With no Jordan Henderson or James Milner on the field, Jurgen Klopp had previously intimated that the captaincy would go to the longest serving player on the pitch.
It’s why we’ve had six different skippers in recent weeks – who have always been chosen on who signed at Anfield first.
That’s why Emre Can skippered the team against Swansea, despite the fact he’s yet to sign a new contract and could leave on a free transfer to Juventus…
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Here’s what Klopp said on the subject last month:
“He [Coutinho] was really good tonight and he was the longest servant on the pitch tonight,” he said in December after giving Coutinho the armband.
“In the line-up, it was clear he was going to be captain. He signed in like 2013, I had to look, I had to Google it to be honest!”
Tonight though against West Brom, Simon Mignolet, who himself has skippered the side a few times this term, was overlooked for the German, although he arrived a year before Can.
Alberto Moreno, who definitely wants to stay at Liverpool, arrived the same summer as Can as well!
We guess the fact of the matter is it’s just not too important to Klopp, even if the fans pine for an iconic captain in the Steven Gerrard mould.
What this does suggest though is that Mignolet is not a long-term option, while there’s still a chance Can will stay.