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Let them savour it

I was watching some sports programme on television early yesterday and the presenter referred to my Liverpool as Barclays Premier League leaders and, for a second, it seemed a mistake because I am not used to hearing that. The reality, though, is that this is the tag the team shall wear until next weekend at least when the next round of games comes by. That is one of the good things to come from this international break.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s win over defending champions Manchester United at Anfield, I have been cautioned about being overexcited by people who somehow expect me to be excited. Well, I have said many times that I am not the excitable type. Anyone who has watched a football match with me will tell you that I do not even cheer when a goal is scored such is the extent of my calmness.

But even if I were to be excited, I would not be committing a crime. Any win in a football match is to be celebrated and I would not have begrudged United fans celebrating had they carried the day. Suggestions that Liverpool fans should not be celebrating because they have not yet won the league, therefore, sound hollow to me. It is a fallacy to suggest that only one game – the title clincher –should be celebrated over.

And as I said in a Twitter response, any Liverpool fan would have been celebrating Sunday’s win and not winning the league. Suppressing them is the same as suggesting that fans should not celebrate a goal until the final whistle because the other team can equalise. The reality is that fans celebrate every goal as it comes and any win must also be celebrated regardless of whether it means winning the title or not.

I, therefore, plead with United fans to let their Liverpool counterparts enjoy this moment because it has been long in coming. If another team takes over top position next weekend or at any other point, they should also be allowed to savour the experience until one of the teams eventually becomes the champion. That is how it happens all the time and I do not understand why people are making an issue out of it this time.

Of course, the other exciting news was the closing of the transfer window on Monday night. As usual, most of the business took place on the final day with the move of Gareth Bale from English side Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid of Spain topping the headlines. As far as signings by English sides go, however, it is the Arsenal’s capture of German playmaker Mesut Ozil that was the standout purchase of the day.

In terms of overall business in the transfer window, however, I would like to think that Spurs, Manchester City, Everton, Liverpool , Cardiff, Southampton and, to some extent, Chelsea that really did the business they needed over the summer. Sunderland may have bought 11 new players but it is difficult to see how they will be helped while it must have been a window to forget for the two uniteds of Manchester and Newcastle.

We now suspend all talk of club football to the pave way for what this weekend is all about—international football. The Flames of Malawi are on the cusp of qualifying for the final qualifying round of next year’s World Cup in Brazil. All it will take is a win in Calabar, Nigeria. On paper, this is mission impossible but the game is played on grass (and artificial turf). Let us see what happens.

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