Nah our injuries are no excuse*
Copyright - Gary Neville 2021.
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Well he doesnât wait 5 seconds to go after the ball.
The powerful story of Alisson on the death of his father during the pandemic:
âWhen I got the call about my fatherâs death, I was worlds away from home. I was in Liverpool, right in the middle of the 2020â2021 season. His death was sudden. A total shock. My mother called and told me there had been an accidentâmy father had drowned in the lake near our home. The only thing I remember is feeling completely lost. It seemed impossible that someone like my father was gone. He was a real man, as they say. Strong as they come.
Iâd always heard stories about him when I was a kid. He was a goalkeeper too. I guess it runs in the DNA. On the field, they said he wasnât afraid of anything. He would charge forward and take a boot to the face if he had to.
âYour dad was crazy,â his friends told me.
I thought it was just a story. But it was trueâand went deeper than football.
On the pitch, or in real life, he was a true man. In everything he did, he always put family first. AlwaysâŚ
When he died, it broke me. I couldnât even think about football. I had to keep reminding myself that I even played football and that we were fighting for a Top 4 finish. It was even harder because we were in the middle of a pandemic, and getting back home was a nightmare. My wife was pregnant with our third child and COVID-19 was surging again in Brazil. Her doctor told her it was too risky to travel, so she had to stay in Liverpool with our kids. It was total heartbreak for her because she loved my father so much. We always joked that he loved her more than me. If we ever had a small disagreement in front of him, heâd always say, âI think NatĂĄliaâs right.â She was the daughter he never had.
The next two or three days were a blur. People kept sending flowers with condolence notes. Not just from my teammatesâeven Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti sent me letters of condolence. It touched my heart. Every ten minutes, someone was at the door with another flower delivery.
I donât think people understand how much something that small can mean when youâre grieving. It was a reminder that even your biggest rivals recognize the human being behind the name on the shirt.
Iâll never forget it. JĂźrgen called me and I felt so guilty for missing training because we were out of the Top 4 and needed every point. But JĂźrgen told me to take all the time I needed.
JĂźrgen had lost his father at around the same age, so he understood exactly how I felt. He wasnât just a coach to meâhe was like a second father. I think everyone saw that, especially when he ran across the pitch like a madman to jump into my arms when Origi scored against Everton. Sometimes I watch that video on my phone and laugh every time. But there were so many moments the public never saw, when weâd sit on the bus after away games and toast the win with a beerâjust a real German and a real Brazilian.
JĂźrgen let me take the time I needed to grieve, and not many coaches wouldâve done that. To me, thatâs Liverpool style. Itâs just different here. Even the players are different. Ray Haughan, our coach at the time, messaged me saying the guys had all come together and agreed to pay for a private flight to get me to the funeral so I wouldnât have to worry about a thing. But it was an impossible situation, because at that time, flying out of the country meant you had to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel when you returned. The thought of coming back from my fatherâs funeral and being locked alone in a hotel room for two weeks was hardâbut the worst part was imagining my wife alone for that long. She was in her third trimester, and anything could happen.
I called my mother and brother and explained the situation. It was the most brutal call of my life. We cried a lot, but in the end, I decided that my father wouldâve wanted me to stay with my kids and his âfavorite daughterâ and protect them, no matter how hard it was. Thatâs how he lived his life, and that was the best way to honor him.
Every chance I got, I hugged him. Every chance I had, I told him I loved him. There was nothing left unsaid. He knew. Still, Iâve never felt so far from home.
We had to watch his funeral on FaceTime. My brother held the phone the entire service, and I was able to pray and cry with my motherâand even say goodbye to my father in his casket. In that moment, strange as it sounds, you forget youâre looking at a screen. All your memories and love bridge the distance, and youâre speaking to your father in eternity.
Itâs trueâthere was nothing left to say. We had already said it all. All that was left to say was, âThank you.â
Not just for being my father, but for being my friend.â
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Thatâs sad but quite beautiful. Both for how Alisson and JĂźrgen handled it.
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Four years ago to the day⌠:0)
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About as funny as most of what they post.
The last 7 years somehow flew by when I think about what Iâve experienced following the club. But 2018 also feels like a lifetime ago for personal reasons and just the general state of things. The point is, how we perceive time is weird.
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Donât want to predict the (far) future too much, but if Ali is here at least until 2027, then Mama might spend the 26/27 season somewhere on loan. Say, a season of training and backup (competition is always welcome), to realize the standard, style and what it takes to start here. Maybe it turns out to be two such seasons. Weâll see.
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