Just some cool guys sat around talking about the Evangelical church and how great facism is. What a Christmas.
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Itâs their beliefs.
Youâll need to look at the conditions where they were brought up in.
Donât agree with religion most of the time. But otherwise they are pretty harmless considering the other shit going around in the world right now.
Evangelical church in Brazil is not pretty harmless. Whatever else is happening in the world is irrelevant and lazy whataboutism.
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Alisson is a big unit! Lovely to see good friends reunite. They share a common faith and in Bobbyâs case, it lifted him out of a very dark place. It helped him get to grips with some self-destructive tendencies, bring his family together and provide a vehicle for him to put resources into his community of origin. Itâs a good story.
I definitely wouldnât have voted for who Alisson voted for in Brazil. I donât get it. But he is allowed to vote for who he likes, and I would defend his right to do that. Itâs up to the opposition to provide a better alternate to capture the hearts and minds of enough people to prevail. Unfortunately, as weâve just seen here in America, that didnât happen.
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Tommy Lawrence:
A Liverpool Classic: Out Of The Fog, A Legend Was Born
On the 7th of December 1966, football entered a new chapter, the English way of playing started to become diluted with a foreign substance called âtotal footballâ. A game defined in the history books as âDe Mistwedstrijdâ (the fog contest), led to one of the most fascinating conceptions of a European superpower.
On this day 55,000 people packed themselves into the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam to watch Ajax beat Liverpool 5-1 in the quarterfinals of the European Cup. Liverpool came into this game as the clear favourites after winning the league a couple months prior. Playing Ajax was deemed nothing more than a formality by the over-confident UK press.
In the mid-sixties, Dutch football wasnât taken seriously, they were deemed an underdeveloped nation with little chance of challenging the big teams in Europe. Luckily Ajax had a trick up their selves in the shape of home-grown talent and future Ballon dâOr winner Johan Cruyff.
Johan Cruyff was the leader of this total football campaign and is arguably one of the greatest footballers to ever grace the beautiful game. The inventor of the elegant Cruyff turn revolutionised football, adding another dimension to the game. At the age of 20, he was into his second season as a first-team player.
Little was known about Cruyff at the time and his incredible record of 25 goals in 23 games that season was Amsterdams best kept secret. So little was known about Ajax before the game that Liverpool manager Bill Shankly claimed heâd only ever heard of the Kitchen cleaning product âAjaxâ.
On the day of the game, a dense fog blurred the vision of the fans and players. Both teams were adamant that the match was going to be called off due to the unplayable conditions. Yet, the official Antonio Sbardella allowed the game to go-ahead. Undoubtedly this was due to the pressure of the intimidating Bill Shankly, who wanted this game out the way as Liverpool had a six-pointer match against Manchester United the following weekend.
Liverpool goalkeeper, Tommy Lawrence was in disbelief that the Italian referee had given the game the go ahead: âRon (Yeats) was shouting âI canât Fking see the ball Tommy!â I replied âI canât Fking see you! He had to tell me when they entered our half!â
It didnât take long for Ajax to adjust to these conditions and after three minutes Cees de Wolf headed home inside the six-yard box. It took a few seconds for the news to ripple around the stadium as many fans had to guess what had happened due to the incredibly poor visibility.
Ajax defied the odds for the second time going two up through the secret wonder-kid Johan Cruyff. A goal-line scramble and two great saves werenât enough to stop Cruyff from hitting the ball into the back of the net. A shell-shocked Liverpool had no response to Ajaxâs onslaught and conceded another two before halftime.
One reporter stated it looked like Liverpool had seen a ghost when in fact it was just the white of Ajaxâs kit flittering past them.
Henk Groot put the final nail in the coffin of the Scouse fans misery with a fifth, which was only dampened by a last-minute goal from the Liverpool born Chris Lawler.
My grandad, who just happens to be the keeper for Liverpool on that defining day described the brilliance of what he saw that night: âwe werenât used to being beat, especially not like that. We were champions of England. Iâm glad the fog was there because it gave me an excuse to not get screamed at by Shanks! Although I couldnât see him (Cruyff) half the time, when I did, I thought the ball was going to end up in the back of the netâ.
After the game, Shanks thought nothing of it stating: âTheyâre used to the fogâ and ânext week in Liverpool we will beat them 7-0!â Although Shankly was adamant this was a mistake that was soon to be corrected, Rinus Michels team came to Anfield to put on a show. Not only to the entirety of Merseyside but to the rest of Europe. A double from Cruyff was enough to make Roger Huntâs two goals obsolete, sending the English champions crashing out of Europe.
Without a doubt, this game is a forgotten classic. It defines the rawest qualities of football. Both teams went into the game knowing nothing about the other, there was no scouting knowledge or ones to look out for. It was just 22 players on a pitch trying to prove they were the best. Liverpudlians couldnât even pronounce Ajax correctly, let alone tell you who their best players were.
Iâll leave you with a quote from my grandad that has stuck in my head for many years: âCruyff might have said it was his favourite game of all time⌠It certainly wasnât mine, Iâm glad I never played him again!â
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Got a used autobiography of Kevin Keegan at a book fair.
100 INR. Absolute steal.
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Less USD1.20? As good as free. 
