What To Watch For: The Big Final & The Offseason

It’s been a pretty, pretty, pretty good couple of weeks for Liverpool. The Reds came from behind to win at Old Trafford, seeing off their bitter (though not bitterest) rivals 4-2. Alisson did the greatest thing to ever happen in association football. Liverpool secured Champions League for next season. And the cherry on top? Alberto Moreno helped Villarreal win their first major honor, over the aforementioned bitter rivals.

Great stuff. Full marks all around.

The Big Match

Now, we have one last, major match between top English sides: the Championship Playoff Final, today at Wembley Stadium, 3PM BST.

The match is an intriguing one. Brentford, having finished third this season and last, are trying to earn their first promotion to the English top flight since 1946-47. They also happen to be the sister club of FC Midtjylland. So that’s exciting.

Swansea, on the other hand, are looking to return to the Premier League after a two year absence. Unlike their last promotion playoff win, they will be without Brendan Rodgers on the touchline.

It should be an exciting final, and it’s always fun to get a glimpse of one of Liverpool’s opponents for next season.

Sadly, there are literally no more big club matches until hostilities resume in August. I guess the promotion playoff finals for League 1 and League 2 might qualify, but otherwise we’re facing a barren wasteland. To help prepare yourself for life after the final whistle in the Championship Promotion Playoff Final, I’ve prepared a list of things to do.

Miscellaneous Suggestions for Surviving the Offseason

• Pick up a new hobby! You know, the one you were supposed to start when COVID started.
• Obsess of Virgil van Dijk training photos and videos.
• Learn how to track planes.
• See Nomadland.
• Get vaccinated if you haven’t already, for fuck’s sake (subject to availability, etc).
• Start the novel you always wanted to write. Complete 3 pages, feel great, and don’t come back to it for 5 years.
• If vaccinated, go out and mingle, and see how much your social skills have deteriorated. Immediately come back to the safety of the interwebz.
• Get to bed early, especially tonight! Weekends are great for catching up on sleep.
• Rewatch literally any of the 6 Champions League finals that Liverpool have won. Especially Istanbul.
• Bake a cake to celebrate Jordan Henderson’s 10 years at the club.
• Go for a nice bike ride. Or a walk! You’ve spent enough time in front of screens this year!
• Do something nice for someone you love, or even just kind of like.
• Start getting really excited as soon as Liverpool’s preseason match against Tranmere Rovers is scheduled.

We’ll all get through this offseason together. Hopefully we get to see the Reds fully fit and firing on the other side.