Liverpool have been exhilarating for a decade. But they have underachieved under Klopp…

Following Liverpool for the last decade has been a fun ride. But one Mailboxer looks back with a tinge of regret over the ones that got away. Also: Harry Kane’s curse; Arsenal’s strikers; and City’s charges…

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Underachieving Reds

I really enjoyed your article on Liverpool as the Goldilocks club and I think there is a lot of truth in it. The last ten years has never felt like a procession, it’s been more akin to a rollercoaster, if you forgive the generalisation; scruffy comeback wins, turning around incredible odds, winning games where it looked impossible. Apart from Barcelona in the CL, the win against Dortmund in 2015/16 was extraordinary. Time after time, the team left you, as fans, emotionally drained, the way it should be as a fan.

However, I personally don’t believe there is ever too much of a good thing. As a kid, the 80’s brought trophy after trophy and not once did I ever get complacent. It just felt normal.

From someone who has been to many of the finals, there is a tinge of disappointment, walking away wondering what could have been, but I don’t “blame” the players or indeed the manager, who has been immense throughout. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.

In Jurgen’s first season we were runners up in the League Cup and then the Europa league, losing on pens to City, and then after a brilliant first half, to Sevilla – both felt like progression and left you disappointed but optimistic, although losing the Europa meant no Champions League.

To be runners up to Real Madrid twice in the Champs league hurt a bit too. Let’s give them the first, with Bale’s wonder goal and Karius’ nightmare display, but the second (in Paris) was a poor game and we could/should have easily won.

More frustrating was finishing second twice to City in four years with over 90 points, especially as Man U in the 90’s were winning it with 80 odd points.

But the point is, to really stick it to the doubters, the sad, little trolls so prevalent and poisonous at the bottom of the comments sections, we really did need another league and possibly another Champions League to prove our greatness.

So, in my humble opinion, it hasn’t been quite enough – this great side of ours has only won 1 Premier league, 1 Champions league, 1 FA Cup and 1 Carabao. These have left me with indelible, joyous memories, I will treasure forever. Also, and to a much lesser extent, the Super Cup and Club World Cup were nice, but pale into insignificance, and quite frankly, anyone who includes the Community Shield is clutching at straws.

So yeah, a brilliant period of success, but for me, not quite enough. To do it in a period where City have not only a superb manager and players, but seem to be above the law is a huge achievement but still, this means more? We still wanted just a little bit more.

However, we are back at the top of the league and a game from Wembley in the Carabao, favourites for the Europa and a nice home draw in the FA Cup, so the ride is still going and to top of all off, our historical rivals have spent a decade in freefall, so for the trolls, life is still good as a Red.

ANON

Here’s to 10 more years

After my admittedly very stupid “meta nonsense” guff a few mailboxes ago, I didn’t think we’d ever have proper reason to venture near anything of the likes again. But a mere 48 hours later and we’re back ! Reading over the Liverpool Goldilocks feature has stunned me into conspiratorial wonderment; I now find myself questioning whether “Dave Tickner” is really just a pen name for the Chief Liverpool FC Writer who has actually been doing his star turns in these hallowed pages of F365. It couldn’t be, could it ?

Anyway, to his analysis: I am in full (and fully biased) agreement. This 10-year support period for Liverpool that Tickner remarks upon has been tremendous from the off, beginning with that most thrilling Luis Suarez-driven season of 2013-14 that ended in heartbreak so visceral it was almost poetic in its tragic beauty, all the way through current, this nascent 2.0 architecture with all the budding green shoots of optimism a new cycle brings as it clicks into viability.

However may it end this summer, be it a dozen points short of the league or by 1 drawing to Wolves on the final day, or falling short of Dublin in a train wreck of red cards or yet more injuries still, it will truly have been a decade gone by I will cherish and never forget– kind of like the non-football part of life too !

So if a new decade forthcoming includes by some rough measure similarly beautiful yet agonizing lows offset by absolutely breathtaking, unforgettable highs, City could yet fit in another treble of trebles and I’d snap your hand off for all our feels, not theirs.

