Klopp has no choice but to play Coutinho

PhiliPPe Coutinho is back in liverpool’s squad and could technically return to the team at Manchester City tomorrow. Some may call the club feeble for allowing it but, frankly, what choice did they have?

this is the reality now the window wars are over. Suck it up and get over it. Coutinho, Virgil van Dijk, even Diego Costa if he feels inclined.

it may seem weak to reintroduce disloyal players to the team, to put them back on bonuses, to pick them ahead of team-mates who have tried hard and stayed loyal. Yet what is the alternative?

Say liverpool wanted to make an example of Coutinho, who has behaved poorly, considering his injury appeared to clear up as soon as the transfer window closed and Brazil called. What good would that do?

if they are not going to play him, they might as well have sold him to Barcelona.

the same with Virgil van Dijk and Southampton. it is said the club wants him to prove his commitment before he is considered for selection. But there is already proof of his commitment in the rotten way he has behaved. he couldn’t care less about Southampton, no more than Coutinho (above) truly cares for liverpool, or Costa for Chelsea.

Coaches and managers will live with that. their job is to win. Match-fitness may keep Coutinho out of Jurgen Klopp’s reckoning but principle won’t. he knows that, once ready, a liverpool Xi that includes Coutinho is more likely to get a result than one without. the group may have done well in his absence, but everyone knows Coutinho’s worth to the team. that is why liverpool fought so hard to keep him.

it is the fans who will bear resentment longest. not for ever. At Stamford Bridge, the hostility towards Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and eden hazard over the sacking of Jose Mourinho subsided once performances picked up — but fans don’t actually forget, even if they might forgive.

old trafford was never quite as warm towards Wayne Rooney after it was claimed he asked for a transfer and the support for Coutinho at Anfield will also be conditional. he has picked his matches and so will they. if he plays well, they will be on his side — if he doesn’t, they will remember this summer and understandably so.