To be clear, this is NOT to suggest that Liverpool Football Club are in any way responsible for the ongoing pandemic. It is merely stating two separate facts.
One; that there is a virus that has caused illness and unemployment on a global scale. Two; that Liverpool are on course to lift their first ever Premier League trophy. These two facts happened to coincide. Is that suspicious? No, of course not. Though, all these years Liverpool didn’t win the title and there wasn’t a pandemic of this scale. Make of that whatever you will.
Before the spread of COVID-19, the fate of the title was a far forgone conclusion. It was all wrapped up. No drama whatsoever. And then, all the drama.
Cast your mind back to February 1st. Liverpool were still in the hunt for England’s first treble since 1999. Their team was near faultless and they had managed to avoid defeat in the league all season, thereby threatening to match Arsenal’s invincible season in 2004. For everyone, this was looking to be a memorable season regardless of whether or not you wished to remember it.
And then they were knocked out of the Champions League. And then the FA Cup. And then they fell to a heavy defeat to Watford, ending their hopes of going the season unbeaten. Suddenly it looked like a run of the mill impressive achievement. Teams have won league titles before, it’s not all that extraordinary. But that does not matter, the Premier League is the trophy missing from Liverpool’s cabinet and this was finally going to be their year after years of fans incessantly chanting “Next year is our year”.
Mid-March. Two more wins needed to mathematically seal the title. Coronavirus has fully hit the United Kingdom. That weekends’ games are called off. Millions of fans worldwide suddenly have a blank space in their weekend schedule. What will they do? Spend time with their family? Learn a new skill? What is bitcoin and is it too late to care about it? What will Arsenal fans complain about if their team isn’t losing again? So many questions. But surely the Football Association just need a bit of time to sort things out. Within no time the football will be back so that Liverpool can play enough games to gain enough points so they can collect their medals.
But the virus worsens. Millions worldwide are infected, the leader of the country included. He then has a child, goes on to claim that this new child gave him the will to live, thereby ignoring his existing older children who unlike his new baby would understand the concept of dedication. Basically, turmoil aplenty.
The least of most people’s concerns were the fate of the title. One could be sympathetic towards Liverpool fans who had been waiting their entire life to see their team on top of the table. Many suggestions were brought forward. One that was very popular among fans of rival teams was to render the entire season null and void. Considering we were 29 games into a 38 game season, this seemed a tad excessive.
Recently Atletico Madrid presented a novel idea for how to handle the Champions League. Hand the trophy to whichever team knocked out the reigning champions. How inspired. One wonders why only Atletico have come up with this idea. Could it be a self-serving solution? No, no, that’s preposterous.
Following Ligue 1’s decision to hand the title over to PSG instead of finding a way to carry on with the season, there were some suggestions for the same to be done in England. After all, Liverpool were running away with it. We can imagine a world where that happened. Five years from now Liverpool fans would be faced with taunts over the fact that their first league title was somewhat tainted and unearned. It would be despicable to suggest that the current situation’s effect on football matters in any way but it would definitely come up had it gone that way. They only needed 6 points from a possible 27, it was always going to happen. But while the games remain unplayed, people could claim whatever they pleased. Who is to say that a team that had won 27 out of 29 games would not lose all 9 of their remaining games? It’s football, anything can happen!
But far more likely they’ll win the league by the end of the week.
In much the same way that the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and PSG win their respective leagues by mid-April, the fate of the title has looked settled for a long time.
Though indeed a title win would be a special moment for the club, making them the 7th different winner ever of the competition it would never go down the same way as Leicester’s victory in 2016. Liverpool have knocked on the door on many occasions, it was a matter of time before they found a way in. This season also disappoints in terms of a title-race. There will be no final day ‘Aguerooooo’ moment as there was 8 years ago when City clinched the trophy in the last minute of the last of a 10 month campaign.
Likely, Liverpool with the front-three they currently boast will be adding at least another title after this one. Every fan remembers the Leicester title win for just how impossible it was supposed to be. Manchester City are remembered for breaking United hearts in 2012. Arsenal are remembered for going a whole year without tasting defeat.
Before the enforced break the rest of the season appeared to be cut and dry. Now in the wake of global devastation, football resuming feels somewhat historic.
Throw in a pandemic. Throw in this uncertainty. Would football return? Would the season even finish? But with football resuming this week it looks as though Liverpool will end up finally winning the Premier League a month and a half after the supposed end of the season.
That’s unusual. That’s different.
Regardless of results post-restart, this is the most memorable season ever. And that is because of the shared damage we all have of living in the age of COVID-19.
It goes down in history. When Liverpool won the league, there was a virus that hurt people. 2020 is a year people will remember till…probably the next pandemic or major war.
Also, remember how much people hated VAR?
The Ipe Collection 