Jurgen Klopp has spoken in length about his and Liverpool’s decision not to enter the transfer market to replace Coutinho when the Brazilian departed earlier this month.
Barcelona shelled out £142m for his services mid-season, with our former no.10 having bagged 12 goals and registered a number of assists this term already.
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Such was the exceptional form Coutinho was in before his exit, it was assumed we’d look to buy someone who could inject his creative spark into our midfield, but it’s now February and the only attempts we really made were to bring Naby Keita’s summer move forward – to no avail.
According to Klopp, any players he liked would have cost ‘crazy’ money.
“People obviously ask ‘bring him in’ because someone is injured and you need somebody else, but then the other one is coming again and you weaken both. It makes no sense,” Klopp told the Telegraph.
“You miss a player for a week and you think ‘okay we need another player’.
“In this situation, you really need to stay cool. It’s more difficult when you’ve lost two games but you need to be serious still.
“Yes, we could do something. But we need the right thing. The 100% right thing. For completely crazy money that really makes no sense. I’m not even sure that would work. And in the summer it looks different.
“That’s how it is. To do something just to have any solution? That makes no real sense, to be honest. That’s the situation.”
The boss indicated Adam Lallana would play a big role in hypothetically replacing Coutinho, although admitted the Englishman’s recurring injuries have been an issue.
“It’s really unlucky. It was a really serious injury in the summer. Because of Adam’s quality and attitude in training it looks immediately like we can put him in when physical-wise he’s not fit,” said Klopp.
“The two things that happened after his big injury were in the 10 or 15 minutes after he came on.
“From nil to 100 in a second, and that’s maybe what caused the problem. We really tried to be sensible with it, to do the right thing. But it didn’t work twice.
“It’s really not a big thing (the latest injury).
“He’s maybe available for Tottenham, and if not then he’ll have missed three games. That’s really okay, but of course it’s not cool.
“The body needs to adapt again to the intensity.”
Lallana getting fully fit and more importantly, back up to full form, is crucial from now until the end of the season.
At his best, he’s both a pressing and creative menace – equally effective off and on the ball – something Klopp demands of his attackers.
He’s not Coutinho, but if Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino are on form, he can provide a decent temporary impression of the South American.