Liverpool’s Premier League party can wait but players desperate to complete the final act
- Government plan to lift spirits might see top flight back behind closed doors as Klopp’s side desperate to get two wins
- Fan hubris back in January had them called ‘the unbearables’ but now supporters just want the 30-year wait ended
Just a month ago, Merseyside was planning the party of a lifetime, to start when Liverpool finally secured the Premier League trophy. The brilliance of Jurgen Klopp’s team meant that success was within touching distance. The 30-year title drought was almost over. The time for celebration was near.
Covid-19 did what Manchester City and the rest of England’s top flight could not: slowed Liverpool down. Football has been necessarily placed on hold. There are much bigger issues to deal with.
The game will be back and perhaps sooner than many people believe. With the UK in a state of lockdown, the government has come to believe that the return of the Premier League would be a welcome diversion to people in isolation. That means the season could be completed behind closed doors.
When the game’s authorities suspended competition earlier this month, the prevailing feeling was that playing in front of crowds was vital. That conviction started to fade as the enormity of the situation began to unfold. No one wants to see games played in empty stadiums but increasingly there is a feeling that it is the least worst option.
Part of it is simple economics. The Premier League’s broadcasting partners are leaking money – Sky is said to be losing in excess of £4 million per day. Customers are cancelling their sports packages. The sooner live action is back on the small screen, the sooner the television companies begin to reverse those losses. If the Premier League cannot finish the campaign, they could be liable to pay back more than £760 million to the broadcasters.
There is widespread acceptance that live football is good for morale. It is hard to envisage a situation where crowds would be allowed to go back to the stadiums before the pandemic is brought under control, but planners are beginning to examine scenarios where players and staff could resume their professional duties.
These plans are still in the early stages. There are numerous issues to be considered. If social contact is being minimised, how could it be safe for footballers to travel and indulge in activities that require intense physical contact? Employees of clubs are as vulnerable to contracting the virus as anyone else. Yet, if something can be worked out, the players are keen to get back on the pitch.
The morale of Liverpool’s squad is high. Klopp spoke to the group before they left to self isolate and made it clear that the most important thing was staying healthy.
They know that the achievement that they have been dreaming about is only round the corner – their 25-point cushion at the top of the table guarantees that. There is a strong sense that if they were offered the opportunity to get the six points they need to confirm the title, they would jump at the chance as long as it was safe to do so.
Liverpool are worthy title winners – whenever it happens
They would prefer to win the league watched by a delighted, packed Kop but the urge to play, even in front of banks of empty seats, is strong.
What does this mean for Liverpool fans? After the speculation that the season might be made null and void, many would rather just get the two wins out of the way, break the three decade-long hoodoo and get the elusive Premier League silverware into Anfield’s trophy room. The party will have to wait.
Liverpool’s runaway form this season meant that supporters were growing more and more bullish throughout December and January. As the league triumph became inevitable, some fans started gloating. It annoyed rivals and soon they began to nickname themselves “the unbearables”. This seemed like a small taste of things to come. Hubris was beginning to run wild until the global health crisis stopped it in its tracks.
If the games are resumed behind closed doors there will be no mass expressions of joy. Merseyside’s pubs, which were expecting to be packed out and drunk dry in the aftermath of Liverpool’s moment of glory, will remain barred and empty.
The sort of homecoming that followed the Champions League wins in Istanbul in 2005 and Madrid last year, where hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the city to greet their heroes and toast the team’s achievement, will have to wait.
By the time supporters are allowed to gather and celebrate, football – and life – may well have moved on. What was slated to be the biggest party the banks of the Mersey has ever seen might never happen. No one will be complaining.
Klopp would be the first to reverse Bill Shankly’s famous, fatuous dictum: football is not a matter of life or death; it is just not important compared to the impact of the coronavirus. The only thing that is unbearable is the horror unfolding in hospitals. Liverpool fans know this and will understand if games behind closed doors become a reality.
The return of sport will be enough of a cause for celebration. Football will lift spirits, regardless of whether it is played in empty stadiums or not. Merseyside’s parties can wait. There will be plenty more to look forward to in the future.
