🚨 Franculino on his conversation with Aral Şimşir after his brace completed the 4–3 comeback against Rizespor: 🎙️ Interviewer: “Franculino, you scored twice to complete an incredible comeback. What did Aral Şimşir say to you after the final whistle? Franculino: “Honestly, the first thing Aral did was grab me and start laughing! He said, ‘brother, you’re going to give us a heart attack! why do you always make it this dramatic?!’ “I looked at him and said, ‘as long as we win, you can complain all you want!’ “But seriously, that moment meant everything. We were 2–0 down away from home, and it would have been easy to lose belief. Aral kept pushing, kept fighting, and when we scored, you could feel the whole team come alive. This is what I love about this group. We don’t abandon each other when things get difficult” “Those two goals have my name on them, but this comeback belongs to everyone. We didn’t come here to surrender. We came here to fight for Trabzonspor. And when your brother is fighting beside you, you find another level.” Interviewer: “So, who deserves more credit for this comeback you for the brace or Aral for his contribution? Franculino: “Don’t do this to me! Give us the three points and let the fans argue about the rest!”

🚨 Gary Neville on Andoni Iraola’s incredible start in the Premier League with Liverpool: 🎙️ Interviewer: “Gary, Liverpool are fourth after eight matches with 15 points, six behind Manchester City. Iraola hasn’t exactly been perfect since replacing Arne Slot, but yesterday’s 2–0 win over Brighton looked significant. What do you make of his start? Gary Neville: “I’ll be honest, I’m not going to sit here and tell you Iraola has transformed Liverpool into a perfect team. They still have problems. They’ve dropped points, they’ve had performances that haven’t convinced me, and there’s plenty of work to do” “But let’s remember what he walked into. Liverpool weren’t playing with the confidence or consistency you’d expect from a team fighting for the title. He inherited a side that needed rebuilding mentally as much as tactically, and people expected him to fix everything overnight” “Now they’re fourth, six points off the top after eight games, and they’ve just beaten Brighton 2–0. Is it spectacular? No. Is it enough to make me take them seriously? Absolutely” “And look at the attacking players. Isak is getting on the scoresheet, Barcola is bringing pace and unpredictability, and Wirtz is beginning to show why Liverpool invested so heavily in him. When those three start delivering consistently, Liverpool become a very different proposition” “Here’s the mistake rival fans keep making: they judge Liverpool by where they are today and assume that’s where they’ll finish. It’s October! Six points is not a title-race funeral. It’s barely the beginning of the argument” “I still have questions about Iraola. Can he make this team consistent? Can he get Liverpool through the difficult winter period? Can he beat the other title contenders when the pressure really arrives? Those are the questions he must answer” “But writing Liverpool off already? That’s foolish. They’ve got too much quality, too much experience and too many players capable of winning games out of nothing” “I wouldn’t put my house on Liverpool winning the league today, but I certainly wouldn’t bet against them being right in the conversation come May. And if they go on a run now, all those people laughing at Iraola will suddenly pretend they saw it coming.” Interviewer: “So you’re saying Liverpool could still win the title? Gary Neville: “I’m saying there’s a difference between believing Liverpool will win the title and being foolish enough to think they cannot. Right now, I’m not convinced they’ll win it. But I’m certainly not writing them off.”