Four days have passed since we found out about Diogo Jota’s tragic and untimely death. And three days have passed since I wrote about it. It’s already my most-liked piece ever. You can read it here.
Writing is my form of expression. Some people paint. Some people sing. I tend to feel better when I put my feelings into words. But not this time, no. Everything still feels too fresh. Too sad.
I thought I’d feel ready to write about football by this point. Thought my piece on Jota would help. But I was naive. It’s still too soon. Now simply isn’t the time.
I think about football a lot. Always weighing up transfer moves. Always toying with tactical ideas. Always playing with numbers. And I like to think that’s why you subscribe to this Substack.
When I launched this newsletter, the goal was to cover Liverpool as a loyal but unbiased supporter of the club for as long as I can remember. I’m not a partisan. And I try to call things as I see them.
That approach naturally fosters some cold opinions. I’m generally more in favour of selling players than your typical fan, for example. And I’m quick to remind my subscribers about the level required at Liverpool whenever I’m starting to doubt whether any given player is good enough.
The whole thing can seem a bit savage sometimes, but it comes from a place of ultimately wanting the Reds to win. A subscriber recently described this Substack as ruthless. And I took it as a compliment. Sorry.
But there’s a time and a place for objective analysis. This is me reading the room. “Football is not important at this sad time,” said Kenny Dalglish just last week. He was right. He’s still right.
Another reason why I launched this Substack was so I could treat it like a journal of sorts. I grew frustrated writing articles for the Liverpool Echo because I wasn’t able to revisit them the following week to continue the story.
Let’s say I wanted to cover a specific tactical element, and then revisit that same topic days later to see how things played out in a different match. This is how Arne Slot solved it. This is why we keep conceding. This is why Mohamed Salah is running so hot. Whatever. Well, I couldn’t, because everything just got lost in a huge pile of content.
Since I got started on here around 18 months ago, I’ve journalled my thoughts on matters to do with Liverpool twice every week, with an episode of my podcast usually released in between. It’s like keeping a diary.
One post early in the week, and one post later in the week. As promised. And since my first post in February 2024, I haven’t missed a single one. I want to keep that record in tact, but I’m just not thinking about football right now. I’m sure many of you are the same.
This week’s episode of my podcast will be dedicated to Jota. Likely to be released on Wednesday. And some form of analysis will hopefully make a return on this Substack later in the week.
So this is me checking in, as usual. Same as always. Putting my feelings into words. Expressing my thoughts. Journalling. I’m just lacking the football part at present. We’ll be back.
Keep reminiscing. Tell someone you love them.
Josh, I haven't been able to read anything about football since this happened anyway, so we're in this together, mate. When you're ready, we'll be ready too.
All of this. Same for me, mate.