What makes me sad is knowing that the Liverpool performance/result was the outlier and that we've simply returned to the mean. The new dawn lasted all of a single game, and because it was an international break, got stretched over two full weeks, two weeks where one might be optimistic in the belief all the positive could be extracted whilst the negative put to the wayside... turns out, it's exactly the opposite; not a single element of those positives were on display and simultaneously, the worst of what we have tended to be all season was even more dire, evidenced by the stats of the game where Brentford have run roughshod with us having our twelfth man, Woodwork, to thank for them not being multiple goals up inside 70 minutes.
We are abject so frequently that it's drained the life out of the fanbase - sick and tired of being sick and tired is apt. It's a real drag to repeat the same things over and over and over, and the erosion of morale and things to cling on to, in the belief the turnaround is finally upon us, has reduced to I'd say the lowest ebb of the season now. Why? Because there's no conviction behind the words anymore; they are empty and routine, like coping mechanisms to get us over the line each 90 minutes, and I think this one hits particularly hard because of the hope that we had finally, finally turned a corner.... after the labyrinth of them we've chugged through over the course of a season.
We're now in the run-in. We get to see what teams are about and all have their set style of play and a firm imprint on the league. The international break is no excuse given all of a 'rivals' for the CL spots came out the blocks on fire and as they were before the break showing exactly what they are about and what they stand for. Unfortunately, we've done the exact same - we look like us again. It's as simple as that.
There are certain things I can tolerate, but the lack of regard for what midfield is and what it should stand for in a team being ignored is astonishing to me. I've bemoaned it for most of the season and I cannot stand the way we exert zero control on games through midfield. Even if you don't care about the element of control because you're scoring goals, the importance of it in terms of giving your team time to recover whilst absolutely killing the spirit of the opposition is literally 60+ years in the making. We are not some revolutionary entity who has found a way to bypass what is legion, and ironically, it is us constantly put to the sword by these very principles as opposing sides exhaust us as we chase them back and forth through midfield, that is galling. To not only be poor in midfield, but then have it used against us is the kind of gut punch that sours and I hate that element of what we are more than anything. It also has to be galling for players to go on international breaks to teams where midfield and control are respected and then come back to whatever the feck it is we do with ours.
The turnaround is crazy - from ten Hag's 8th of 9 lives potentially being the one that finally sees him construct something being spent, to him now possibly being out by this time next week. I think the executioner has sharpened his equipment to a fine point now. We're really reaching the end this time.