Trophies are not everything in football. Winning is not everything in football. This may sound bizarre to those modern-day fans on social media who love to see everything in black and white, win or lose, and have never been to a game in their life, but football is about so much more than silverware.
Steven Gerrard is still one of the best midfielders of all time, despite the Premier League trophy missing from his collection. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the best players of all time, despite neither of them winning a World Cup for their country.
For those fans who go to games and take a real interest in their side, it is about so much more than the result of a final. The atmosphere at the ground as your side score a late goal and the exciting attacking football you get to witness week in, week out. Players that make you get off your seat as they pick up the ball and take players on and wonder goals that take your breath away. Spine-tingling chats that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and iconic moments you can cherish with friends and family.
Let’s look at Liverpool this season as the prime example. Fans on social media are quick to rip into their fans for failing to win the Premier League or Champions League this season and ‘bottling it’. They have bottled nothing. They have brought the Premier League some of the best attacking football we have seen in years and have given the league an unexpected title race when it looked like Manchester City would run away with the title yet again.
The fans at Anfield are yet to see a defeat at home this season in the Premier League and they have witnessed 53 goals, each one of them getting them off their feet. They have been lucky to witness Virgil van Dijk put on defensive masterclasses, Mo Salah’s dancing feet, and Roberto Firmino’s bright white teeth in an unforgettable season for the Reds.
They were treated to one of the most dramatic finales in Merseyside Derby history as a howler from Jordan Pickford allowed Divock Origi to head in after the ball had bounced along the top of the bar. They have witnessed yet more special Champions League nights as they reached the latter stages of that competition alongside challenging for the Premier League. These are the moments that you go to football for. All the expense and time spent on your club is worth it for these emotional but spectacular seconds.
Those who criticise on Twitter simply don’t understand this. Yes, Liverpool may finish this season trophyless but it has been a simply spectacular campaign for the Reds. Some dullards on social media believe it would have been a more successful season for Jurgen Klopp if he’d have won the FA Cup and finished seventh. Nonsense.
Football is about unforgettable occasions and not trophy lifts. Of course, winning titles is what all teams should strive for but success for a football team is measured in results, entertainment, and unforgettable moments - not just whether they win a trophy at the end of it all.
