25 Aug 2021 10:58:01
I like Coutinho as a player and don't subscribe to the lazy notion that he couldn't play in our team. That last 5 months he was at the club that crossed over with Salah was incredible. I think we won 7-0 twice! Coutinho got 12 goals and 10 assists in 20 games which is an incredible return. I know we improved after he left but that was more because Trent, Salah, Robertson, Van Dijk, Alisson and Fabinho came into the team within 6 months either side of Coutinho leaving.

It's his age that concerns me. Especially considering he hasn't played since sustaining a serious knee injury midway through last season. I thought the idea was to be bringing down the age of our frontline. Maybe Coutinho on a season loan wouldn't be the worst thing given our current financial situation and Barcelona needing to cut wages but loans always feel like papering over cracks.

For me, we have a lot of good young attackers under 21 and we have a lot of Elite level attackers aged 29+. What we lack are options in between those age categories. Jota is great, but Origi, Ox and Taki are totally unconvincing over the last 18 months.

1.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 11:17:24
I agree mate, doesn’t make much sense to sign permanent but makes all the sense in the world on a loan. He still has so much to give. He was the best player in the league before he left and that wasn’t so long ago. Our midfield missed so many games last season and we have a gini shaped hole so I’m sure he would slot in nicely to provide competition, could even provide competition for the front 3.

2.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 11:48:52
It’s not a lazy notion though MK, he’s not quick and dynamic enough to play up top like Salah/ Mane/ Jota, he’s certainly not number 9 material and we don’t play with a classic number 10, he’s too weak, ineffective and lazy to play in our midfield. So where does he fit in without ripping apart an effective system to accommodate him?

He’s certainly not a player who can make an impact as a sub either, as he is a player who drifts in and out of games and in the current set up, we can’t carry luxury players like that.

And that’s not even going into his ridiculous wages or the disgraceful way he acted to force a move. If he’s unhappy at being frozen out at Barca, we’ll that’s too bad. He can cry more.

3.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 11:52:13
Simply ask yourself the following question: if Coutinho had never played for Liverpool and none us had any connection to him at all, would you still want to sign him?

He’s 29, on massive wages and hasn’t contributed much positively anywhere in years. He’s a one-dimensional cut-inside merchant who shoots from 30 yards at any chance he’ll get. That was fine and welcomed when we were an average side but we are far beyond that now. He isn’t good enough to play for us anymore and wouldn’t fit in anywhere, just as he didn’t fit in at Barcelona or Bayern. He isn’t getting anywhere near the midfield and i’d rather get an adaptable and hardworking forward with a brain like Bowen than stick Coutinho out wide again. Just another one of those players who looks great for a midtable side but can’t make the step up.

That’s just if you try and leave out the fact that he did play for us. If you bring that into the equation it only becomes more unappealing. When he was at Liverpool he was the main man and now he’ll be returning as an ageing flop. That to me provides breeding grounds for bruised ego’s and resentment. The manner in which he left was appalling and entitled as anything we’ve seen before, throwing a strop and feigning injury just because we wouldn’t let him leave on the spot was incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional. What Klopp has built at Liverpool has been built on the back of Coutinho sodding off to Barcelona and this side has grown to heights he could only dream of in his absence. In that sense, not only would it be an objectively bad transfer on paper, it would also be an immoral and undeserved one. I just can’t see any reason to upset the apple cart with this one, i’d sooner gamble on Minamino becoming a worldbeater before welcoming Coutinho back into the fold.

4.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 12:17:22
If Klopp wants him back then bridges couldn’t have been that badly burnt. No one wanted him to leave because we all know how good he can be. It’s only after the fact that people get sticks up their butt. If he’s available to loan and his wages aren’t massive then I wouldn’t be averse as long as people like Harvey elliot didn’t suffer as a result.

5.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 12:26:10
Makes no difference if any of us want coutinho or not cause if the main man klopp wants him then that’s more than enough for me. You can count on one hand how many signings klopp has got wrong at Liverpool so if he feels coutinho will add something different/ extra to our team (which I think he will) then we all need to back that decision. Coutinho left us to join Barcelona and taking our red glasses off who could blame him? Also don’t forget that klopp also wanted him to stay but he didn’t and we bought vvd and alisson with the money. Would we of been able too if he hadn’t gone? We won the league and champions league also so let’s all stop being bitter and back the club klopp and coutinho if the deal happens.

