Liverpool have confirmed a gargantuan deal in the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona. The Brazilian midfielder has joined the Catalan giants for a fee of around £142million, with the Reds receiving £105million of it upfront. His departure has left many Liverpool fans worried about what is going to be done going forward, and how the club will cope with the gaping hole in the team that he leaves.
As much a Philippe Coutinho is absolutely world class, the affect that he has on the team has been massively over-stated by the media. The majority of people are of the opinion that the Liverpool team will cease to function without Coutinho but that simply is not true. Coutinho’s last game in Red was against Leicester, a tough-fought 2-1 win coming back from a goal down.
Since then, Liverpool have played two games and won two games by exactly the same score-line. Both without Coutinho. A 2-1 win over Burnley away at Turf Moor and the 230th Merseyside Derby. I’ve noticed over time that Coutinho ends up showing most of his class in games that we end up winning comfortably, and he, especially this season, became a player that doesn’t even pull us out of the holes that we dig for ourselves. That duty has rested on the shoulders on CAF Player of the Year, Mohamed Salah.
I understand that I probably sound like just a bitter Liverpool fan that is sad to see Coutinho leave the club but I honestly see this as more of an opportunity. I just hope that we spend the money the right way. I don’t want to see the club bring in 7 or 8 average players worth £15million a piece. I want two, three players maximum to be brought in. I want these players to have pedigree and ability to propel Liverpool into the next level in the league and in Europe.
Philippe will thrive at Barcelona and he will look twice as good as he does here playing at the Nou Camp, you know, in the league where the same three teams even dare challenge for the league title. I know you could say the same for the Premier League this season with City walking the League but usually there are a good six teams that could feasibly challenge at the start of the season, but I digress, that is not the point.
Liverpool will undoubtedly survive without Coutinho. He’s not as influential as Suarez was, or as Gerrard was. That doesn’t mean he won’t be missed, it would be impossible for a player of his quality to not be missed but we will cope with it. We have Keita coming in at the start of the summer, we have sought to fix our defensive issues and we could have the likes of Thomas Lemar and Leon Goretzka come into the club in the near future.
I have no doubt that when the dust has settled, Liverpool Football Club will be in a better position than we were before this whole debacle. I firmly believe in Jurgen Klopp’s ability to manage the team and bring in the right personnel to drive the team to trophies. We just have to be a bit patient for the next few weeks whilst the team adjusts.
I wouldn’t call any player that is brought in a replacement for Coutinho as I think that his role was specific to him, the way he slotted into the team was unique to him. Now we have to just change the team slightly to make it a more complete set-up. Which, in the long run, could be a good thing. I’d much rather have a great box-to-box midfielder in the team now than have an unhappy Coutinho. Liverpool fans just have to look on the Brightside of things. However hard that might be currently.