I’ve begged Coutinho not to join Barca, but I can’t make him stay
LIVERPOOL’S ALBERTO MORENO:
IT’S not quite Steven Gerrard trying to talk Luis Suarez out of moving to Arsenal but Alberto Moreno is doing his best to ensure Philippe Coutinho stays at Liverpool. They have had the heart-to-heart.
‘I have told him, “Brother, don’t go”. I can’t tell you what he said to me because that’s very personal,’ says Moreno before a heavy pause. ‘I want him to stay. If I get to decide, Philippe’s not going but I can’t interfere. It’s Liverpool, Barcelona and him.’
While Coutinho contemplates leaving Anfield, Moreno is more entrenched than ever.
He was on his way to Napoli last summer — Liverpool signed Andrew Robertson from Hull to replace him. But he has dug in since then and returns to his old club Sevilla on Tuesday in the Champions League, having been recalled to the Spain squad for the first time since 2014 when Liverpool signed him.
It would be a shame for Coutinho to go now. His best pal at the club is starting to fulfil his potential. And when Moreno looks around him he sees plenty of other reasons to be positive.
‘Salah is good, very good,’ he says, puffing out his cheeks. ‘As a defender, I wouldn’t want to face Mane and Salah. That’s one of the best things about being a starter this year — it means I’m on their team in training.
‘You’re screwed when you are up against them. Having those two running in behind you again and again is a nightmare.’
Is Salah the signing of the season? ‘He could be,’ says Moreno. ‘His numbers are incredible. He’s scoring almost every game, he’s providing assists and he works incredibly hard for the team. He’s a signing that Liverpool have got absolutely right.’
The fact that Moreno is not watching all this from the bench, or on cable television in Naples, is down to his own hard work and, he admits, the efforts of a lot of people at the club.
There are honourable mentions for coaches Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz and for nutritionist Mona Nemmer. Inevitably, manager Jurgen Klopp casts a benevolent shadow over the whole renaissance.
‘Zeljko takes a lot of the sessions but Klopp is such an emotional presence. He can’t just stand and watch — he always takes part, he always intervenes,’ Moreno says.
‘And he has got more hands-on with me this season. Last season he wasn’t picking me because (James) Milner was playing and the team were playing well. I went to see him a few times and he said, “Alberto, you’re doing OK but I can’t change the team”.
‘This season I’m a starter and he is closer to me. He corrects my mistakes, he improves me. I’m much happier than last season.’
Part of Moreno’s problem is that, until Unai Emery converted him from winger to full back as a 21year-old at Sevilla, he never had to think like a defender.
‘It is true that now I am more focused defensively,’ he says. ‘There’s knowing when to go forward and when not to. Maybe in the first few years at Liverpool I was always thinking, “attack, attack, attack”.
‘This year, I hold my position more. First, let’s defend, keep a clean sheet and only then can we think about getting forward.’
Moreno is all energy, even in conversation. ‘I’ll always have that desire to head off up the pitch but you have to be focused.
‘There are times when I want to go and the first thing I do is look. If we’re covered then I go. It’s choosing the moment. Make fewer runs forward but make more of them count.’
He listens too. Not just to Klopp barking from the touchline, but to centre backs Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan. They are the ones shouting, “Albi! Stay! Albi, you can go! Albi, help!” They talk most to me.’
Moreno’s family were a big help last season too. His says his little girl was his inspiration and now the family are settled on Merseyside with no hang-ups over the climate or cuisine.
‘People talk about how the food is bad in England but there’s good produce here too. You can eat well — and with Mona the food is very good.’
Mona, Liverpool’s nutritionist, was signed by Klopp from Bayern Munich in 2016 and Moreno says: ‘We’ve really noticed the change. The day before (games) there used to be ice creams and cakes — not good for footballers.’
Perhaps Coutinho will be the first foreign player to stay in England for the food?
‘He’s my friend and always will be. If it was down to me, I’d love him to stay so I can go on enjoying watching him play. It’s a privilege. Everyone asks if he’s really that good and he really is. I see him do things with the ball that I have never seen before.
‘He’s a big piece of this Liverpool team. Every fan who watches Liverpool and understands football can see it. They know that if he goes, it will leave a big hole.
‘But we’re Liverpool. We have a great squad, great players and we won’t stop being Liverpool.’
Klopp will be glad to hear that. For all the arm-around-the-shoulder stuff he wants a grownup group at Anfield.
‘In the day-to-day, he’s superhappy, nice, and close to the players but at the moment of truth, the day of the game he’s the most serious man in the world and wants us to be switched on,’ Moreno adds.
‘I’ve seen him angry and it’s not a pretty sight. His blood boils when he sees players not doing what he wants.
‘There are times we play badly and at half-time I think he tries to force a laugh out of himself just so as not to hit anyone.’
Moreno is anxious to see some success soon too. ‘We have a team capable of winning things but we have to make it happen,’ he says. ‘We got knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle so one option has already gone.
‘I have been at Liverpool for four years and I’m desperate to win a trophy.’
Can it come this year and in the biggest competition of them all? Moreno’s family will be out in force in Sevilla to see if he can finish on the winning side and secure top spot in the group.
‘Dreaming of the Champions League? It’s a long way off but why not?’ he says, looking as serious as at any time during the interview.