Eric, Los Angeles CA

Lucky Liverpool

Fulham were the better team at Anfield and Craven Cottage. Are Liverpool unbeatable? Yes.

Arsenal should have beaten them in the FA Cup but Liverpool were more clinical. Fulham were better but Leno cocked up.

Liverpool are a classy team but how often can they win such games?

Chris, Croydon

Play on, FFS

Sitting watching Fulham v Liverpool and Tom Cairney has just been booked for as clean a tackle as you will see. The way things are going, they will eliminate tackling from the game totally.

Slowly losing interest in football.

Diarmaid, SRFC

Can’t warm to Kane?

Regarding Mike’s bafflement at the Harry Kane schadenfreude, while it’s a bit cruel and unfair, I think it’s pretty easy to explain. The number one reason is Tottenham – he spent so many years being Mr Spurs, and they’ve long been the butt of many jokes for their lack of silverware. Laughing at Harry is just an extension of bantering about Tottenham’s trophy cabinet.

Then there’s the general disbelief that has followed him since he first broke into the Spurs team. Older than most hot new prospects, he came from nowhere and scored so many goals that people suspected he was having a fluke season (and another, and another, etc). I remember countless F365 emails asking ‘is Harry Kane real?’

Plus there’s a kind of blandness about him that makes it hard for anyone other than Spurs fans to accept him as one of their own. He’s been England’s best and most influential player for ages, but there’s nothing exciting about him. He’s Michael Owen rather than Robbie Fowler. Alan Shearer got similar stick when he went to Newcastle, scored loads, and never won anything ever again, whereas Matt Le Tissier kept a lower profile and was admired for his loyalty.

Martin, BRFC

Be careful what we wish for

Another angle here on the pending joyous and hilarious eruption of ‘Bantz’ and Schadenfreude that awaits Harry Kane failing to win any trophies at Bayern and therefore proving he’s never going to win a trophy in his life.

He’s England’s main striker, arguably our best player (Jude may have something to say on this), number one choice on the team sheet if fit so will you still be laughing when his trophy curse results in a quarter final exit following a crushing penalty shootout defeat at the Euro’s?

I can’t see a major international trophy being the only one he ever wins! That would be a madness. Maybe we should all start cheering for Bayern now. Get that curse broken before it really matters!

Adam (does this mean 60 years of hurt??)

​​Kane’s curse

I think Mike might be missing the point here a little. Even as an Arsenal supporter I don’t really hold any ill will toward Harry Kane, and I’m not going to lose any sleep when Bayern inevitably rally and win the title.

Still, it would undeniably be very funny if Harry, after playing all those years with Spurs, finally moved to a team that’s won 11 consecutive national titles and went on to score goals by the truck full and just generally be as good as anyone could have hoped for only to somehow lose the title to *Leverkusen*. I don’t think it even qualifies as schadenfreude– no one thinks he’s suffering, and the fact that he’s actually been quite brilliant is central to why it’s funny. He’s done nothing wrong yet the curse persists. It’s just silly and inexplicable; he’d be like a Coen Brothers character become world class striker. And honestly that’s much better than winning some silly trophy.

Lucy, Lost Coast Gooner

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Berrada and City prospects​

Responding to Dave’s legitimate (and grown up email) query about whether Omar Berrada could face sanction being United CEO. It seems that should City be found guilty of the most serious allegations against them (and they are allegations at this point, although the court of public opinion seems to have already reached a guilty verdict!) then the sanctions cannot just be sporting. Surely?

City are accused essentially, of fraudulent accounting, which if proven carries not just expulsion but criminal proceedings. The suggestion in the charges is a ten-year conspiracy, with executives from multiple companies having consistently lied to and/or defrauded all of the PL, UEFA, the FA, the auditors and the taxman. And that’s just the serious allegations.

