What Is Normal?
I think it’s a fair question to be asking right now.
The return from an international break is usually a club man’s dream. The league is back, the cups are back, the players are back—the very routine we look forward to is back, and all should be normal.
I’m not even that upset about the result today.
If it was a normal season, losing 3-0 while playing a man down for 30 minutes to Man City isn’t enjoyable, but it isn’t outside of the norm.
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This Season Isn’t Normal
In the wake of City being found guilty of 114 of 115 charges, this year isn’t anywhere near normal.
The flashing of cash at Anfield by away fans, them joining in on chants calling themselves “cheaters,” and wearing cardboard cutouts of their owners’ faces… this isn’t a normal season.
In fact, it’s probably the most disrupted season since the COVID season, when stadiums sat empty.
City will have their appealed day in court, and whatever sentence is or isn’t handed down is still unknown.
That unknown will be a cloud hanging over the season as every fan, pundit, player and coach has a chance to weigh in and give their opinion.
And while, yes, this is another club’s issue, it is materially affecting every club that takes the field against them.
The Reds just happened to be the first ones up.
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Liverpool Have Every Right to Feel Aggrieved
Arguably, we have one of the biggest cases to be aggrieved.
Multiple seasons saw us trailing City by less than a handful of points and watching from the sidelines as they raised consecutive trophies.
A sign held in the stands today read: “You’ve robbed multiple generations.”
That’s the level of frustration and anger surrounding this issue.
It’s not just a title or two.
It meant that at a time when Liverpool were helmed by Klopp and had the best team in Premier League history, we were forced to play an unfair second fiddle to a club guilty of one of the largest financial doping schemes ever perpetrated.
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Whatever Happens Next, This Season Has Already Changed
This season isn’t normal.
Whatever happens post-appeal will not change that.
Can one sign up an entire league and their fans for therapy?
And even then, would that even make any of this situation make sense?
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