It was a moment to touch us all, of raw grief, of a helplessness born out of an impossible situation – the kind that have shaped this wretched period. At the same time it stood as a symbol of football’s capacity to unite, to overcome, to provide release with barely credible plot lines.
When Alisson, the Liverpool goalkeeper, headed a winner in the fifth minute of added time at West Brom last Sunday, his thoughts and tears were for his father, Jose, who drowned in a lake in the Brazilian city of Lavras do Sul in February.
A combination of Brazil’s struggles with coronavirus, quarantine rules and Alisson not wanting to be apart from his pregnant wife, Natalia, meant that he took the heartbreaking decision not to travel home for the funeral. He attended via a digital link.
Alisson has still not been able to go back or to see his mother, Magali, and for this emotional and popular man it has been a battle to make sense of it all. “You can’t explain a lot of things in life,” he said in a highly charged interview after the West Brom game.
For Alisson, there could be only one explanation for his goal. “God put his hand on my head today,” he said and, out of tragedy, he and Liverpool have found the spark to finish a gruelling Premier League season on a high. The title defence imploded but, on a final Sunday of no little intrigue, they will secure a Champions League finish that looked out of reach for some time with a home win over Crystal Palace.
There is a caveat. Leicester would overhaul them if they were to beat Tottenham at home by four more goals than any Liverpool margin of victory over Palace. Given how Spurs defended in defeat at home to Aston Villa on Wednesday, perhaps that should not be ruled out entirely.
The Liverpool fans, 10,000 of whom will be back at Anfield, will see Roy Hodgson in the opposing dugout and worry that a manager they never loved could return to haunt them on the occasion of his final Palace match.
But Liverpool are unbeaten in nine league games, seven of them wins, and after Alisson’s goal they can feel the pull of destiny. This is what these kind of moments do. They offer the impression that other forces are at work and the effect on belief is irresistible.
The reaction to Alisson’s bereavement offered a snapshot of one of the themes of the season: people coming together, irrespective of club allegiances. Across Stanley Park, there were messages of support from Carlo Ancelotti and his Everton squad and there were many more from players and staff at other clubs.
In the face of an invisible and indiscriminate enemy that has affected everybody to varying degrees and menaced everything, the strength of the football community has rarely been clearer and the importance of the game in society never more obvious.
At which point it is necessary to say a sincere well done to the Premier League and its partners. The challenges have been numerous, there have been missteps (£14.95 for a pay-per-view game, anyone?) and there have been times, especially as infection rates soared, when we have wondered whether it was the right thing to play.
The standard of play has not always been up to scratch, with the absence of supporters lending a ghostly feel, while the sheer weight of fixtures has led to some players running on fumes.
But the will to drive the season to its conclusion in as safe a manner as possible has never wavered and those who have criticised would do well to remember how they felt during the three months or so leading up to Project Restart last June when there was no action, nothing to watch or discuss, nothing to stir the passions. Under the circumstances, the overall levels have been impressive.
The best thing about this season followed the worst thing. There was always the sense last October that Project Big Picture – a power grab by the big six, led by Manchester United and Liverpool, with the trade-off being funds for the EFL – would not get off the ground. The requirement for 14 votes in favour from the Premier League’s 20 clubs would see to that.
But when the European Super League story broke last month it was easy to fear the worst, mainly because the 12 rebel clubs, including everyone’s favourite six from England, had signed the contracts. How the conceit was crushed, so quickly and comprehensively, only emphasised that hopes and dreams are fundamental in football, that closed competition can never find favour.
It said everything that some of the most strident demonstrations against the proposed breakaway, against the greed and vulgarity, came from supporters of the big six and, in the case of United, Arsenal and Spurs, they have crystallised into demands for ownership change.
One of the season’s most arresting episodes came when a mob of United fans stormed Old Trafford to force the postponement of the Liverpool fixture at the beginning of the month. The enormity of what had happened was largely brushed under the carpet in the face of widespread sympathy for what the protest stood for: an opposition to the drain of the Glazer family’s stewardship.
It is doubtful that any lockdown box set has rivalled the Premier League for drama. Chelsea enter the final day needing a win at Villa to ensure they stay above Liverpool and Leicester in the Champions League places and their season has been defined by the sacking of Frank Lampard and the stunning revival under Thomas Tuchel.
Once again Leicester may miss the top four at the bitter end but a first FA Cup win in 137 years means rather more. At West Ham there has been the rebirth of David Moyes and if his team get a point at home to Southampton they would secure sixth place and Europa League qualification. That would leave Spurs, Everton and Arsenal scrapping for seventh and a place in the new Europa Conference League. None of them would see that as a prize.
Leeds have been consistently exciting and a fine addition, while Villa have brought plenty as well. Spurs, Arsenal and Newcastle have pushed the patience of their supporters to the limit.
Then there has been Manchester City, above an improving United, above everybody.
It is crazy to think they were struggling until the middle of December but then came a run of 18 wins in 19 league matches to blow away the doubts and the competition. In terms of style and substance, City have been peerless.
