Has Mo Salah usurped Stevie G as the best Liverpool fans have ever seen? | OneFootball

The news about Mo Salah’s impending exit has got many Liverpool fans sobbing and declaring him the best they have ever seen.

First, we start with some cynicism. Send more of your reactions to theeditor@football365.com

Bring on the Salah mawkishness

Oh goody, we get to hear a weekly running commentary as the most mawkish fanbase in the world pretend Salah gives one shiny shite about anyone but himself, culminating in a toe curling Anfield cry fest at the end of the season. Not to mention the endless media coverage with hourly guest appearances from the one-eyed zealots from Pravda, sorry, The Anfield Wrap.

Upside is they’ve got zero chance of getting a replacement with anywhere near the same goal output, although I suppose at least the lanky German chancer isn’t there to object again if they do somehow manage to find one willing to join a team in decline. Too busy staying true to the left wing values he told us about every five minutes at… erm… Red Bull. Top work paying £500k a week for the shite Salah’s been serving up this season though, AND then letting him go on a free. Those transfer gurus at This Means More FC really are infallible geniuses, can’t believe anyone ever doubted them. RHT/TS x

(Looks like the Liverpool boom bust cycle is back though, that should be fun)

Should there be a Mo testimonial?

With the news of Mo Sarah’s departure form Liverpool now confirmed, it got me thinking – will he get a testimonial?

In the Good Ol’ Days™, they were generally dual purpose.

1 – as a moment for fans to be able to come and celebrate a long term (10+ years?) servant of the club. A moment to celebrate a faithful team member who had stayed with the club for the majority of their career. A player who has really given to the local community and beyond.

2 – It was also a way to raise money for said player as they made the move back to “normality”. When players who finished playing football needed a “nest” egg to help them transition into a life without football money.

Now, on point 1. Mo has been at LFC for 9 years. So, it could seen as a tad churlish of the club NOT to give him a send off match on this point. However, he has also done significant work in the community in Liverpool, doing massive amounts of charity work often focusing on providing opportunities for underprivileged children and supporting local infrastructure.

It’s point 2 which is the sticking point for me.

Footballers these days simply do not need these matches and the income they generate. They are wealthy beyond most people’s wildest dreams. Plus, he’s not retiring either. He’ll be off to Saudi to triple his current bet worth.

Finally, there is also the World Cup to factor in. His team mates, and other former ones, most likely won’t want to play a match where they could get injured ahead of the biggest tournament in world football.

So, sadly, it will probably mean Mo slips off into the Saudi Night, with little fanfare for what has been, in my lifetime, the greatest Liverpool Footballer career ever. Dan G LFC

It’s the end of a Liverpool era

Football is all about the moments. And one man has been responsible for more of those moments than any other in my 25 years of supporting this club. The stats clearly speak for themselves, but if you want a highlight reel of Salah’s Liverpool career, you will always see moments against the biggest rivals. He simply always showed up when it mattered most. Those goals versus City and Everton, the belter versus Chelsea, and performance in the 7-0 versus United. But beyond the player is also the man. A devout Muslim and family man, most players talk about how he worked harder than anyone else and his elite mentality. Never one to hide his emotions, his injury in the Champions League Final versus Madrid and his reaction to the death of Diogo Jota gives an insight into his personality.

Everyone will have their own opinion, but in mine Salah is the greatest Liverpool player I’ve ever seen. I will miss watching him play.

It’s the end of an era. And what an era it was. Don’t cry it’s over, smile because it happened. Rohit, Abu Dhabi

…I knew the news was coming at some point but the moment I saw the headline I audibly gasped in public. There is so much to say about his legendary status, the impact he’s had on the club and the sport and so much more but right now I just want to have a good cry. Henry, LFC

…The first time I went to Anfield (Sat in the upper centenary, I think we beat Hull 6-1) I was a guest of some season ticket holders who were a bit older. I remember at the time saying that Stevie was the best player I’d ever seen play and they immediately said, “No for us it’s Kenny”.

I’ve seen clips of the King but, as many of you will know, video just doesn’t do justice to what you see live. Since that time I’ve seen Liverpool play home and away, in the sunshine and rain, and I think I can say with some confidence Mo is the best I’ve ever seen play.

Mo and Stevie shared an element of arrogance. The reason they’ve both scored ridiculous goals in ludicrous circumstances is, in part, because they simply believed that they could. But Mo played the game with a smile on his face, whereas Stevie often looked like he was suffering (to be fair to the lad we were shit when he was with us so everyone felt the same). Mo inspired a chant of, “if he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me. If he scores another few then I’ll be Muslim too. If he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me if he’s sitting in a mosque that’s where I wanna be”. I can’t help but feel he’s maybe had one of the largest impacts in the country on how Muslims are seen.

