DUNN

BRITAIN’S BEST COLUMNIST FROM ANFIELD

what they do, about this club and about each other”.

Warming to his theme, he said: “To achieve something special, we all need to put what we can achieve together ahead of what we might want for ourselves as individuals.”

The identity of the one man for whom that seemed to be intended could not have been clearer. Or maybe it was a subliminal nudge of the ownership. While Klopp might well admire the defiance of Fenway Sports Group, the retention of a dissatisfied, rogue player – even one as talented at Coutinho – surely goes against Klopp’s principles.

Klopp said he would only countenance players who “wanted to push the train” not “jump on a moving train”. Presumably, players who want to jump off a moving train don’t go down too well either.

That is Klopp’s crushing dilemma.

Does he really want a player who could become embittered and disillusioned, not to mention angry?

Probably not, but this fairly tedious tussle showed exactly why Liverpool can ill-afford to lose genuine quality from the squad. They need to add genuine quality. With Klopp resting a handful of players – as you do when the opening two weeks of the season has taken such a dreadful physical toll on those poor saps – this was a measuring stick of Liverpool’s depth. And it did not stretch very far. Even match-clincher Mane, pouncing on a moment of defensive uncertainty from an uninspiring Crystal Palace, had an erratic afternoon.

There was a relatively vibrant contribution from Roberto Firmino and an encouragingly neat and tidy Anfield debut from Andy Robertson, but little else to get excited about.

It was a win, though, to go with the one in Hoffenheim and tacked on to the slightly unfortunate draw at Watford, so there is no cause for undue alarm at Anfield.

That will only come if Coutinho gets his way.

And Klopp, whether he now has time for the player or not, knows it.

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