As much as Liverpool is my priority, you've simply got to watch the World Cup Final.
For 80 minutes I thought France were pretty awful, but then they did a 'mini Istanbul' with two goals in a minute from Kylian Mbappe. He'd done absolutely nothing in the match up to that point but that's what class players do. It's the difference between Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and all the other players.
It turned out to be a really exciting match. I wanted Argentina to win because of what happened in Paris at the Champions League final, with what the French government did.. I couldn't believe what I was watching when I saw Emmanuel Macron acting like he did in the stands and on the pitch at the end. A president getting involved like he did. Politics and football don't go together and I thought he made a right fool of himself.
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I felt for Mbappe and of course our own Ibrahima Konate, but for Messi it was a fairy tale ending. Whether he hangs his boots up or not, what a way for him to end up, as a world champion. Ronaldo never won it. Pele did, Diego Maradona did. I think that speaks for itself.
Messi would probably go down as the greatest player of the modern era now, for what he has done, but I just think he marred it a little bit for me when he left Barcelona. What they did for him, money shouldn't have come into it. They went together like cheese and onion. For him to leave there for a plastic club like PSG, it soured his reputation a little bit for me. I thought he should have just stayed with Barcelona, because of what they did together.
But as football goes, he was magnificent and still is, but I'll still enjoy seeing him trounce off down the tunnel at Anfield after we beat them in the Champions League semi-final in 2019. That's the best vision I've ever seen of him! He was a broken man and it hurt him immensely.
Konate good enough to go again but Liverpool must keep hold of their man
Ibrahima Konate will be bitterly disappointed not to have won the World Cup, but I don't think it will affect him too much. Football goes on. He's young enough and good enough and get another attempt at a World Cup winners medal. France are a really strong side, especially with Mbappe around for the next 10 years. I couldn't understand why Konate didn't start in the Final. He's done nothing wrong every single time he's played. I don't know what the manager was doing, chopping and changing the centre-halves.
If Konate had played the whole match who's to say that France wouldn't have won? I don't think they defended very well without him. The Argentinians ran them ragged for most of the game. He can hold his head up high. He just needs to come back now and pick up where he left off. The potential he's got it amazing. He's got pace and all-round footballing ability.
But I think Liverpool need to tie him down to a long contract. They really do. Because PSG could prize him away and take him back to France. I was thinking about this before the World Cup, because he's been doing really well. I just think it is time for him to be tied down properly. Give him a contract that he deserves.
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There were plenty of decent players on show in Qatar that Liverpool could go for, but the problem now is in January the prices of players who have done well go up. It's just like inflation. We don't know what the situation is with the owners or if new owners will come in who are very wealthy like Manchester City's or Newcastle's.
Can Liverpool go and get Jude Bellingham, if he wants to come to the club? I'm pretty sure we have to be in the mix for him. There's been a lot of talk and speculation. I think he was probably England's best player at the World Cup. For a young lad to go on the big stage like that and perform the way he did - what really set me back was his ability to get all over the pitch. He works so hard. When I've watched him he's covered every blade of grass.
That's like what Steven Gerrard used to do. He really did catch my eye and he's better than what I actually originally thought. Hopefully we're in the mix for him and we can afford him, because to go on now after what we've done in the last six years, you've got to have what the Jones' next door have got. You've got to have money. You can't just keep on finding Coutinhos and Suarezs. Sadio Mane went for £30-odd million, which was pennies really.
Unfortunately, whether you like it or not, you've got to have the same lawn as the people next door.
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