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When the history books of this Liverpool era are written, they will tell us that the current three fronts of Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah de los Rojos are there with the best in terms of Anfield attacks. Anniversaries of days like yesterday’s 5-2 demolition of AS Roma in the Champions League semi-final will draw comparisons from 1988 from halcyon Ian Rush to first Kenny Dalglish.
Therefore, it is impossible to imagine a scenario in which Liverpool could have been potentially better than its last two seasons in a sense of attack. However, during a briefly tempting period in 2017, we were offered the opportunity to see how that future could have happened if Phillipe Coutinho, in the form of his Liverpool career, decided not to move to FC Barcelona in January.
A team made up of all four players, knowing what we now know about the trajectory of players like Salah and Mané, sounds more tempting and intriguing in retrospect than it was at the time. On reflection, it’s worth noting that they can’t play together as often as many remember, mainly due to Mané’s suspension by a red card against Manchester City in September, followed by hamstring discomfort and a fall in form until around the time Coutinho leaves.
But her fleeting moments were enough to blow her imagination. He would be at his best in the Champions League group deciding game against Spartak Moscow on December 6, in which the Reds were winless 7-0 at night, with the quartet on the score line. and Coutinho hat-trick one of his last Anfield forays.
(Image: Jan Kruger Photo / Getty Images)
He missed how well the Brazilian was playing for the Reds before his move to Spain, after all, made Barcelona spend £ 142m ($ 175m) on him. Coutinho had a staggering seven goals and six assists with just 14 Premier League appearances, with another five goals and two assists in five Champions League outings. At that rate, he was on his way to around 25 goals and 20 assists from midfield in one season.
The club would also continue to strengthen in defensive areas with Virgil van Dijk coming through the door when Coutinho came out and Alisson Becker followed. There is little doubt that the Reds would have stopped losing goals the way they did if he had stayed. People often refer to midfield stability as a positive from Coutinho’s departure, but choosing two players from Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum and Fabinho would not have been a problem for Jürgen Klopp, nor would he have had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain available later.
For this reason, Coutinho can become one of Anfield’s great lost careers, like that of the man who seemed to emulate in Luis Suarez. History looks more fondly at Suarez because he achieved greater success and Coutinho did not, but in any case his defeat against Liverpool is what should define them compared to his later career.
For Coutinho, it becomes even more frustrating and puzzling because he could see where the club was going. Liverpool is a center of infinite possibilities under Klopp, and Coutinho’s excess talent attack available meant he was in the shape of his life, a version of himself that now will probably never return. Liverpool already has four young people who will be forever engraved in their historical fabric for putting it on the map. He could well have had another four if Phillipe Coutinho had stayed long enough to see his potential shine through.
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