Jurgen Klopp got to work with some of the modern greats to wear the Liverpool shirt, but there’s one former Red he ‘would have loved’ to keep around longer.
While Liverpool’s best era came during the 70s and 80s, the team Klopp presided over was up there with the very best in terms of sheer lethality. He got to work with legends like Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
There is another former Liverpool star whom Klopp laments not getting to coach for longer. Philippe Coutinho was at Anfield for the first two-and-a-half years of the German tenure, but left for Barcelona and broke up an attacking quartet that was a true nightmare for defenders.
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Jurgen Klopp explains how special Philippe Coutinho was at Liverpool
We were all devastated when Coutinho decided to leave Liverpool in 2018. He was pure footballing magic during his time in a red shirt.
Making a rare interview appearance in England on That Peter Crouch Podcast, he voiced his regret over losing such a talent.
He said: “To win the Premier League you need some special players and we brought them in step by step year by year with the money we earned from other transfer stuff like that.
Jurgen Klopp and Philippe
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“I would have loved to play two full seasons with Phil Coutinho, Sadio, Bobby and Mo. We had a few games and that looked really good I had kind of an idea that could work.”
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Indeed, watching that four-pronged attack, you saw a lineup that had a bit of everything. We all know how much success the trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Salah found in the years following the Brazilian’s exit, but could it have been more?
Maybe, but there’s another important factor to consider.
Klopp accepts that Philippe Coutinho’s sale opened the door for Liverpool
The pain of losing Coutinho was eased somewhat by the nine-figure fee they attracted from Barcelona.
Klopp used the money to sign Van Dijk and Alisson, and it was only then that Liverpool started to look like a complete side.
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As he puts it: “Everybody knows what happened was good for us, but was not good for Phil. That’s how it is with decisions, you only know later if it’s right or wrong.
“But we could bring in with this money Virgil and Ali, and without them, nothing would have happened.”
Two things can be true at the same time. Liverpool likely wouldn’t have dominated in the manner they did if not for that fateful sale, but Coutinho was one of the most entertaining players we got to enjoy at Anfield.
A special talent who Klopp still holds in high regard despite his career tailing off upon leaving Liverpool.
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