Forgive me Fergie, for I have sinned.

This weekend I committed footballs equivalent of cheating on your partner with someone they completely despise, I wholeheartedly supported Liverpool. I greeted Xabi Alonso’s ‘wonder goal’ with a disturbing celebration – I cheered as Liverpool were winning.

What followed were the repercussions you may expect from someone who has just committed adultery. First came elation, Chelsea were getting beaten and I was delighted. Next, the regret and shame began to sink in as I thought about my criminal and in humane behvaiour. Finally, as the game passed me by in a blur I couldn’t believe what I had done; what the hell came over me?

Half time brought me some time to think and, like every adulterer worth there salt, I can declare; United fans, it’s not what you think.

I originally sat down to watch the game with only a passing interest in who would be keeping the top spot warm for when United finally get there. Then I got myself worked up – who do I support? United’s main rivals for the title or United’s main rivals full stop? After debating it for a while I remembered how much I hate John Terry and remembered that Liverpool, for all their early promise, will soon be back to the Liverpool of the last 18 years – possible title contenders, certainly not winners. Then, I said it quietly in my head – ‘I want Liverpool to win’.

As Alonso sent his thunderbolt past Cech a weird fusion of a girly squeal and an American style whoop came exploding out of me like an unwelcome burp. What was I doing? I mean, quietly supporting is fine but celebrating a Liverpool goal is a moment I never want to endure again. How Scousers do it every week beats me, the feeling of being in mortal danger of vomiting was too much. As I mentioned earlier, my foray into the depressing world of celebrating Liverpool goals was not what it seems. In supporting Liverpool, I was taking one for the team.

The way I see it, Liverpool’s new manager, Houdini, cannot keep conjuring up last minute wins and dramatic comebacks. Admittedly, they are 4 points better off than this time last year but they still lack the strength in depth to mount a sustainable challenge.

Chelsea, under Scolari seem to be a more direct and brutal animal than the machine which Mourinho manufactured. The way they have taken apart teams this season has been incredible and they are undoubtedly the team United need to beat. The fact that, before Sunday, no Chelsea player in the first 11 knew what it was like to lose in the league at Stamford Bridge could have serious repercussions for the season. The air of invincibility at Stamford Bridge has been removed after Liverpool’s well executed game plan and a knock on effect similar to what Arsenal suffered after there defeat on 49 games would be most welcome. In Arsenal’s seven league games immediately after the defeat, they drew with Chelsea, West Brom, Crystal Palace and Southampton whilst losing to Liverpool.

Realistically, I just cannot see how Liverpool will maintain any sort of title challenge and Chelsea remain the danger. Whilst Torres, Gerrard and (temporarily) Kuyt are playing well they have a chance. Once the comebacks don’t materialise and Rafa starts his Claudio ‘tinkerman’ Ranieri impression again, Liverpool will return to their rightful position of fourth (until City take that spot next season). So, this weekend whilst I may have been supporting Liverpool, I did so safe in the knowledge that it was the lesser of the two evils.

Forgive me Fergie, for I have sinned. Honestly though, like Liverpool’s win – it meant nothing.

Craig Malpas

Comments

[mike]

Actually I can completely relate to this article, cheering for the pluds is not something I would do as a United fan; sometimes though....

[Simon]

Oli, I think it is hilarious that you completely miss the irony of Steve - Manchester. As I see it he is mocking you for constantly writing drivel about how you go to games all the time and feel like you deserve congratualtions and praise for it. I am sure you will go to Glasgow on Wednesday and then return and celebrate how much of a fan you are.

[Oli]

Steve,
I'll end this here as it must be pretty dull for others to read but...
1. You can go up to Mcr in the afternoon and be in your company's office working until 6pm.
2. I've never been on the blog on my blackberry, which is why I used the word theoretically.
3. See you in Glasgow on Wed?

[Steve - Manchester]

Oli
1.It's kinda compulsory to set off 2.5 hours before kick off if you live 200 miles from the stadium and
2. If your idea of pre match build up is monitoring a blog on a newspaper website via your blackberry then any insult I could throw at you would pale into insignificance.
3. Ha ha ha ha hardcore

[Oli]

Si, 1) kick off was not at 5.21pm was it? Or is it compulsory to be there over 2.5 hours before kick off these days? 2) I have a blackberry and could post from the stadium if I wished to theoretically.

[josh]

HAHAHAHAH This liverFOOL fan clearly doesnt know his football..

18 times you won it u muppet not 17 times, but all u liverpool fans live in the 80s!!
champions of europe
champions of england!!

5 european cups,17 titles,uefa cups,super cups,fa cups,league cups,charity shields,..........u can come and see them..not touch them.......u man u and chelski supporters.UR JUST AJELOUSE lot....u cant see the mighty shankly boys getting them all.....u just are too scared to look at table...its 2008!!!!.but i salute big phil,and despise the old scott.YNWA

Posted by: zeid jordan | October 28, 2008 at 06:26 PM

[josh]

you liverFOOLS ARE idiots !!

