Retour
As the noise around Manchester City continues, one question being asked by the club's supporters is: what exactly were the fans supposed to do?
City fan and content creator Steven Mcinerney unpacks the reaction to their support at Anfield, the media narrative surrounding the club, and why football loyalty is rarely as simple as outsiders make it seem.
"It's probably fair to say that life has been a little bit chaotic as a Manchester City fan," he said.
"Growing up watching City in the 1990s-2000s, we were an insanely emotional club - highs, lows.
"It's a crazy time to be a Man City fan, but the past three or four weeks have probably taken the biscuit.
"The fervour around Man City has reached fever pitch levels - the noise, the expectation, the intensity, the arguments have been absolutely absurd.
"City were absolutely brilliant at Anfield, but that didn't stop people sharpening their knives. If I am being honest, it sort of annoys me a little bit. I feel like a lot of the analysis around fans and their behaviour has been a little bit disingenuous.
"I don't really know what people expected fans to do when they were so visibly and forcefully backed into a corner.
"The narrative around Manchester City has been one of guilt, absolutely. City have been found guilty, and I get it, but there has been a real urge to tell Manchester City fans what to feel and that they should protest against the owners, that they should feel remorse. I don't really buy that.
"The conversation around City's owners from a City fan perspective will come at the right time for City fans.
"The only thing they could do in a game of that magnitude away at Anfield was to support their team. That's what they did.
"Did they use the charges to mock themselves and mock the Premier League? Absolutely.
"Was it the right thing to do? Absolutely. City won 3-0. The fans had a wonderful time, they had a laugh and enjoyed themselves.
"They used self-deprecating humour to wind up Liverpool and the Premier League.
"Isn't that what football is all about, that tribalism?"