If proven (there is that important work again) the senior leadership, including Berrada, are going to be in court! The reason I keep saying if proven is because the burden of proof for something this serious is an incredibly high hurdle for the PL to jump. This is an independent commission not a court of law, it’s going to be hard to expel the leagues most successful team of the last decade without damaging the PL brand! Am I comfortable that City are squeaky clean – no, not at all. Do I think we’ll wriggle out of it? Probably. Without a smoking gun then it’ll go the same way as the case brought by UEFA.

The second part of my email is to pull up Andy (MUFC) and his snark. Firstly, City aren’t sponsored by Emirates, mate. That’s Arsenal, but all those Emirati’s are the same, eh?

Also, if you’ve taken the time to check the 47 commercial partnerships that City have and comment “of which at least a couple aren’t with UAE companies” then be prepared to be called out on your bollocks which is the kind regurgitated by simpletons nationwide. Your opinion is entranced in allegations of wrong dough from when City were going through their (manufactured?) growth phase over a decade ago. These dated soundbites and generalisations don’t make sense today.

All of these nobodies such as Puma, Nissan, Asahi, OKX, Midea, Nexen, EA Sports, Wix, Unilever, Sony, Dsquared2, Kelloggs, Joie, Gatorade, Qnet and Xylem now spend large sums to be associated with city. Don’t pretend that even 50% of our commercial revenue comes from UAE. For the record there are EIGHT that are UAE based. If you’re going try and petty point score with lazy generalisations, at least be factually correct. How is it so difficult to understand that the teams that has recently won the most, participated in the CL the most and play the most matches generate more money?

Mad how we have two completely different kinds of mailboxer. One that seems level headed and will actually engage in the topics of discussion with balance and then the other side that just seems to want to point score, regurgitating falsehoods from their echo chamber.

Mark SK2 (my prediction is a fine and suspended point deduction for none co-operation due to the burden of proof hurdle)

Wilson > Jesus?

So Mr Donal, Cork, Ireland and some more media outlets thinks Arsenal need a striker who can actually strike. And also the solution/striker could/should be Mr Callum Wilson (should I be laughing or seething).

Nutshell what am hearing is Wilson is better than Gabriel Jesus

Maybe we should wait for the second coming of Jesus. When? We will never know.

WAFF TOWN MAN ( a Liverpool player was stamped on? VAR: good process, well done boys, move on, it’s just Liverpool FC and herr Klopp is it not?)

Kane, Henderson, Barton and more

Some random musings while I have some time…

– I’ve been enjoying some of the more irreverent articles of late on the site. This was the magic of F365 in the early days, there was quite a lot of tongue in cheek stuff alongside the serious articles – that’s definitely the right balance.

– Speaking of the Kane article, its beautiful schadenfreude. Kane is a legend to me, started off like James Beattie but just inexplicably got better and better while apparently still being a clumsy dribbler with no pace. That recent goal against Italy was a thing of beauty…as was the goal from his own half. I would argue Kane will be remembered better because of the disparity between his ability and the trophies. It’s ok to laugh.

– Taking my edgelord hat off and putting the libtard one back on, all the articles about Hendo are now just bullying – worth pointing it out as I know you’re advocates of mental health. He’s obviously made a massive mistake, at great cost to him, and had to make a humiliating climb down. I have no issue with people pointing that out and writing about it a few times, but now it just looks like the posts of a jilted lover on Facebook

– Joey Barton…what a tw*t. It was never in doubt.

– Good article on the optimal trophy count. The thing that perhaps makes it mean more is that despite Liverpool’s strengths, we’ve been the underdogs in every tournament we’ve participated in.

– If Real Madrid get Mbappe, I worry that our future champions league success will be cockblocked by a turbo charged bogey team equivalent of a wet windy Tuesday at Stoke

– I think E10H has done a reasonable job, but has been undone by his own transfer dealings (see Brendan Rodgers) and odd tactics. Would love to see Potter in the hotseat – that should extend the cycle by another 30 months

You’re welcome.

Adam, LFC