The Ace1983 wrote:Gutted. It's the only way to put it. I'm gutted. But the thing is, the weird thing is, that I'm eerily... ok. Let's get the excuses out of the way. They cheated all of last season and they shouldn't have even been in the competition. That first goal did come off of Inzaghi's arm. And the ref did blow up way too early. But none of that matters. What should come next is the admition that we were just not good enough. But I can't say that. We were the better team. We certainly put in a better performance than the one we put in 2 years ago when Milan, over the whole game were the better side. Okay, those seven minutes will go down as the greatest comeback ever, and the never say die attitude was something that should be shown to soldiers, priests and everyone else who has to face up to harsh odds. But we were not the better side over 120 minutes, we were just the tougher side.
Tonight, over 90 minutes we passed well, we controlled the tempo, we attacked, we defended and even when things got difficult we kept going and I could see that spirit of the glorious 25th of May, 2005 was still there. But we lost. However unfairly, however much it hurts, we lost. And it sucks.
Often in these situations its difficult to catch a fleeting glimpse of a silver lining amongst an ocean of grey and ominous clouds, but that is not the case tonight. Forget the excuses, forget Milan and think about Liverpool FC. We are getting better. All those Man Utd fans who said that we'd get torn apart, have been proven wrong. All the Chelsea fans who said that we'd be an embaressment have been proven wrong. And all those Everton fans who have been giving us needle about how we were in for a thrashing have been proven wrong. Tonight, a lot of players stood up and fought and though they lost, they can walk out of that stadium with pride and I hope, when they get home, there are some cheering Liverpool fans outside John Lennon airport tomorrow, because they deserve some credit. We are not the defensive joke machine of the Houllier days. We are no longer a one man team. We are not restricted to one style of play anymore. And we must remember that we are a work in progress. That team was not the finished article, the grand finale that Rafa is planning and I am sure that in the summer we will witness a new chapter in the Rafalution that will bring quality, depth and the cutting edge that maybe tonight we were lacking.
None of this, none of these words can shout out or shut out the pain that we feel now. Kind words are no match for the thought of silverware lost. But keep these thoughts in your mind and remember that at the end of the storm there really will be a golden light. This is Liverpool Football Club, the only team in this country that could take to the stand in any courtroom in the land and under oath proclaim, without fear of purgery, that we are the greatest club in the history of English football and we do have the pictures to prove it. We have the trophies too.
A long time ago, a man named Emlyn Hughes, having just won "Ol' Big Ears" and having just been asked "what do you do next?", replied "we'll just have to win it again". And Liverpool did. I know because I've been watching ITV4's showing of our previous triumphs. Perhaps they thought we'd win it tonight. Crazy fools. But that's how football works. This summer, we'll remember it and the wound will sting. But in august, it all starts again. And you never know, do you? In 12 months time, we may all be jumping up and down with that trophy again. We might even have a league title too. You never know.
kaka was wearing a t-shirt tonight which read "I belong to Jesus" which means that he must be strong in his faith. And I guess, if you support any football team, you have to have a lot of faith too. You get ups and down indescriminately, but that's, in the words of Ol' Blue Eyes, Life. Ol' Big Ears would probably agree (if it weren't an inanimate object). Kaka may indeed belong to Jesus, and fair play to him, but that cup, that cup that all of those Milan players are drinking out of tonight, the one that Maldini will probably sleep with, that cup belongs to us.
Having tried to rationalize loss, I still feel gutted and the wound still stings. And just for anyone who thought that because of what I said, tomorrow will be glorious, you should know that it's just going to get worse. I have to go into an office full of Chelsea fans who will give me a great amount of stick. For those of you in Liverpool, I can only imagine how much stick the blueshites are going to give you. I see we have some of them with us now, giving it the needle (though quite what they have to crow about I don't know. You can always tell a true football fan because they get pleasure when their team wins, not when another team loses). For the next week we'll all get some grief, I'm sure. But, to troll out a couple of whorey old cliches, sticks and stones, and he who laughs last. Saying that probably won't help, but remember it anyway.
All that is left to do is to congratulate Milan, afterall they did win it, and to congratulate our players. We are a better team, and we are getting better all of the time. We will just have to do it again and there is no reason for us not doing so. In major cup finals (not counting the league-mickey-mouse-cup) Rafa is 2 from 3 (to use the American vernacular) and that ain't bad. And his league positions read 5-3-3-? I put that question mark there because we don't know what will happen in the future. And that is where we have to now look. To the future. Next year, we'll just have to have another crack at number 6, and lets have a go at number 19 while we're at it. Here's to hoping, and keeping the faith.
Come On You Reds. YNWA.
MILAN & ITALY über alles! 
questions, I'm not down, and I'll tell you why, you Manc 