6.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 12:36:13
VVVV, when Coutinho played for us on the left of a front 3 with Bobby and Mane, he did very well. After we signed Salah, Klopp utilised a 4-4-2 to great effect on some occasions. Salah and Bobby up top, with Coutinho Left Midfield and Mane/ Ox Right Midfield. In fact that system was used for both the 7-0 wins.

So it is a lazy notion because it lacks any attempt at researching his performances under Klopp, and has no foundation behind it. The evidence is there that Coutinho can play in a high press Klopp team and if anything, we've become slightly less aggressive with our pressing in recent years, and more ball dominant. Certainly when Thiago is playing we are.

I'm not advocating for signing him permanently. I just think there are enough legitimate reasons not to sign him, that people don't need to let bitterness towards him rule their heads and pretend he was somehow not very good for us, or isn't a good player in general. He was never worth what Barcelona paid, sure. But he was still bloody good!

On loan for a season, i think it'd be good business that would strengthen us short term, allowing us to spend more next summer on a higher calibre of player than Traore. Sadly i doubt Barcelona are interested in another loan and if that is the case, i'd steer clear of him due to age and injury record. Let's not try and rewrite history though. I've sat in the Kop and cheered him till i lost my voice after he buried a 25 yard screamer past Man City! So i'm not going to be a complete flake now and act like he never gave us any magical moments.

I'll agree to disagree though because this will just go back and forward otherwise.

7.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 13:09:09
Thanks MKS for reminding us how good Couts was in that half-season after Salah joined. If I remember correctly Mane missed a fair few games in those few months and Couts played in the left forward role. Some of the goals he was involved in were yummy.

I am not a fan of loans unless they are with an option or obligation to buy. I don’t think a player would mentally be able to give the same to a loaning club the same as what he would give to the club he feels he has a future in. For the good of Couts I hope he takes a pay cut and moves to a smaller club where he is valued. May be Everton is the ideal club for him. He will feel at home in the city. He will have his Brazilian mates at Everton and Firmino, he could be their main playmaker, and it also ticks the small club box.

8.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 13:28:36
IR89 - This is such poor logic. Do you know how many bad decisions are made because people are all too willing to yield to the authority argument and not challenge themselves to search for their own answers? Yes, most would concede can make a football team more successful than the average fan could, and we trust him enormously because of that. But, our team would likely be significantly different had Klopp been given his first choice transfers, and likely less successful. I am not denigrating Klopp here, he’s the best manager in the world because he listens to people who know things he doesn’t.
That said, it would be an absurd decision to bring back Coutinho, you don’t need to be paid millions each year to understand that.

9.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 14:06:12
Adam you are very good at explaining your opinions but writing off everyone else's as lazy if it doesn't agree was surely not needed.

I usually really enjoying reading your posts but no interest when you start it like that.

10.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 15:05:34
It seems many of us have forgotten who we were calling "the one trick pony", at the time. Surprising so many want him back, given that it's very debatable if that one trick that he had, is still within his skillset.

11.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 15:29:48
I've said already, he wouldn't be the worst short term fix if he is fit.

12.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 15:49:25
I don't know why people are so vehemently against signing Coutinho, it's been a slight overreaction.

Correct, if Coutinho had no history with Liverpool then the fans probably wouldn't be as warm to the idea. But you also can't ignore the intangible advantages that his history with Liverpool provides because it suits your agenda against Coutinho. Coutinho spent the most productive and arguably most enjoyable years of his career at Liverpool, he has a good relationship with Klopp, and he has a chemistry with Salah, Firmino and Mane.

And is he an upgrade on Shaqiri? Well I think he is.

We have to remember that this is what Klopp has thought about and wanted. Klopp is more familiar with what works and doesn't work for the squad more than any one of us, so I'm reluctant to dismiss his rationale at this stage.

13.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 15:57:56
Coutinho's last game at Anfield was one of, if not the, most memorable home games in the club's history. We shouldn't forget that.
He was in a Barcelona shirt, mind.

14.) 25 Aug 2021
25 Aug 2021 22:05:27
Agenda? Yes, for sure I have an agenda. My agenda is that I want LFC to win the EPL, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, and the UCL; in other words win everything possible that can be won. And in order to do that, I believe we should be the best team possible within our means and within Jurgen Klopp's vision of how football should be played. I further believe Coutinho is no longer good enough to play for this team. That's basically it. The history of the club with him is where it belongs; in the past.

Now, could those who want him back give those who don't, a break and stop with the patronising and condescending postures, as if writing epic sized novellas solidifies justification? It's the football. Only about the football. He's not good enough anymore.