Bring it on at old trafford u beat us with 2 silly goals which were errors from our players van der sar n giggs so get over the win and pray u sustain a decent challenge and win the league cos my oh my when u dnt win it we are gonna rub it in right in the wound!!

so enjoy the top seat whilst you can cos end of may you will be sniffing our backsides in the 5th position!!

[Dan]

What a sad and pathetic article.
Frankly if I had such thoughts I'd keep them to myself.
To champion Alonso's goal, that was a fluke / ricochet, only adds to your damnation.
Benitez had no career left in Spain because of his insistence on delivering his style of football. Don't believe me? -ask any Spaniard.
Liverpool think they have a prize coach, but the rest of us are not so sure.
Chelsea may have been poor on the night, but I can't see Liverpool finishing ahead of them this year.

Still to gloat over another's misfortune is one of the ugliest traits a man can display.

Im baffled by what I'm reading; all these accusations and pots calling kettles black. Most of you completely contradict yourselves. What are you thinking making predictions about who will win the league? You can count the number of games played on two hands.

Any chelsea, man utd, liverpool or arsenal fan has no right to use the word 'arrogance' against one another-most players in all three sides are a bunch of overpaid whingers who have no real connection with their clubs other than money. You all have far too much time on your hands, and do very well (most of you) at sounding like typical times readers; barring CHELSEA CHELSEA, who should learn to speak english propperly.

[Si]

Oli, I noticed you posted on here last night at 5.21 - I am surprised you were not at Old Trafford at that time. Maybe you didnt go last night but sung from your Surrey licing room??

[chelsea chelsea]

To the article....enjoy....It's a long way to go my friend,we are talking umptine EPL games plus CL plus FA CUP not to mention the (Worthless cup)as some like to call it.If and i say IF pool is still top in mid may then i'll take my hat of.Till then don't bark to loud.One thing i do know is we'll be there, thats as certain as that bears crap in the woods:)Credit where credit is due pool did do well on sunday.Deflected goal or not, chelsea have also won games with such goals.But what is hard to take is this rubbish that pool done it without Torres!!!!Please people you don't hear chelsea fans whinging that chelsea are missing half of the first team.....that's football.....True we have the luxury of winning with the so called squad players (that would challenge for the premier league title).Every oppossing fan is constantly slagging us....we play to efficiant and boring or like now with too much swagger that we are embarressing teams.But every real football fan must deep inside admire chelsea because looking through this chat site nearly everybody sees chelsea as one of the best. Enough said ca'nt wait for chelsea-arse match.....oh what an open game that could be

[johny]

STUPID MAN UTD FANS.

BLOODY IDIOTS.LOSING IN ANFIELD WASN'T ENOUGH>YOU GUYS WANT A FIGHT?

LIVERPOOL WILL WIN AT OLD TRAFFORD NEXT YEAR.JUST WAIT.THE MORE YOU MAKE THE PLAYERS ANGRY,THE STRONGER WE'LL GET

bloody big heads.just wait

[satyromaniaman]

The whole article and many of the responses from Man U fans pretty much sum up the nature of Man U fans..... Most of them are sinners.

[Mark Donnelly]

I can see where you are coming from here Craig. Technically there is nothing wrong with looking to the bigger picture ( Liverpool's title challenge wilting just after christmas and chelsea's undoubted quality pushing us most likely all the way) but the fact of the matter is last Sunday there was only one team to support and that was Chelsea. This recent uprising of Liverpool fans claiming, as always, that this is "their year" has sickened me more than in any Premiership season to date. I have never listened to such uninformed and quite frankly thoughtless bull in my life! Are you Liverpool fans born without memories? do you really think that the addition of Robbie Keane and that decent yet totally uninspiring lad Riera is going to give you the quality you need to push on for the title? you keep saying " We are winning ugly and thats what champions do" yes that is the mentality adopted by champions, but it applies to around March when "squeaky bum-time" is just around the corner, not when ur barely out of October. Im afraid 3rd is all you scousers can hope for, and even then your pushing it as Arsenal are always capable of going on a devastating run of victories and threw it accumulating a handsome amount of points.

[Steve - Manchester]

Oli
No of course you won't see me in Tokyo. I'm not going and won't be impressed that you are, even if you paid for it with your United endorsed credit card.
I'll probably be in Manchester hanging my head in shame as some bertie rips the nonsense you post on here about 'living and breathing United' like some star struck 14 yr old girl.

[Oli]

Hi Steve, my Rooney article got quite a few replies I thought. And if you read my articles you'd know I wanted to kick Ronaldo out not cuddle up with his duvet cover. See you in Tokyo? Oli

[Steve - Manchester]

Oli.

Why didn't you get the hint when noone read or replied to your articles ? What makes you think your replies to others are any more interesting ? Curl up in your Ronanldo duvet in your Surrey bedroom and comfort yourself with thoughts of how hardcore you are

[Fergie]

As a UTD fan I just couldn't bring myself to support the scousers against Chelsea. Not because I think Liverpool are genuine title challengers, I just couldn't bring myself to support them. Maybe I should feel like a cheating adulterer too as I was yearning for a Chelsea equaliser from the minute Liverpool scored.

