Mark_

[Mark_ @_langanm]

@TheKopHQ Need 4 new players before even thinking of selling anyone else, 2 wingers, CM and RB. I’d keep Gakpo & argue he should play over wirtz off Isak with 2 wingers either side. Sneaky feeling Trent comes back deadline day as don’t see mourinho taking to him at all at Madrid

[Appie Culé @appiecule]

I’m going to take my time with this one. If you’re busy, save this post and read it later. If you’re a night owl like me, this is a good late-night read.

Do you know the worst thing about Cristiano Ronaldo?

It’s that he set the standards for what defines a legend… and in the end, he couldn’t even live up to the standards he created himself.

After winning Euro 2016, Ronaldo said:

“You can’t become a legend until you win a trophy with your national team.”

It was an obvious dig at Messi.

Argentina had just lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, and Messi was going through the toughest period of his international career. Those words only added fuel to the fire.

Where was the respect for a rival, Ronaldo?

The surprising part was that social media completely embraced that narrative. Messi was labeled a bottler, while Ronaldo was declared the winner of the rivalry—at least in the media, not on the pitch.

Then Messi retired from international football, came back, won the Copa América, and suddenly they were level in major international trophies.

What happened next?

Ronaldo fans started saying that one Euro is worth more than a hundred Copa Américas, claiming there was no competition in South America. Not true—but that became the excuse.

Then Messi went on to win the World Cup.

This time, the excuses changed again.

They claimed FIFA had fixed the tournament for Messi. That the World Cup was scripted in his favor. They simply didn’t know what else to say.

Then Ronaldo himself came out with one of the strangest quotes imaginable:

“A legend’s career can’t be defined by just seven games.”

At first glance, it sounds reasonable.

But beneath it was another attempt to diminish what Messi had achieved.

Before the World Cup, they insisted it would be Ronaldo’s tournament. On paper, Portugal had a fantastic squad. If the manager couldn’t get the best out of them, that’s Portugal’s problem—not Ronaldo’s.

Yet that same Portugal squad wasn’t any weaker than the Argentina team Messi led to the 2014 World Cup final—the same team people mocked Messi for not carrying to the title.

Just a couple of days ago, Ronaldo said:

“The World Cup doesn’t define my career, whether I win it or not.”

A statement that directly contradicts what he had said years earlier, when he admitted that winning the World Cup would make him feel completely fulfilled.

Now you’re 41 years old, Cristiano.

By your own standards:

* You have 5 Ballon d’Ors, not 8.
* You have one European Championship, not two Copa América titles.
* You never won the World Cup.
* You have four European Golden Shoes, while Messi has six—even though you’re an out-and-out striker.

So what now?

Will you keep playing until the next World Cup and become the first player to appear in one at 45, hoping to finally win it?

If we judged you by the standards you created, you wouldn’t qualify as a legend.

Of course, nobody actually judges you that way. Everyone still recognizes you as one of football’s greatest legends.

The real mistake was comparing Ronaldo to Messi in the first place.

That rivalry was exaggerated from the beginning by the media and figures like José Mourinho.

Messi conquered every major trophy available to him, shattered records that once seemed untouchable, and at 39 years old he’s still competing with Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland—the stars of the next generation—for the Golden Boot. And honestly, he could still win it.

What made Messi beloved by so many fans is that he never tried to diminish Ronaldo’s achievements.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, repeatedly made comments that many interpreted as attempts to downplay his greatest rival’s accomplishments—and that’s never an admirable trait.

Cristiano helped create a generation that thinks belittling other people’s achievements while constantly glorifying your own is a way to establish dominance.

Good bye. Ronaldo.

[Liverpool FC @LFC]

He's here.

[David Ornstein @David_Ornstein]

🚨 Newcastle United reach total agreement with Liverpool to sell Alexander Isak. Deal for 25yo striker worth £130m to #NUFC with solidarity, £125m cost to #LFC. Medical to be done on Monday before #DeadlineDay switch for Sweden international @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/SKEDxNm1JF

[Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano]

🚨💣 BREAKING: Alexander Isak to Liverpool, here we go! Deal agreed now for £130m transfer fee. Record move for Premier League.

Isak, on his way today for medical tests as new Liverpool player after long term deal agreed months ago.

It was always ONLY Liverpool for Isak.

[The Anfield Wrap @TheAnfieldWrap]

Went off crying

[The Kop Watch @TheKopWatch]

On repeat ❤️

[Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano]

🚨🚨💣 EXCLUSIVE: Florian Wirtz to Liverpool, HERE WE GO!

Liverpool verbally agree deal in principle with Bayer Leverkusen for package reaching €150m add-ons included.

Player side already agreed two weeks ago with move now imminent.

Wirtz set for medical and contract signing.

[Mohamed Salah @MoSalah]

He did say he’d win in his second season. Congratulations!

[- @AnfieldRd96]

"Why are Liverpool fans booing?"

[Mohamed Salah @MoSalah]

😉

[Oscar Patel, Apparently @HendrickD82]

Liverpool have 79 points after 33 games.

Apparently we're "lucky" that City and Arsenal have fallen off.

Last season, after 33 games, Arsenal had 74 points. The season before they had 75.

City had 76 points after 33 games last season. The season before they had 79.

[Mark_ @_langanm]

@TheKopHQ @TheSlotEra Sneaky feeling could go in for a Julian Alvaraz or Nico Williams as forward signings

[The Anfield Wrap @TheAnfieldWrap]

"Any attempt to talk this season down in any way shape or form is ludicrous!"

"If you go back to the footage of Sky Sports News in the summer, they will have been saying Liverpool will be doing well to get 3rd with Jürgen going - now look at us!"

@Knox_Harrington on Sky 📺

[StatMuse FC @statmusefc]

PL games with a goal and an assist:

8 — Mo Salah this season
7 — Eden Hazard in his PL career

[Jamie Carragher @Carra23]

VVD performance today was unbelievable! (I know he made a mistake at the end!)
He made Erling Haaland look like Alf-Inge Haaland!
The best striker v best CB should be a great battle, but it’s so easy for him.
He’s the best CB we’ve ever seen in the PL, I know the replies will scream Liverpool bias!!!!
Or compare trophies to others but that’s all nonsense. I always said it was John Terry before VVD came along & he played for one of my biggest rivals in Chelsea!!
Trophies depend on your team or money or timing.
All great defenders of the past had attackers who caused them problems, but who ever causes VVD any??
He’s just played against Mbappe & Haaland in the last four days & played them with such ease he could’ve played with a cigar!!!!
Please stop this silly debate about the best CB, it’s not even close.
#LIVMCI

[- @AIKYGDLT]

This was the moment when Khabib Nurmagomedov changed Conor McGregor forever, after this he was never the same.

Khabib humiliated, annihilated and stripped Conor off any integrity or honour he had left in him. He broke him.