Liverpool moving in the right direction despite Coutinho’s departure

When Jurgen Klopp took over the helm at Anfield in 2015, he came with an aura of great things happening to the club. From then on, Liverpool fans trusted their German manager to lead them to their first Premier League title in decades.

However, the continuous departure of top players at the club have hampered whatever progress they have made in the past. From Fernando Torres to Luis Suarez to Raheem Sterling and now Coutinho.

Since the arrival of Klopp, the sale of Coutinho is the first marquee departure at the club. This is understood because Klopp is keen on keeping his players and integrating them into his pressing style of football.

There is also the likely departure of Emre Can to Juventus at the end of the season when his contract expires. This also won’t deter Liverpool from going to achieve what they can achieve. How do they plan on doing this?

During last summer’s saga in which the Coutinho deal to Barcelona seem to be rocking the Liverpool dressing room, Klopp picked a team that played compactly together as a unit and scored lots of goals shared across board.

The form of Mo Salah also helped Liverpool get some good run of form during that period. The trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino have forged a trident that Liverpool could enjoy for the next three or more seasons. The impending arrival of Naby Keita from RB Leipzig will also help cushion the impact of Can’s anticipated departure.

The return of Adam Lallana is also a boost for Klopp. This does not undermine the great influence of Coutinho in the squad- a midfielder with over 50 club goals in 5 years- but the fact that his departure was inevitable makes it something Klopp has to accept.

There is also the worry of Klopp’s team fumbling when they get to the finals of tournaments. He got to two finals, Europa League final and Carabao Cup final, but lost both. He knows that his job is well cut out for him and knows that he has to win something with all the backing he has received.

This period seems a possible time especially in the FA Cup. The players are all in their prime for success and the signing of Virgil Van Dijk helps sort out the defensive crisis. A compact team like Liverpool’s could rival moneybags like United and City if the current squad after the sale of Coutinho and Can is kept together.

The onus now lies with the Anfield board to keep the likes of Salah and Firmino on board and it will be only a matter of time before Liverpool win their first silverware since 2012.

It might be difficult to see a team like Leicester City win the league anytime soon due to the monetisation of the league by the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City but the closely followed clubs in terms of spending like Liverpool could be the dark horse that we should watch out for.

 

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