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I remember that home game and our crowdâs reaction. They applauded the Ajax team off the pitch. Sadly wouldnât happen now⌠I miss those days when good football was appreciated no matter who was playing it. Too much fan toxicity now.
In the late 60s we had a fierce rivalry with Leeds but when they won the League at Anfield I remember they did a lap of honour and were applauded all the way round the pitch. Can you imagine this happening now?
Leeds clinched the title at Anfield. A defeat for Leeds might have swung the championship towards the home team, but Leeds held out and won the title. When the Liverpool players left the pitch, the Leeds players didnât know what to do with themselves. Walking towards the Kop, they were unsure of the reception theyâd get from the 53,750 fans packed inside Anfield.
One Leeds player raised his hand towards the Kop and then the others followed suit. At first there was silence, then the applause started and it just didnât stop. The reaction from the Kop that night is legendary.
âTo stand there as a Leeds player and be cheered by the Kop that was something,â claimed Charlton after the game. âIâll never forget it.â Don Revie enthused: âIt was simply fantastic, What a great gesture. You would have thought their team had won the league!â
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Iâd like to think our fans would be magnanimous in defeat. I think we have a generous crowd that definitely appreciates good football.
What has spoiled it is the unchecked cheating that has gone on. Specifically, and speaking personally, it leaves me quite unable to applaud Man City.
Leicester win the league? Huge applause. Well done to them. Great story.
Any other team doing it by fair means, even if I donât like them? Definitely applause. Well done to them. It is the ultimate test. Home and away against everyone, over the best part of a year. Highs, lows, the lot. So no problem being gracious towards anyone who won.
But sorry, that definitely does not extend to cheats. If we are expected to applaud that, the game has gone, and so has our moral compass.
PS - loved the Leeds story! I remember shades of that in a friendlier time in the mid 80s when Liverpool and Everton were the best two teams in the country.
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I was beginning to show interest in English 1st div football from 1974.
Back then most of the guys around me were fans of Man United but Iâve never liked them so it was a choice between LFC and Leeds. For a year or so I was leaning ever so slightly towards the latter but still firmly on the fence.
That they won the title in '75 almost tilted me towards them but ultimately it was Kevin Keegan who sealed the deal for me, so to speak.
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I was at that game⌠only a nipper then, sat with my dad and all the âstiffsâ in Row 7 of Kemlyn Road Stand⌠At the end, obviously disappointed that Liverpool had lost the league⌠I can still remember my Dad saying, "stand up lad and start clapping, these are a good side these "
âŚas the ball was being repeatedly hit backwards and forwards over their heads. The more the game went on, the more I was convinced Leeds wouldnât lose.â
Bagchi and Rogerson: 'What happened next has become part of Leeds United folklore. Beforehand, Revie had instructed Bremner, if they should get that decisive point, to lead the players after the game towards the Kop. Bremner took some persuading, but after they had celebrated before their own travelling support, Bremner duly marched his men forward. The ground fell silent, but instead of being lynched, the Leeds team were surprised to find themselves being loudly hailed as champions by the 27,000 Koppites massed in front of them. The players stayed put for 20 minutes, soaking it all in, larking around, jumping on one another and paying their tributes to both sets of fans. They had been derided and despised for such a long time that one could not blame them for basking in the adulation. âBeing cheered by a rival crowd - any rival crowd - was a new experience for us,â Eddie Gray recalls. âThis in itself was as much of a turning point for Leeds as the championship achievement.â
'Back in the dressing room, where Shankly had provided a crate of champagne, Revie clearly felt flattered by the two extraordinary events of the evening: âThe reception given us by the sporting Liverpool crowd was truly magnificent,â he said, âand so, for that matter, was our defence tonight. It was superb in everything.â
âShankly, an incurable romantic where football was concerned and not one to bandy around accolades where they were not deserved, gave Leeds his stamp of approval. âLeeds United are worthy champions,â he proclaimed. âThey are a great side.â That was good enough for Revie and his team. The respect of their fellow professionals was all they craved and now they revelled in the novel experience of popularity. They were underdogs no more. A psychological weight had been lifted. âThat wonderful night at Anfield saw our burning faith in ourselves justified,â Billy Bremner reflected. âAt last we were well and truly vindicated.â The irksome oiks, Revieâs âLittle West Riding Hoodsâ, had joined footballâs aristocracy.â
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Former Liverpool midfielder rejects move to Everton out of respect for the Reds
Evertonâs January transfer plans have hit a roadblock as Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo has reportedly turned down a move to Goodison Park.
Arthur, who has struggled for playing time at Juventus under Thiago Motta this season, was viewed as a key target to bolster Evertonâs squad. However, the Brazilianâs prior association with Liverpool seems to have played a pivotal role in his decision to decline Evertonâs offer.
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Good lad 
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Sounds nice and all, but the cynic in me is thinking itâs just a great way to avoid saying ânah, Everton are shiteâ.
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He probably spent more minutes telling them to do one than he did actually playing on the pitch for us.
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I hope he teased them for a few weeks - sort of will he, wonât he :0)
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How does it take >13 minutes to tell them no?
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Liverpool legend turns down Everton. 
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