What a game. Thought I'd let a day go by before I extrapolate on a few thoughts I'd had, but I can't stop myself. Buzzing.
I often watch matches late at night on "weekends" here when I'm absolutely knackered, and don't watch quite as closely as I'd like to at times. I say "weekends" in quotes as I help run a bowling alley/mini golf centre that I spend 50-60 hours at per week, so my weekends are actually Mondays and Tuesdays usually. Hence, after a 14 hour working Saturday I'm usually just watching bleary eyed with a beer in hand when we beat Spurs, Leicester etc
This mornings game was a 4:30am Wednesday kick off for me. Not the best time, but having been at home relaxing yesterday I was more than buzzing for the game this morning. Alarm went off at 4:25am, and besides the 30 seconds it took me to work out exactly why that was, I quickly snapped awake and was as ready as I've been for a game since the Final in May. Not to say I'm not f**king buzzing every PL game we play and win, but - well, I don't think I have to explain to any real red why a European Night at Anfield is like nothing else as a Liverpool fan, and I say that as someone who's only experience of that in person was the 1-0 vs Augsburg in the 2016 Europa!
My thoughts since the draw have been all around this PSG kick off fixture, and I had a few thoughts on it:
1) THE BUILD UP: To have this fixture kick off this years campaign is bloody beautiful. Though everything about last years campaign was wonderful (beyond Kyiv), and the group stage was a lot of fun as always, there was that slight inkling inside that we had been gifted a draw. I loved it, obviously, as it meant - theoretically - we should have a nose in the knockouts already. Obviously it proved a bit more challenging early doors, but we eventually made it happen with some brilliant wins.
However, Sevilla was the "marquee" opponent of the group. No disrespect to them, but there was no match in our group stages that had the world, not just LFC fans but the world, licking their lips. The only water cooler discussion that came from neutrals re Liverpool in the groups last year was "how the f**k do they blow these leads against Sevilla?" - we were expected to win.
Again, no disrespect to Sevilla but PSG visiting Anfield had the football world talking. The two most expensive players in the world, one just coming off a World Cup winning campaign in which he was key, the other one of the most recognised footballers in the world - amongst a team that sees themselves as a Galacticos type that is realistically looking at winning the Champions League every year they go into it. Liverpool have been a powerhouse for years, in name if not always in performance - we've earned that respect. So to have this new lot come up against our team playing the football we are again, it's the talk of the first round of matches.
PSG are powerhouse as far as their worldwide branding goes. Even before they really pulled off some of these big signings, I remember sitting in a few smoke filled dorms on campus in college a few years ago and playing FIFA with buddies. Every FIFA sesh had many of the fellas picking PSG - none of them were huge footy fans, but they loved the idea of PSG and the team they had then was pretty good already. Zlatan certainly helped put them on the map.
It's also Nike recognising their branding potential. I went to the University of Oregon, on which Nike was founded on the wonderful Hayward Field. That brand is such a powerhouse, it's fingerprints are all over that campus for sure - but the culture around it is obviously a worldwide phenomenon. Nike/Jordan choosing PSG as their first major foray into football branding with the Jumpman logo was major. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc blew up when they posted those jerseys. I walked into a sports store in Adelaide a few days ago and, whilst they had a fair selection of the standard Liverpool, manure, Barca etc jerseys on display as per usual, the PSG display was bigger than any other on that day - and included a rack of their home, their away, and both home and away Jordan brand kits.
These guys may not quite have had the worldwide on the field success yet, but off it - they are banging in goals. Which leads me to...
2) THE MATCH: PSG debuted these "FIRE KITS" in the Champions League. The biggest stage of all. Jordan x PSG 21st Century branding, taking on the history and might of Liverpool.
And didn't we make those kits look like some f**king brilliant traffic cones.
Sure, PSG had their chances. But that's what they were - chances. They weren't endemic of the overall flow of the game at any singular point, they were simply chances. And to be fair, they took them. Mbappe gave Jumpman an advertising image at the very least, in his celebration. And I bet they were salivating at the chance to present it as a "saviour moment" - until that f**king brilliant pirate One-Eyed Bobby went "Arrrrrghhh f**k you Parisian cu*ts, this booty is staying the f**k here"
You can do all the f**k you want with your advertising, but a bunch of f**king absolute hero's wearing red with a simple 'NB' on their chest next to the mighty Liverbird said f**k your Jordan collabs, we're here to play f**king rock and roll footy. And f**king rock and roll we did. All over these f**king cu*ts.
3-2 flatters the f**k out of them because we were all over them. I felt more worry playing f**king Leicester than I did these. Trent looked at Neymar and went f**k me, haven't played Pokemon Go in a while but I'll pocket that little f**ker. Robbo did the same thing with Mbappe. Cavani's biggest f**king contribution was deceiving the linesman for the first goal which was absofuckinglutely offside. Had the ref given the Salah goal, as he should have, then I think we run away with this one. We're still not quite clicking, yet we're f**king bossing it. How the f**k about that.
3) POST MATCH: In the greater context of this group stage, a huge win. We look to the other fixture and see they have a draw, which means we're already top of the group. Napoli away next, then Red Star at home. If we can be sitting on 7 points minimum halfway through, we're in absolute great shape. I think we can win at Napoli for sure - f**k me we can win anywhere. But a point minimum with a win at home to Red Star (we should be bossing that) would be brilliant. Many looked at this group and were a little worried, hence why this game being first, at home, was huge. This sets the tone. We have the running already. We are now in position to set up the group stage to be a more comfortable run than some we have had in the past.
PSG already behind, knowing they now have to make sure they get as many points out of two other tough home and aways - and they don't play anywhere near as cohesively as we do, from what I can see from that performance. All well and good bossing a league in which you hold the only stars, whole different beast in Europe.
The tough September run has begun with two tough as nails, but great, wins. This immediately sets us up with the confidence going forward, and an ability to keep building the style and play as to how we want to be, knowing it works no matter the opponent.
There's a maturity across the back, despite the fact 3/4 of those players are "young and inexperienced." There's a wealth of wisdom, talent, and experience across the midfield - and we haven't even played one of our big summer signings bar 30 seconds, and the other isn't even close to his best yet. And we have the best frontline in the world, who have only shown glimpses of what they're capable of.
We aren't even halfway through the gears yet, but f**k me do we look good.
Logged
