Welcome to the Red Parade

football is a funny game. i started watching the EPL week-in-week-out at the age of 9. (before that i was already interested and playing, but nvr watched it on tv properly) and in my 7yrs of watching i've learnt that in football you shouldnt be surprised by anything bcos its full of surprises, so u just have to get used to surprises. but seriously sometimes its just too surprising.

to all of u who are non-football fans (pffft... *rolls eyes*) or non-supporters of liverpool (pffftt! *rolls eyes even more*), i encourage u not to turn away or be put off by this. if u would, pls just read on. u nvr know what could happen. cos football really does things to u.

if u don't already know, liverpool just made history last night. they set a record yet to be bettered by any team in the champions league - liverpool 8-0 besiktas. that smashed arsenal's (who?) 7-0 win against slavia prague (who?) from two weeks ago. i think what last night's game showed is that in anything, don't ever write off liverpool. to be honest, i was starting to fear that this season was gonna be another one of those seasons again.. liverpool out of the title race by christmas. sure, we started off the season well, topping the table for a week after a 6-0 drubbing of derby county, but after that we haven't reached the same standard. in fact, we've drawn 5 out of 6 games at Anfield this season. arsenal are looking much better to be truthful, and i'm still quite glad we're only 6pts behind them at the moment. but looking again, we're still unbeaten in the league (arsenal's the only other team still unbeaten too) and we've been playing ok. the team's been dealt with by injuries to torres, alonso and agger too. so that's handicaps for us in attack, midfield AND defence. so we're actually coping quite well.

last night also showed that if u play the right players, u have a much higher chance of winning. i'm talking about liverpool's strikeforce. peter crouch and andriy voronin were immense. i think that's how liverpool should play. one out-and-out forward with another one dropping deeper to link up the midfield. meaning torres/crouch pairing with kuyt/voronin. or torres with crouch. ok, i didn't watch the whole game. i have to thank joe for calling me at 5am to wake me up and tell me we were winning 7-0. so i caught the last 10min and saw the 8th goal. i watched the highlights too and looked at the stats. well, that was enough to tell me what i needed to know.

anws.. what i'm here to post abt today is looking at the bigger picture and my 16yrs of supporting liverpool (i like to call it 16yrs of support, cos it has always been in my blood)

to be honest, it wasn't easy for me supporting liverpool at the start. back then we had not won anything major for many yrs. we were playing badly and nowhere near the title race. manutd was dominating (confound them i hate their guts) and many ppl were making fun of me and stuff. there was even ONE day i rmb.. and i'm still horrified to this day when i think about it.. i was watching the "EPL highlights" in pri5 and saw man utd decimate some team. i was drawn to it and questioned myself "why on earth am i supporting liverpool?? this team is lots better!!" thoughts of switching loyalties even crossed my mind.. heh. ain't i glad that i quickly came to my senses that day and switched off the TV, ran to my computer and played Fifa 99, set up a game between liverpool and man utd and trashed united's butts upside down and thought to myself "liverpool is still better, liverpool is better.." haha.. maybe it was my dad's influence too. he's been a fan since 1977. that's 30 yrs now. and after so many yrs without the title he was still staying loyal. so at that time it probly went into my head and gave me this "i can never switch clubs" mentality. its all about the club. not the circumstances, not the players, not the trophies. (but liverpool have lots of that anws:)

another thing that has drawn me towards liverpool are the supporters. any football fan will tell u that liverpool fans are the best in the world. i mean, which club has its supporters singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the final whistle when u've lost? which brings me to another reason why i support liverpool. the anthem. "You'll Never Walk Alone" is actually a hymn. and for those of u who don't know the lyrics i STRONGLY encourage you to do so. whenever i hear the liverpool fans sing it, i never fail to get shivers down my spine. this may seem emo, but when we lost the champions league final last yr to AC Milan (go die milan i hate you too) instead of hearing the cheers of them italians, i was hearing the singing of the liverpool fans, it brought a tear to me eye, not cos liverpool lost, but i was over-whelmed by the support of the scousers (ppl from liverpool) and i can tell u i've probly got some scouse in me.

