I can’t write what Leicester fans have been feeling last night and today. As a Liverpool fan who was born after 1990 I still await the equivilant moment. Maybe I have an idea, I still remember the euphoria of beating Manchester City two years ago, I remember the first trophies I saw Liverpool win, the drama of that 2-1 win with Arsenal in the FA Cup final in 2001 made all the greater that we looked dead and buried with 10 minutes to go…and of course I remember Istanbul. I imagine the latter two to look a bit like Leicester’s season a year ago, the low of looking down and out and the high of coming back and getting the desired prize. But until Liverpool FC finally win an elusive title. I won’t know and can’t pretend to know. So:
Congratulations on your amazing success Leicester City.
However, I can completely get what Spurs fans will be going through this morning. The hopes gone, the wait continues and what seems elusive feels like it may never come. You know that the next 3 months you’ll be sitting there, broken hearted, nothing to fix it unless you’re a die hard England fan too (The World Cup was absolutely no consolation in 2002 or 2014). You hope you can keep your players and your manager. You don’t want an injury in these international tournaments, because your club NEEDS those players. In fact you’d rather your country left your players at home to an extent, knowing that then they’d more than likely be raring to go, rather than playing with players from those rival clubs that broke your heart. I mean who wants to see Walker and Cahill or Kane and Vardy be the best of friends for a month? Probably just the same few that wanted to see Gerrard and Rooney being best buddies two summers ago.
And then there’s a realisation. All this work and the emotion put into this season is totally irrelevant to next season. You’re starting on zero again, you have 38 matches again, you have to wait 10 months possibly for the same heartbreak, embarrassment or jubilation again. You have to hope and pray your rivals don’t learn from their mistakes again. And your team might just be mentally in the worst position in the league.
Get no mistake, Spurs have a chance next season. But so do Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester City, arguably West Ham and possibly even another surprise like this years champions.
And this is where Liverpool the three times they’ve come runners up since the turn of the century have managed to go completely and utterly wrong. Second in 2002 turned into 5th in 2003, 7th in 2010 and 6th in 2015. In all three occasions it was the team who finished third in Liverpool’s runners up campaigns who then went on to win the title as Liverpool fell down the leagues pecking order. Manchester United and Chelsea, twice. The difference between these two teams and Liverpool…these teams knew success, league success. And when something seems so elusive, as it does to not just Liverpool’s current generation but Tottenham’s current and past generations it seems to be so much harder to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and go again.
Spurs have to be aware of Liverpool’s mistakes and they have to look at matches and see if there is anything they can do to improve next season. They’ll have too as the traditional “Big Four” of United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea will all be better than this season where they’ve all managed to perform poorly in the league hunting Spurs and the Foxes.
Spurs have done brilliantly this season and it’s compliment for this that we now talk about the fact it’s 55 years since a league title in a way that is growing into how we talk about both Arsenal and Liverpool. When people are talking like that, you know you’re breaking through into the ranks at the top.
Spurs now have two games to play and could do with ending the season on a positive. It may be the difference between challenging or watching the title race next season!
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