it was the sense of occasion that led to that lack of concentration, and it was fitting that the player who scored it was former Red Dominic Solanke. It was Spurs’ only real chance of the game, and it seemed to shock Liverpool into the moment.
The team responded beautifully.
Somebody needs to explain why the linesman called offside on the first goal, especially as they later failed to do it when a Spurs player was several yards off. All it did was ruin Lucho’s and the crowd’s well-earned moment of celebration and joy. The Peacock half-time show were right to touch on this as well; isn’t this the point behind the new semi-automated offside system? Still, as wave after wave of Liverpool attack were crashing onto the Tottenham shore, it was clear that the question was not “if” but rather “how many?”
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Five was the answer, but it might as well have been eight or more. Gakpo should have had another one to add to the one he scored so cleverly. Nunez could have had one, or alternatively Salah could have had three had Udogi not stolen one off him to score an own goal and had Darwin passed better. And those were just the clearest chances, with plenty more coming. Liverpool played the pants off Spurs today, and towards the end the Reds looked downright charitable towards the latter.
But one goal stood above the rest, and that was the second Liverpool one. It started with Ryan Gravenberch, whose positional awareness won a loose ball in the opposition half. He then protected it extremely well, and in the end it fell for Alexis Mac Allister. Now, we know Macca can hit ‘em, and boy, did he. That was a marvelous shot, worthy of plaudits under any circumstances. These were not normal circumstances. He hit that perfect shot with his weaker foot, from outside the box, through several players and against a world class keeper, right into the top corner. It was done with perfect timing, in that golden window of five minutes after first scoring, when you can really hammer the other teams’ morale. He did it with a title on the line.
That was a winner’s goal if I ever saw one, someone who knows how to rise to the occasion.
Macca is, of course, a winner. A big one. Perhaps the biggest Liverpool has on its squad, who had won the biggest one of all, a world cup. And just like Virgil’s soon-to-be immortal phrase, that goal is the one I suspect will forever be associated with this title-winning game. There was no way for Spurs to come back from that kind of hammer blow, delivered in that moment, on that turf. We knew it, they knew it, everybody knew it.
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Even outside his goal, Macca was an easy man-of-the-match. But today I wish to go further and give him a different award: he is my man-of-the-season. He is the MVP of this title charge. So many players have left their mark. Salah finally got out of his mini-slump today and added another notch to his very busy, record-breaking belt. Grav is easily the most improved, whose contributions were absolutely essential during the period when Liverpool firmly seized control of the title race. Virgil, who, somehow, impossibly, had the best season of his career so far. Ali, without whom this Liverpool team is at best a footnote in history. Szobo, whose intelligent pressing had become so essential later in the season; and a few others. But every title winning season has that one player.
Alexis Mac Allister is the engine behind this seminal moment for the club.
Congratulations to this beautiful club and to all of us who have bought into its ethos, its beautiful message. Let’s all enjoy this moment together, knowing that none of us will never walk alone.
And with that, I’m going to sign off and go watch more footage and replays. My cup has runneth over and my eyes have not yet gone dry.