Salt in the wound. That uncomfortable burning must be what Coutinho feels in the place of the world where he is, while his former Liverpool teammates go from one street of honor to another, and few remember it … when it is not to make him see that his departure was just the one that fueled the club’s success.
While the Brazilian does not define his direction, after two gray seasons at FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Liverpool was crowned Premier League champion after more than 30 years of waiting, and also won a Champions League and a Club World Cup and .. He always gave a chair!
It would be unfair to say that Coutinho was a problem, it would be preferable to recognize that it was part of the solution, since his departure, in 2018, made the club look inward and not outward and bet on maintaining a team rather than seducing great figures.
The 145 million euros he left in the coffers and that were vital for the club’s two most brilliant hires: Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker. But later, with the exception of Fabinho and some others, the club only spent 10 million euros on acquisitions, as confirmed by Pep Lijnders, one of the assistants to coach Jürgen Klopp.
“Yes, [mantener contentos a los jugadores existentes] it was a conscious strategy, “Lijnders explained in an interview with the Dutch publication AD.” The difference between ‘Top Europe’ and ‘Sub-Top Europe’ is that ‘Top Europe’ can keep its best players together for a period of time. longer. Liverpool was still that sub-top [en 2018]. The players left because they could go one step higher, “he said. Coutinho case, although the result would not have been as expected.
“When we won the Champions League [en 2019]We feel that we now have to do everything possible to keep the group together. If it is successful, that is the most important purchase … Sometimes you look for gold, but then it turns out that you are in it, “he said.
Then the joke is to stop craving what’s in the neighbor’s house and better go back inside: “I firmly believe in promoting young players to get fresh blood in a team like this. That’s my Dutch nature. And also my own experience as a coach at FC Porto. ” A pair of pearls: Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined the youth academy and joined the first team along the way, and Joe Gomez.
“Now there are talents like Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Neco Williams. It can be done if the core group stays together for a longer period of time and has the right mindset, “he explained.
It is what makes many qualify Liverpool as the best team in the world: a clear and sensible head like Klopp’s, away from the dance of millions and focused on people, a constant vindication of mysticism above the trap of fame, an island of authenticity in the ocean of copy that everyone longs to be. Today those who made the decisions recognize that everything started from Coutinho’s goodbye … for better and for worse.
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