I wrote what follows before the news of yesterday evening’s tragedy emerged. I considered deleting it entirely and not posting anything, but this piece is about love and the coming together of people to show how much they mean to one another.
I believe that it’s important for love to win over hate. We don’t know the exact facts of what happened yet, but it’s clear to me that it was an act of hatred. We can never let hate win.
We don’t know the facts of the case yet, but it didn’t take long for the usual suspects to take to Twitter in order to spread hatred and anger; to use the tragedy of what happened for their own divisive purposes.
I beg you not to fall for the nonsense that these hate-filled grifters want to spread. We are all so much better than faux-intellectuals who want to take advantage of our fear will ever realise.
My love and solidarity go out to all of those affected by what happened. I can only hope that everyone involved emerges from it in the best possible way.
Love always wins.
The Parade
Not even the rain could stop nearly a million people from lining the streets of Liverpool to celebrate the club’s second Premier League title win in five years. This one felt different, of course, on account of the fact that the country was in lockdown the last time the Reds picked up the top-flight trophy. This time there were no such restrictions in place, whilst the success of the club on the pitch meant that people have been able to put their plans in place for what felt like months. From early in the morning, reports emerged from the likes of London and Leeds of trains being almost too full for people to be able to get on them, with supporters from up and down the land making their way to Liverpool to show their love for this manager and group of players for what they’ve been able to achieve over the past nine months. It was an opportunity for people who haven’t been able to be in the ground to get along and let everyone involved know exactly what it means.
Liverpool set off for Premier League trophy parade.
— Premier League News (@plnews.bsky.social) 26 May 2025 at 15:33
The party atmosphere was present almost wherever you looked in Liverpool. The supporters turned out in their droves to reflect the manner in which the players turned up all season long. This was a celebration that wasn’t just about this season’s success. This was also a reflection of the emotions many felt at having missed out on a trophy parade back at the end of the 2019-2020 campaign. This was a release of gigantic proportions, which not even the drizzle and occasional full-on rain could even begin to dampen. The only thing that everyone associated with the club will care about now is getting to do it all again as soon as possible. The Reds were fantastic for the entire season and there’s no reason to think that they can’t get even better moving forwards. If I were to tell you I’d been in a time machine and knew that we won a Premier League and Champions League double next year, would you think that was entirely unreasonable? The people on the streets of Liverpool certainly wouldn’t.
The Supporters Don’t Care About the End of Season Results
Up to the full-time whistle being blown at the end of the game against Tottenham Hotspur that handed Liverpool the title, the Reds were going at a rate of ~2.4 points per game. In the four matches that remained, that dropped to ~1.9 points per game. Liverpool drew with Arsenal and Crystal Palace but lost to Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, which will be seen from some quarters as an almighty drop-off. It didn’t take long for The Athletic to post to social media saying that the title-winning total of 84 points is the lowest that has been needed to win the trophy since Leicester City won it in the 2015-2016 season, for example. Mikel Arteta had already been complaining about the fact that we won it with fewer points than Arsenal had managed when missing out to Manchester City two seasons running. Hopes of breaking the 90-point barrier were soon put to rest by two defeats out of four, which some in the media will believe has an impact on next season.
The Premier League champions and FA Cup winners cannot be separated.
Liverpool end the season with 84 points, 10 points clear of Arsenal in second.
It is the least number of points accrued for the title since Leicester City in 2015-16.
#PLFinalDay | #LFC | #CPFC
— The Athletic | Football (@theathleticfc.bsky.social) 25 May 2025 at 18:10
For most supporters, though, it couldn’t matter less. That is especially the case when it comes to those that have been in the stadiums watching the players. For every single match, there has been a party atmosphere. Some of those who went to the Amex to watch the game against Brighton admitted to not even going back up to the stands until after the 70th minute mark in the wake of going down for the half-time break, such was the brilliance of the atmosphere on the concourse as the song for Federico Chiesa rang out loud and clear. Although it would’ve been nice to have beaten Crystal Palace in the final home game of the season, even a defeat would have made very little difference to the joy and enthusiasm displayed by those inside the ground when Virgil van Dijk hoisted the Premier League trophy above his head. Arne Slot could’ve made a much more concerted effort to win the final games, but it would’ve made no difference to those in full celebratory mode by then.
Giving Players a Break Will Pay Dividends
There are some that don’t like the fact that Arne Slot chose to all but end the season in the wake of Liverpool’s win over Tottenham Hotspur. There were, they said, still four games and 12 points available and it was, in their eyes, unprofessional for the Reds not to take those games extremely seriously. As far as the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand were concerned, Liverpool should’ve been in training every day, working their socks off and doing whatever it took to win the games that were left. Slot, it’s fair to say, had a different point of view. The players jetted off to the likes of Dubai, whilst the man himself ended up in Ibiza. They were away, having the time of their lives celebrating Liverpool’s title win, flying home for a few inconvenient matches every now and then. Although many of the players don’t drink, plenty of them do and Alisson Becker even went so far as to suggest that he had partied too much.
Do think Liverpool have let themselves down a bit since the Spurs game. I get that it’s won obviously, but each game should be a challenge you want to meet, not something to cruise through like you’re not really arsed.
It’s a bit unprofessional tbh.
— Back to back to back olé olé (@yetigoosecreat.bsky.social) 25 May 2025 at 17:16
Slot, though, is aware of just how much players have to put in to what are long and arduous seasons. He will also be more than focussed on what his squad will look like for the next campaign and he’ll know that not everyone currently playing for us will be lining up in Red next time out, so the impact that the losses will have on their mentality will be minimal. What will almost certainly not be minimal is both the benefit of the extended break that the players have been able to enjoy, as well as the buy-in that he will have from them when it comes to the reward that he’s hit them with over the final few weeks of the season. As Arsenal, Manchester City and every other non-relegated team have been fighting for every point, the players have been sunbathing and relaxing, in the full knowledge that their bodies will appreciate it in the fullness of time. Add to that the sheer buzz that they will all have felt from being on the parade and it’s difficult to think anything other than the Dutchman has judged it all perfectly.