Sometimes football is about nostalgia and the players who take you back to a moment in time. Stevie takes me back to Istanbul. My 3 year old son singing the Mo Salah song in his Liverpool kit as we lifted the Premier League trophy last season is one of the best things to ever happen in my living room.

Mo arrived with little fanfare. He leaves having won it all. He leaves with a legacy that will probably see him talked about in the same breath as Shearer, Henry, Ronaldo and the true greats to ever grace the league. He leaves as the Egyptian King. Minty, LFC

Choosing to remember the best dog years

If you love dogs and if you have one running around somewhere, chances are you’ll probably believe your dog is the best(est) ever. For some reason people discussing dogs on the internet do so with cringe vernacular so I’ve played to that denominator.

Anyway a few years back I had to put my dog down after sixteen great years, and those last few weeks were brutal. The endgame comes at you fast, no matter how much you’ve readied and steeled yourself. You simply want this animal around as long as can be, but you don’t want suffering. Any hints of suffering, and you suffer alongside. Then when it all goes, you suffer anyway.

Whenever I think of my dog nowadays or something reminds me of him, I see him in his pomp, cherubic face, the one-off funny shit he’d do that every dog owner believes only their dog does. I don’t often think about the last few weeks and days and hours, when he’d stopped eating, stopped drinking, when we had to hold his rear haunches up in support just so he could try and do a poo. The decline was sudden and jarring, it tore holes in our hearts that never closed off. It becomes very quickly clear: we needed to let him go with the dignity he’d had for all them years in our hearts and minds, running down the wing.

You’d already known this is but a cheesy half parallel for our Egyptian king who’s headed to pastures anew. The day was coming. I’ll always remember Mo in his pomp, all the one-off funny shit he’d do, and while I’ll also know the decline was sudden and real, I won’t dwell on those last knockings. Before his legs had gone with all the rest so quickly to follow, he really was the business. I’ll choose to remember the bulk of it, the good years, the dignity, the fire, the appetite. Eric. Los Angeles CA

Is Richarlison cursed?

As a genius, I see what most people don’t. I notice signs and patterns. According to Opta Sports, Richarlison has become the first player since records began in the 2006–07 season to receive a yellow card for removing his shirt after scoring a 90th-minute goal, only for his team to concede shortly afterward, on more than one occasion.

The first time this happened was in April 2023 against Liverpool F.C. Richarlison had scored a dramatic late equaliser at Anfield, celebrated by taking off his shirt, and was booked for it. Moments later, the late Diogo Jota struck in stoppage time to win the match for Liverpool.

Hilariously too, in November 2025, Richarlison also looked to have secured a dramatic win for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. with a late strike against Manchester United F.C., but the match descended into chaos as Spurs surrendered their advantage in stoppage time yet again.

The Brazilian forward ignited huge celebrations when he ripped off his shirt after scoring in the 90th minute, appearing to seal the victory. However, the celebrations quickly turned to disbelief as Manchester United found an equaliser moments later, rescuing a thrilling 2–2 draw in north London.

Richarlison’s jinx also affects his teams. He was in a relegation fight with Everton, and now Spurs are attracting bad vibes. Is Richarlison cursed? Muthama Gitonga, Nyeri (Mount Kenya)

PS: In the future, buying teams should put a caveat in Richarlison’s contract. A performance-based add-on of say, 20% if he avoids any of the above incidents.

Stages of desperation

West Ham are still favourites to go down according to all of the bookies, who famously (and ruinously) tend to understand maths and the laws of probability much much more than us stooge fabs. I therefore take issue with your author’s article “funniest outcomes” where he claims that “Tottenham will go down, they know they are going down, their rivals know they are going down, nobody now doubts that they will go down”.

Nonsense. I recognise this for what it is. Some say it’s reverse cursing, where you assert that something you desperately don’t want to happen will definitely happen in the hope that it will jinx things the other way and leave you looking like a hero able to crow and celebrate excessively when it doesn’t happen. It’s an adaptive coping mechanism designed to protect the fan’s emotional state. The intent of this defensive pessimism is to lessen the pain in the unlikely event that it actually happens. It’s a way to help cope with trauma.

In this particular circumstance it also serves the typical narcissism relating to this club. Of course we all hope it happens, and let’s hope the endless hubris on these hallowed pages is rewarded accordingly. Mike, WHU

Supercomputer says no

As a suffering West Ham fan I am constantly seeing headlines about the so called ‘supercomputer’ and its predictions.

As a science buff I am really interested in these ‘supercomputers’. E.g. Do they work via quantum mechanics? Just how powerful are they? Could you use them to model the universe? Can anyone let enlighten me?

As an old and cynical man, I fear this ‘supercomputer’ may actually turn out to be just a very ordinary computer with a couple of excel columns in it based upon simple positions and fixtures?!

Any help appreciated