I was going to do this post over the weekend, but I was so annoyed and angry that I thought I should wait till I'd cooled off a bit.
In all honestly I wasn't annoyed/angry at the past few results Liverpool had got (yes I was gutted to be out both cup competitions and confused as to how we had managed to sink so low but I knew I would get over it in the end). I was more annoyed and angry with other issues that had come to light.
The Fans
Now, I normally stick with my fellow Liverpool fans all the time, don't necessarily agree 100% of the time but I would never slag them off .... until now that is.
I honestly believe that some Liverpool fans have behaved absolutely disgustingly over the past few weeks and that has embarrassed me.
Case in point - the lady who sat behind me on Saturday at the FA cup game V Wolves. Now, this lady may be absolutely lovely in general and I know I don't know her but she is a good example of why Liverpool fans are horrible right now. She had no belief in any of the players on the pitch on Saturday, bar maybe one or two of the youngsters - although they got the sharp side of her tongue a few times. Now I know she has the right to her own opinion and has a right to be upset when things aren't going the way we thought they would but that is still no reason for how she treated some of the players.
Moreno was the first to get it. I am the first to admit, Moreno isn't perfect and it is sometimes difficult to support him fully if you think of things like the Europa League final and the silly little mistakes that have cause us to give away penalties - but this woman was completely scapegoating the lad. I personally, even though I do believe Moreno would be better playing further forward, thought that is performance on Saturday was good. He was willing to get forward, used his pace well, wasn't too bad defensively and bar a few stray passes didn't put a foot wrong. The lady behind me however didn't agree. Saying things like 'how can Klopp keep giving him a chance' and 'I still can't forget the final in Basel' along with huffing and puffing everytime he got on the ball. This is not how Liverpool fans should be acting. Yes we can air our opinions and views obviously but when it comes to match days, we need to be getting behind EVERY player that is chose to put that shirt on that day because that it what we do. We don't go there and single out one player - especially when lately it has been the whole team who have been playing below par and making mistakes because, lets face it none of them have exactly covered themselves in glory lately. But that shouldn't matter, every game should be a new chance - we should wipe the slate clean and support each and every one of our boys no matter what.
What she said next though really got me and brings me to my next point ......
Emre Can
Now, most people who know me (or even if you don't you could see it on my Instagram and twitter) know that Emre is my favourite player. But that doesn't mean I don't notice when he is out of form, playing badly or that I wouldn't say if he has had a bad game. The difference with me is I try to see positives and believe that he will get better the next game and go from there. Other fans haven't been doing this lately - they have been bashing him, saying rude things about him, wishing for him to be sold and scapegoating him - ffs are we all forgetting that he has just turned 23 only a matter of weeks ago?!!! This seriously annoys me.
When Emre came on, the woman behind me said 'Oh no, Emre is coming on'. I found this absolutely disgraceful behaviour from a supposed 'fan'. Yes, the player has been in bad form lately but since the Swansea game he had been improving, he played fantastically against Man Utd (the stats don't lie) and how can a few bad games erase the form he was in last season and everything he did for us then.
Right now Emre look completely and utterly devoid of confidence - the once confident, brave player who never gave up the fight seems to be hidden by someone we don't know and don't like seeing. This is no reason for 'fans' to not keep supporting him or not to keep the faith. I mean, he is only 23 as mentioned earlier - which by the way is younger than Kevin Stewart yet Kevin is given the chance because he still gets classed as a 'youngster' and 'one for the future' - so why can't we extend this courtesy to Emre? I mean, no offence to Kevin but he has done way more than him but technically could still be one of our academy lads. Klopp will not let Emre's dip in form continue and if anyone can get him out of this rut he is stuck in, its got to be Jurgen Klopp - he clearly believes in Emre as he still gives him the chances so we should back him too.
As for the contract rumours - that's what they are, just rumours. Ok, a more reliable source than normal may have tweeted something about it which caused articles to pop up here, there and everywhere but it doesn't necessarily mean that its the truth. I personally wouldn't believe anything that didn't come from the club itself - but thats just me.
If, and only if, Emre is stalling over money - you know what, I don't blame him. I honestly think he should be given slightly more with this new contract and I'll tell you why I believe this. I mean, I don't think he should be on Coutinho money but he should get some sort of money incentive. The way I look at it is, is that Emre played a massive part in our fantastic Europa League run last season and our EFL cup run, he played brilliantly in not just the big games, but the smaller ones too so he should be able to get a little more based on that. I mean hey, we give Sturridge near enough 100k a week and he doesn't do as near as much as Emre does, hell compared to Emre - Sturridge is lazy!
The bad run, bad atmosphere at Anfield, lack of January signings and the loss of Mane
Our run at the moment is bad - nobody expects Liverpool fans to be happy with it - but we should be backing them even more during this time. We've been there before, we know what it is like and we know how much the lads will need our support and need us behind them during this time. Hopefully it won't last for too much longer and they will wake up and get back at it. As for the #kloppout 'fans' - they need to behave. If you don't believe that this man is the one to take us back to the top and get us where we need to be - you should be a fan of another club. There is nobody better for us that Klopp, he gets us like nobody else does. When he took over, we all knew that it wasn't going to happen over night - it was going to be a 3 year plus job. I for one think that he has done fantastically well in his first 15 months and can't wait to see where we go with him. If you think anything different and still want him out - you're probably a glory hunter and should make your way to Old Trafford sharpish.
The atmosphere at Anfield hasn't been good lately - I do understand fans frustrations saying we should be louder, should make more noise and sing and we aren't real fans if we just sit there in silence. But haven't experience it for myself the past two games, what i believe is the players needs to give us something in return for our noise, our singing and everything. It works both ways. I think that the atmosphere will come back in the next few games - once the lads get back on form, back into there rhythm the fans will sense it and it will go from there. Anfield won't stay quiet for long. (Personally I am hoping thats tomorrow v Chelsea - I'm going and think that would help us a lot if it could happen).
Lack of January signings - this has been an issue for most fans, its probably whats caused a lot of their frustrations and has impacted on the poor atmosphere at Anfield. I however, believe what Klopp says and do agree with him. The targets we want, the top players, aren't available in January - they're available in the summer. January buys are normally panic buys and Klopp doesn't want to do that. He's probably also hoping we will have the lure of Champions League football in the summer to help us.
Finally, losing Mane to the AFCON has been more damaging to us that we ever thought it would be. We knew we would miss his pace, his links with the rest of our forward players and his goals but never did we think we would only have the 1 win without him. I for one, didn't expect him to be so valuable to us when we bought him. Good job he's back and can help us and the lads pick everything back up and go again.
Hopefully everything will sort itself out at Liverpool, as a fan who loves going to watch my team play - I know things will frustrate me but I will get over it because I know in the end we will get to where we want to be. We have the right manager with the right mentality and a bunch of players who, with a few additions can do us proud and do something special ......
