Ronald Leonard Egesa

Just the past few days there has been a lot of talk around town about the hair-raising transfers of Christiano Ronaldo (GBP 80M) and Kaka (~GBP 56M) to the spanish capital to ply their trade at the santiago-bernabeu -home of Real Madrid. Based on records and results, Ronaldo stands out as United’s greatest player of all time and no one can argue about it. Man Utd will have to contend with the fact that CR9 is gone and Sir Alex Ferguson will have to try and nurture a new ‘kid’ to replace Ronaldo.

In addition to losing Ronaldo, the guys from Old Trafford will also go to the new season without the services of Argentine goodboy Carlos Tevez. This ofcourse may turn out to be bad news to all United supporters around the globe and it also goes down as good news to us -the Liverpool fans. It is common knowledge that the season of 2008-9 was our best season since the last title in 1990. We pushed the title to the penultimate weekend and in the same season we had a double over Man Utd and Chelsea. That was not all, we defeated United by 4-1 at the theatre of Dreams!

The heart of our team has remained intact - The same players that scored the highest number of goals in England are still at Anfield as I write now. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Albert Riera, Pepe Reina are all around and they are going to go for a “win and conquer” season. Last season was so painful to these players as they saw the title slip into United’s hands and they wished they had done better against the weaker teams at Anfield.

Apart from the players staying around and carrying their painful experience forward, there is still one Rafa and he is currently at Anfield- the same place he was last season. There will be a few brilliant names showing up on the teamsheets at Anfield . We should prepare to see people like Glenn Johnson, Jay Spearing (from the academy) and Stephen Darby (also from the academy at Melwood).

Will all this in mind and looking at the changes that have been taking place at Chelsea and Man Utd, If I were to put money for who will walk with the Premier League in 2009-10, my money would go on Liverpool. This is not because am a Liverpool fan, but it is naked reality.

Ten years ago, I was only a small boy in secondary school and all I would think about was that one day am going to be like David Beckham or Ronaldo Lima. To be honest with you I had never thought of being the computer geek that I turned out to be. Well I must confess that intellectually rewarding stuff was kool on my side, but football was simply irresistible.

The two desires were complementary and I ended up saving every coin that I got so that I would go to the internet cafe to have a few minutes online and read the latest soccer news and CNN headlines. In 2008, when someone asks whether I still support football, I tell them that “I left football because I was fed up of stress” But when Liverpool hits a big one, I swing back into supporting ; what am talking about may sound like I turned into a “fair weather kop”, but that is not what happened. I simply do not seek to know that bad results because I do not have time to think about them.

Believe me, I know what it means to be a football fan. It takes your mind, passion and the finest of commitment within you. I loved and cherished Liverpool FC and football in general in my early years of secondary school to the point where I ‘adored’ the merseyside team. I knew all liverpool greats, dreamt about Robbie Fowler and watched all televised games in three consecutive seasons. Football was now forming another type of blood cells that made my blood (probably the color was not pure red). I had rules that dictated that I would not read books when Liverpool FC lost a game and believe I stood by it even when the following day exam time.

How I wish people would love their spouses the way they love their football teams to the point of wishing to beat anyone who talks about the lousy ball passing they exhibited on the pitch. I remember those good days of football fanaticism when my day would be made by good inter-passing by the guys at anfield. As I talk, someone is about to ask for what happened to me and made me a fine weather supporter! well just read on, there was this bad season, actually two consecutive ones under Sir Gerald Houllier. Liverpool matches caused me the stress than no other emotional guy of my stature would afford to stand for the next 3 years!! The end result was that I first put a period to watching the premiership and all football matches and also avoided football discussions.

My story with Liverpool is a long one and I will be doing an escapade every week, so please just watch out! Enjoy your self