if somebody tells you that man utd are the most succesful club in england, tell them to go to hell. cos liars go to hell. haha. pardon the language. but its true. liverpool, not utd, are the most successful club in england. we've got 18 league titles (man u have 16) and 5 european cups (man u have 2.. laammmee...) so the trophies are another thing that helps.. dont get me started on arsenal and chelsea. they've won practically nothing. (altho arsenal do have 13 league titles, so scant consolation for them)

well, critics LOVE to write off, criticize, diminish, and blast liverpool. i've learnt to live with that. and i'm pretty sure there're lots of ppl in the Straits Times who are man utd supporters, cos they seriously write alot of stupid articles.. but oh well.. no matter how many times we seem like we're gonna fall or falter, the club seems to do someth to increase my belief even more...
let me tell you that liverpool have really changed my thinking quite abit, maybe even helped shape who i am today.. the time when i seriously started believing that miracles could happen was the FA Cup final in 2001. liverpool were losing 1-0 to arsenal with 13min to go when freddie ljungberg rounded westerveld and slotted into an empty net. as a young boy goodness knows why i started praying to God to somehow do something. this may seem kinda stupid, but right after i prayed, michael owen scored 2 goals in 5min (82 & 88min) to hand us the FA Cup. i know its really stupid, but its after that when i started believing in prayer and miracles. haha.
the thing that has really given me faith and hope is the champions league final in 2005. liverpool were losing 3-0 at half-time but we scored 3 goals in 6min (54, 56, 60 min) to tie the game 3-3 and win it on penalties in what has been said to be the greatest european cup final of all-time. and i totally agree with that.

let me tell you its not easy supporting liverpool at times, but for moments like last night's 8-0 win, it's really worth it supporting the best club on earth. so i think that the season still has a long way to go. and no title is lost in november. when May comes, we'll see where we are. its only 6pts, and 2 wins for us and 2 losses for arsenal wil mean we're right up there with them. and we've got fulham coming to Anfield this saturday. so.. things are still looking good.. yes, this is refering to the EPL. but last night's game was in the champions league! well.. maybe after never having seen liverpool win the title before, it has become an obsession now. the champions league still holds importance too. but i'm linking everthing back to the club itself i guess..

anws.. bottom line is that liverpool is definitely a different club from any other. and u probly wouldnt understand it unless ur a supporter urself. but thru all the good times and bad its definitely worth it. sometimes i even wonder whether God has put any link between liverpool and christianity. haha. of course i'm not that stupid to confuse Jesus with Bill Shankly! lol.. okok sorry.. but i do feel there's something about this club called liverpool that is very very special. once again, to all supporters of man utd and arsenal, you wouldnt understand it cos ur living in a lie, but its good that u guys are around anws. if not, where would the competition be? haha!

and last night really set me thinking so much that i even changed the lyrics of "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance! hope you guys like it.. lol..

"Welcome to the Red Parade"

When i was a young boy, my father took me to the TV, to see Liverpool play
he said, "Son, when you grow up, would you be a supporter of liverpool, the best club in the world"
he said, "will you defeat them, your (red) devils, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made
because one day u'll see that an anthem will lead us in the summer to join the Red Parade."

sometimes i get the feeling i'm wasting all my time
and other times i feel like there're 8 goals (xD)
when thru it all, the rise and fall, the opponents we have beat
and when you're gone we want you all to know..

we'll walk on! we'll walk on! and when you're dead and gone, believe me, our memory will walk on!
we'll walk on! and when our hearts just can't contain it, our anthem will explain it

a club that sends you reeling, we're realising all our dreams
your misery and hate won't kill us all
so paint it red and take to bed, let's sing aloud and clear
defiant to the end, we hear the call..

to walk on! we'll walk on! and when you're dead and gone believe me, our memory will walk on!
we'll walk on! and when you're broken and defeated, our merry Kop walks on

on and on we carry thru the fears. whoaa...
disappointed faces of your peers. whoaaa...
take a look at me, cos i could not care at all

do or die, you'll never make me, bcos the world can never take my heart
go and try, u'll never break me, we want it all, we wanna take you apart (like we did to derby and besiktas)
i won't explain, or say i'm sorry
i'm unashamed, i'm gonna show my scars, give a cheer for all the broken, listen here, listen to me
i'm just a man, im not a hero
just a boy, who wants to sing this song
just a man, not a hero, i... don't... care...

we'll walk on! we'll walk on! and when ur dead and gone, believe me, our memory will walk on!
we'll walk on! and when you're broken and defeated, our merry Kop walks on!!!


oh man.. this has got to be one of the longest posts ever.. but.. hey.. it's all about Liverpool.. haha..
YNWA