These are the days, my friends. Those were the words spoken by a man who confidently stood atop a bus shelter, holding a red flare in one hand and a can of beer in the other.
The bright sun had set, giving way to evening outside Anfield, where the night sky was aglow with continuous fireworks and pyrotechnics. Despite this, thousands of people remained in place, singing and dancing in celebration of a day many thought would never arrive.
This marked the beginning of a grand celebration 35 years in the making. The area outside the stadium was packed to the brim, overwhelming the senses with the smell of pyrotechnics clinging to clothes and the deafening noise echoing through the ears.
In the city, Lime Street station resembled a post-apocalyptic scene. A train arrived from down south on platform six carrying passengers back to Merseyside after running the London Marathon. They too had crossed the finish line on Sunday after an arduous journey.
One, sporting a Liverpool jersey and medal, looked like he had not one ounce of energy left to offer but was soon invited to cheer up as he was met by the polar opposite emotion: a sea of red shirts all brimming with euphoria and ecstasy, some voice-boxes starting to fail them.
So these indeed are the days. Stories and memories created that will be passed down the generations, a real ‘I was there’ moment. A day that felt like you were witnessing history unfold in real time.
Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates after Liverpool clinched the Premier League title on Sunday
In the wake of the victory, parts of Liverpool city centre had a post-apocalyptic feel
Many of the players told the media how the emotions of winning the league had not yet sunk in
Back at Anfield, the players were upstairs in the meal room partying into the small hours with their nearest and dearest.Â
Darwin Nunez had lit up a cigar that stank out the dressing room while others were downing bottles of Carlsberg (non-alcoholic champagne was available for the non-drinkers).
Players who spoke to the media all admitted their achievement was yet to sink in, with Ibrahima Konate saying: ‘To be fair, I don’t realise yet. After four seasons I did it, finally… I am very happy. To win this league is crazy. I am the first French player from Liverpool to do it. Unbelievable.’
Maybe by now, with Monday blacked out as a well-deserved day off for the squad, it has hit them. Heads – and legs for those marathon runners who were returning back to find their city is now the home of the champions of England – will be sore all over Merseyside.
But the sense of glory, achievement and pride will have sunk in and slapped them in the face, whether a player or fan. The squad will have been truly touched to witness this outpouring of emotion, to see what it means to everyone connected with this storied club and its loyal fanbase.
And it begs the question: how on earth can anyone ever want to leave this? Players of rival teams may have watched on with a hint of jealousy or, if they are a summer transfer target, a sense of conviction: Liverpool is now the place to be.
They are now the undisputed most successful club in England. We will let them celebrate this feat first before starting to turn the wheel of the never-ending narrative arc towards how they can make it a dynasty – but why shouldn’t they be eyeing more glory?
Why shouldn’t Arne Slot’s Liverpool have realistic ambitions of getting their hands back on Ol’ Big Ears next year and lifting the club’s seventh European Cup? Why shouldn’t they go into next season as favourites for a happy 21st top flight title, taking them ahead of Manchester United?
The Reds have now become the undisputed most successful team in English football history
Liverpool should have realistic ambitions of winning the Champions League under Arne Slot
The Liverpool top brass are still in celebration mode but they are also planning ahead. Mail Sport understands Slot will be backed with a big transfer budget this summer and the club is expected to spend big to capitalise on this success.
They want a left back, central defender and forward, while a midfielder could also be on the menu. Some players will leave but it is expected to be a busy summer at Anfield.
And this brings us swiftly on to the Trent Alexander-Arnold conundrum.
The local lad and vice-captain has returned from his ankle injury in style, a match-winning goal at Leicester and a mercurial performance dictating play in a quarter-back-like role in the 5-1 drubbing of Tottenham on Sunday which sealed the title.
He cajoled the crowd when he was substituted – he is not 100 per cent fit yet – and then was pushed towards the Kop where he received a warm embrace and a rousing rendition of ‘it’s Alexander-Arnold, the Scouser in our team’.
Fellow Liverpudlian Curtis Jones is adored by fans, others like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson and Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah are idolised… but no one has the connection with the fanbase quite like Alexander-Arnold. The right back, 26, is living all of their dreams every time he plays.
Surely those post-match scenes would have planted the smallest of seeds of doubt in his mind. Come on, is Real Madrid REALLY better than this?
You can ask that any day but especially this week, when the reigning champions of Europe and Spain embarrassed themselves by kicking up a fuss about the referee in the Copa del Rey final. They lost that game, by the way, to Barcelona – and trail their rivals by four points in LaLiga with five matches to play this season.
Alexander-Arnold lives every fan’s dream whenever he plays for his boyhood club
Real Madrid were beaten by Barcelona in a fiery Copa del Rey final – are they REALLY a better option than Liverpool right now?
There is still an allure of playing for Real Madrid – especially with Alexander-Arnold’s close friend Jude Bellingham there
Yet the scenes at Anfield, where Alexander-Arnold is already a legend-in-waiting, may be enough to set his mind racing
The Florentino Perez PR machine has whirred away in the days after that defeat at La Cartuja in Seville, with Los Blancos linked to every Tom, Dick and Harry. But Trent is the one president Perez wants most, with a mega-money offer on the table to make him the next Galactico.
No one is doubting the allure of playing for the great Real Madrid, 15 times the kings of Europe, or the lifestyle in the Spanish capital that will come with it.
But Alexander-Arnold is a legend-in-waiting at Anfield and those scenes at full-time – not just the warm reception he got but the buzz and delight on the faces of everyone in the building – surely will have set his mind racing. At this stage, nothing is officially signed regarding his future.
It is not just he who will have witnessed the emotion on Sunday, or got the feeling that this could be the start of a special era of dominance for the Slot machine.
This title win means that for the first time in three years, 11 months and 16 days, Manchester City are no longer the champions of England. It is too early to call this a full-blown changing of the guard but this triumph restores Liverpool’s status as the place to be.
