![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masterofmidgetsI was thinking the other day about the complexities of football rivalries. I don't pretend to be an expert, or even a well-read amateur, about the ins-and-outs of the various European leagues I follow, all of whom have rivalries going back decades based on geography or politics or some other alchemy I don't even begin to understand. So I can't speak to that. But I do know that for me, personally, the teams I dislike mostly break down into three categories.
Teams other people have told me I'm supposed to hate: this is usually in the primer, and something you pick up pretty quickly hanging around other fans of your team. Less a matter of personal hate than moral obligation to support your team against their rivals, although it can take on a life of its own - I have inexplicably strong feelings about Gareth Bale's stupid monkey face, given how little time I spend thinking about Tottenham.
Teams I hate for a specific player/specific incident: also known as the Terrell Owen Effect, for my father's virulent hatred of the 49ers based solely on something stupid TO did like 10 years ago. Often inspired by a messy transfer or an ugly match - I was indifferent-to-vaguely-positive about Man City before Nasri sold out to them and acted like a wanker about it. And 95% of the reason I hate Stoke City is because they broke Aaron Ramsey's leg.
Teams that are in direct competition with my team/are better than my team: self-explanatory, right? Also applies to teams that are richer or more popular than my teams, like Manchester United (although I would probably hate United no matter what, just because I can't stand Wayne Fucking Rooney and Alex Ferguson). Real Madrid also probably falls into this category, with a side of category 1 and a dash of 2 every time a clasico comes up and Sergio does something especially stupid.
And then there's Liverpool. It's hard to explain the massive, seething hatred I have for Liverpool and everyone remotely involved with them. It predates my actually following the EPL - when I was first getting into it two years ago and trying to pick a team, all I knew was that I wasn't going to be supporting United because they were too popular (and WAYNE FUCKING ROONEY), and I wasn't going to be supporting Liverpool because...Liverpool. And now that I've been into the league for a while I'm glad I went with my gut instincts, because I really hate everything about them, from their physical playing style to their obnoxious fans to their defensive of Luiz Suarez being a horrible racist prick. I'm sure there are many Liverpool fans who are very nice, non-obnoxious people, and Stevie Gerrard seems like a perfectly decent guy, but honestly. United, Man City, the Spurs, Real Madrid - nothing matches my loathing of Liverpool.
So, needless to say, this morning was unbelievably satisfying. It may have been an ugly, sloppy mess of a match, our defense may have been complete shit, Arteta may have gotten rather broken, but goddamnit, at least we beat fucking Liverpool. Thank all the gods for Robin Van Persie, I don't know what we'd ever do without him (AND I WILL NEVER HAVE TO KNOW OKAY). At some point I am going to stop being surprised at all the stupid feelings this sport gives me, but that will have to wait until another week.
Teams other people have told me I'm supposed to hate: this is usually in the primer, and something you pick up pretty quickly hanging around other fans of your team. Less a matter of personal hate than moral obligation to support your team against their rivals, although it can take on a life of its own - I have inexplicably strong feelings about Gareth Bale's stupid monkey face, given how little time I spend thinking about Tottenham.
Teams I hate for a specific player/specific incident: also known as the Terrell Owen Effect, for my father's virulent hatred of the 49ers based solely on something stupid TO did like 10 years ago. Often inspired by a messy transfer or an ugly match - I was indifferent-to-vaguely-positive about Man City before Nasri sold out to them and acted like a wanker about it. And 95% of the reason I hate Stoke City is because they broke Aaron Ramsey's leg.
Teams that are in direct competition with my team/are better than my team: self-explanatory, right? Also applies to teams that are richer or more popular than my teams, like Manchester United (although I would probably hate United no matter what, just because I can't stand Wayne Fucking Rooney and Alex Ferguson). Real Madrid also probably falls into this category, with a side of category 1 and a dash of 2 every time a clasico comes up and Sergio does something especially stupid.
And then there's Liverpool. It's hard to explain the massive, seething hatred I have for Liverpool and everyone remotely involved with them. It predates my actually following the EPL - when I was first getting into it two years ago and trying to pick a team, all I knew was that I wasn't going to be supporting United because they were too popular (and WAYNE FUCKING ROONEY), and I wasn't going to be supporting Liverpool because...Liverpool. And now that I've been into the league for a while I'm glad I went with my gut instincts, because I really hate everything about them, from their physical playing style to their obnoxious fans to their defensive of Luiz Suarez being a horrible racist prick. I'm sure there are many Liverpool fans who are very nice, non-obnoxious people, and Stevie Gerrard seems like a perfectly decent guy, but honestly. United, Man City, the Spurs, Real Madrid - nothing matches my loathing of Liverpool.
So, needless to say, this morning was unbelievably satisfying. It may have been an ugly, sloppy mess of a match, our defense may have been complete shit, Arteta may have gotten rather broken, but goddamnit, at least we beat fucking Liverpool. Thank all the gods for Robin Van Persie, I don't know what we'd ever do without him (AND I WILL NEVER HAVE TO KNOW OKAY). At some point I am going to stop being surprised at all the stupid feelings this sport gives me, but that will have to wait until another week.