Liverpool’s star man Philippe Coutinho finds himself in unfamiliar waters as competition could keep him out of the starting team
For me, Liverpool’s biggest achievement this transfer window was managing to retain the services of Philippe Coutinho.
Our little Brazilian magician has been the key man at Liverpool for a few seasons now, since the departure of Luis Suarez and then Steven Gerrard. His long-range goals and match winning influence have kept him in the starting 11 wherever possible. Now however, Coutinho faces a fight to feature in the starting line-up against Chelsea in Liverpool’s next fixture.
Sure, the only reason Coutinho didn’t start against Leicester City was down to travelling, but the outstanding performance from Liverpool’s front three could see Coutinho kept on the side-lines.
His competition…
Sadio Mane has been our key player since arriving, adding pace and threat to our attack. Against Leicester he linked brilliantly with Roberto Firmino, destroying their defence. Daniel Sturridge looked sharp, and only added to the threat of the players around him.
Goals from Firmino and Mane place then in good stead to keep their places, and it seems that Daniel would be changed if Coutinho is to feature. The way in which Sturridge moved and created, and the fact he came close to scoring twice, does however support him staying in the team.
The thing is, we finally have strong options. We can bring Coutinho back and put Firmino striker, or keep the same front three. No matter what choice Jurgen Klopp makes, the team looks offensively strong.
Related article: Ranking Liverpool’s summer signings
Philippe Coutinho, for the first time in two seasons, isn’t so heavily depended upon. We’ve always looked for a team performance over a player performance, and we have options to create that. Philippe Coutinho is now one of our several key players, and I think the company could increase our chances of holding onto him.
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