The rivalry is massive, but the result wasn't something that another team hadn't already done to us before (three other teams in fact).
Had they have scored 8 then that would have been the worst humiliation ever to us... as the most goals we have ever conceded in a match is 7
In the all time head to head against them we still have the upper hand in all-time wins:
90 to their 81
(
https://www.11v11.com/teams/manchester-united/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Liverpool/)
I follow football for the passion of the game. Not the sum of the season. Every game.
In my daily life I have a large number of employees that rely on me, worries about the economical impact of covid/ukraine, house renovation, training and finding time for my family and friends. A daily life that decides where we go in life.
For 90 minutes twice a week I get to put all that aside and act in a way I never do at work. I will sit with whisky in hand and scream at the TV, I will hop around and I will allow myself the pleasure of
feeling without a care in the world. For those reasons every game matter. I let myself be engufled in the rivalries of old, hopes for a title, insufferable nerves when a tight game reaches its final minutes and even the heartbreak that comes with defeat. Manchester United is my passion. I have hobbies, goals and ambitions, but this club and what goes on on that pitch for 90 minutes is my passion.
Winning without losing is pointless. If you have never been down, getting up will not feel as good. Its just another day with some good news on top of it. That is why I allow myself to be
angry at the players for what happened last night. I allow myself to
feel distraught, sad and frustrated about a result that is a embarrasment to my
passion. Its healthy for me. At work I cant sit and be angry, I dont get to sit and be distraught at home, I have to be on the up-and-up at all times. But not when I watch football, then I get to do the same thing I have done as when I was a child: Feel joy, and sadness both take turns as we win and lose. I get to keep the child in me for this one thing that will stay with me for the rest of my life, while the adult pays bills, raises a family and builds a house with my bare hands. I talk about the game with my dad, me and my brother both visit my parents sometimes to watch games together all 3 of us. We all cheer, shout, live. All because Manchester United are playing a game of football.
Being a footbal fan is tribal in its purest form,its irrational, possibly stupid. But I love it with every fiber of my being. Its my escape.
Being happy about progress, the big picture and results in the past is just as big a part of this as being angered by a result so shameful it gets placed in the history books. They are both true.
Following the club without the romance of the eras past and hopes for the future is meaningless. Zero-sum rationale that dominate the talking points dont mesh with my view of what football is. Football is passion, rivalries are important, and results matter. Every result matter. Some matter more than others, by far. That is why yesterdays result was atrocious, a shame, and a lesson to be learned let it never happen again.
I am well aware that you can rationale away anything and make it not important.
Its just a game, its just a freakresult, it doesnt mean anything. To you. If that is how you feel, then fine, no one can tell you you are wrong. I dont assume that everyone agree with my view of things either. Nothing is ever true for everyone.
Honestly.