Klopp shrugs off loss of £145m man Coutinho

AS he spoke about life without Philippe Coutinho yesterday, Jurgen Klopp was not short of bold statements. What he needs from his Liverpool team now is a statement performance to back him up. Klopp has reasons above the ordinary to win against Manchester City at Anfield. A 5-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium back in September still burns and now he is in charge of a team shorn of their best player. At Melwood yesterday, he was in resolute form. If his team can follow suit, they may have half a chance of briefly interrupting City’s stroll to the Premier League title. Whatever happens, Klopp insists there must be no excuses. ‘If something doesn’t work and everyone’s talking only about one player who isn’t there any more, that’s not right,’ said Klopp. ‘We don’t play “hero” football here. It’s not one hero and the rest try to help. We have already put responsibility on to different shoulders. This is the situation and we are already used to it.’ Klopp outlined Liverpool’s decision to sell Coutinho for £145million to Barcelona in detail yesterday and claimed the Brazilian had lost interest in playing for the club. ‘You cannot use him if he’s not 100 per cent,’ he said. ‘Philippe Coutinho is a world-class player but if he’s not 100 per cent, he’s not that international class or Premier League class any more. You lose the grip. ‘Players are different. I’ve had this very often. When they’ve lost one opportunity, you will never get the same player again. It would have been very difficult if we had said: “There’s your contract and you have to stay here”. ‘Did I think I could still use him? Could he help us still? To be honest, it was 100 per cent clear, no chance. ‘He was not ready to do that any more. The club tried everything. ‘We had a lot of talks about how we can do this or that but if somebody denies, then it is clear the decision is done. At some point, you need to accept it and that is what we did.’ With Liverpool not interested in getting involved in the current battle for Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez, it is unlikely they will seek a replacement for Coutinho immediately. Klopp even went as far as to hint that his team can be better without the 25-year-old in it. Klopp explained: ‘There is always opportunity in a situation like this. Phil is a fantastic player and will be for Barcelona. ‘Our game worked with him really well, sometimes not. Without him really well, sometimes not. It was kind of a solution for us to give him the ball. Now we don’t have to look for that. It can make us more unpredictable.’