I’VE HAD MY PHIL OF BARCA
PHILIPPE COUTINHO insists he has overcome his summer meltdown and is fully committed to Liverpool.
Coutinho put in a transfer request and was desperate to join Barcelona after the Spanish giants made a huge offer for Liverpool’s Brazilian No.10.
But after the Reds held firm and refused to sell, Coutinho has now been integrated back into the squad with spectacular results, scoring in his last two games.
Coutinho said: “I’m calm. It’s all passed by, I’m here to defend the colours, to give my maximum.”
The Brazilian appears to be ready to get on with his career at Anfield despite wanting to leave and is also convinced the club will reach the Champions League knockout stage. They were held 1-1 by Spartak Moscow and have now just two points from their opening two games.
But Coutinho believes they will get through. He said: “It wasn’t really the result we wanted but we have to keep working and there are more games, another four games to come.”
Coutinho also says that he will be extra motivated this season because of the World Cup next summer and is desperate to make Brazil’s squad.
He added: “I hope to get called up. With every call-up I want to develop and for us develop as a team in order to be successful.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes going back to the training ground will help get improvements at either end of the pitch.
The draw in Moscow was typical of previous matches – plenty of dominance but not enough return.
Klopp’s defenders have been criticised this season but a closer inspection of the bare statistics would suggest there is plenty of room for improvement up front.
The fielding of the German’s “Fab Four” – Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino – was supposed to be the answer to a problem which has seen the Reds take 120 shots but score just seven goals in five matches since the 5-0 loss to Manchester City. Klopp admits converting a fraction of those chances would not only have produced vastly-improved results but would have also quelled the vocal attacks on his back four.
But he did admit his front four need time to gel after making their first competitive start together and that can only be achieved with more time at the club’s Melwood training complex – and on match days.
Klopp said: “We have to keep on working, that’s how it is.
“We have to carry on, we have to create, we have to protect, we have to defend and then to score.
“Obviously we didn’t score often enough against Spartak and that’s a fact but let’s go on.”
There were encouraging