Before that match I kept saying to myself, Liverpool's luck will run out. I laughed when i heard scousers on phone-ins saying this is the mark of champions being able to turn round goal defecits. Really? more like incredible luck. Please, please, please let that luck run out. Liverpool are simply not good enough to win the title but I'd hand the title to Chelsea now if it meant Liverpool's luck will run out so that they start conceding deflected goals instead of scoring them!!

[Oli]

To Lee who no longer has a genuine contempt for Liverpool as "they haven't been a concern"- are you mad?! I wanted Chelsea to lose to help United (which could well come back to bite us I admit) but NOT because I no longer loathe the red half of Merseyside. As for them not being a threat, surely them winning the CL and appearing in anotehr final 2 years later made it all the worse and brought the resentment of the 80's right back as rawly as ever?

[Lee]

I'm another United fan that supported Liverpool at the weekend. I know it's sacrilegious, but for all intents and purposes, Liverpool havent been a concern for so many years now it's hard to maintain a genuine contempt for them...

Chelsea wont drop too many points this year, Liverpool (and Arsenal) will. Every little helps.

[Chris H]

Can I please remind UTD fans who call themselves the 'Reds' (Oli)that that is Liverpool's nickname. UTD's is the Red Devils. As for the league, it's a great start fot the Reds but with 75% of the season still to play it's far too early to say who will win. Chelsea are still the team to beat as on paper they have the strongest squad. UTD are missing Querioz big time and Ronaldo's body language suggests he's lost the drive he had last season. UTD's overall arrogance will cause them to come unstuck and Arsenal lack the consistency over 38 games. Whatever happens I expect it to be the tightest league race since Arsenal pipped Liverpool on the final day back in the 88-89 season. It's all good fun.

[Edward]

You'll regret this. I've a feeling we all will come April. United haven't had quite so much ground to make up in recent years. With injuries and a someone flat-looking Ronaldo I think the new experience will be too much for them. Arsenal's squad may well prove too thin to cope with the rigours of a full season, in which case that leaves Chelsea, alone of the contenders, with the best chance of stopping the Evil Ones. I'm sorry but for fans of a certain vintage things falling into place at Anfield - you know, last minute winners, 90 degree deflected goals, while the familiar weekly penalty is bound to come into its own again once referees, like the heirarchy at UEFA, learn what is and is not acceptable to the anointed ones - brings back uncomfortable memories of the Terror at its worst (and the team at its best - '76-'86 IMHO). To cheer the victory against Chelsea staggers me therefore. Talk about tempting fate. Are you sure you haven't been at the Higsons.....?

[Ian]

"tell you what, no matter what happens, you would never catch us Liverpool fans celebrating one of your goals. we are just not that pathetic."

Thats because you see Man U as your rivals. Man U fans no longer see you as a threat and therefore can cheer you when you score against their biggest rival Chelsea. Just goes to show how Liverpool have slipped down the pecking order. I am not a MU fan either.

[Marc Melander]

Leaving aside the laser wit and anvil irony of the post I find it interesting that a lot of Man United fans are playing the "no strength in depth" card as regards Liverpool's squad.

I find that strange as I actually believe that, apart from an obvious replacement for Torres, Liverpool have by far the stronger midfield, and a defence that is very strong too. I accept that Ferdinand and Vidic are a superior pairing to Carragher and Skrtl/Agger but not light years ahead of them. Wes Brown at right back is a liability as most Utd fans will admit. When Liverpool play Arbeloa and Aurelio I think they are a lot more attack minded than the likes of Finnan/Riise were. Dossena's rubbish by the way!

As for Torres - we need him back, just as United looked toothless without Ronaldo although Liverpool's results without Torres have been superior to United's when missing the wantaway winger.

Crunch game for Liverpool tonight - anything other than a win will create doubts in the player's minds and even more so in the fans.

[KPLFC]

OK Liverpool fan and i will be honest (as i possibly can). Chelsea and United are the 2 strongest teams in the league, they have strength in depth and match winners all over the pitch. Of course chelsea are united's biggest threat to their PL crown and why wouldnt LFC be ridiculed as not being able to sustain a title challenge, when they havent been able to for years (acouple of decent seasons apart)?

However, we are showing the form of title winners in that we are turning losing positons into winning ones, beating the top teams and using our squad to good effect in the process. Rafa has been in this situation before at valencia, weaker squad than the two big spenders, yet still managed to turn that on its head.

Can Liverpool win the league? Yes.
Will they? its going to be bloody tough but on this form of course. the big test will be how we perform after our first league defeat - which will happen. If rivals want to write off our chances thats fine. Footy rivalry is based on opinion and good banter. But in a season where we have taken 6 points off last seasons top 2, 3 points off our supposed rivals for fourth (should that now be arsenals rivals) and gone to our neighbours and taken 3 points off them when united managed 1...why should LFC fans feel optimistic...its been a long time! And if the bubble soon bursts then i am sure we will be the first to hear about it from United and chelsea fans everywhere, but hey, thats footy!