With Philippe Coutinho sidelined with an ankle injury, Jurgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool can cope without the influential midfielder.
Coutinho buckled under a challenge from Didier Ndong in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Sunderland, with the Brazilian leaving Anfield on crutches.
The 24-year-old underwent a scan on his ankle on Monday afternoon, and was later revealed to be sidelined for up to six weeks, keeping him out for the Reds’ festive schedule.
Speaking to reporters before the confirmation of Coutinho’s lengthy absence, Klopp explained how, despite the No. 10’s quality, Liverpool were now built to cope without him.
“Phil Coutinho is a really good football player, so if we cannot use him for the next few days or weeks, each team in the world would feel it,” he said.
“That’s how it is. But, of course I can say now that’s no excuse for anything.
“Phil, as good as he is, he cannot decide games by himself, even when it sometimes looks like this because he takes the ball, dribbles and shoots.
“But then it’s only a goal, or whatever, and everybody has to defend.
“So what we’ve created is really a team performance. He’s a very important part of this team, absolutely, but of course we can deal with it, of course we can handle it.
“It’s not the best thing I can imagine, I haven’t dreamt ‘it’s a good idea to show we can play without Phil’.
“But it was clear that if he’s not in, we have to show it—and we will show it, so it’s all good from this side.
“How we see it now: Phil—not in; Adam [Lallana]—close, but not in; Daniel [Sturridge]—maybe close, but not in.
“Of course, they are all quality players, so we miss them, but we don’t look for excuses.
“We only want to perform, we want to play football, and I think the way we play is possible without them. But it would be better if they were all fit!”
That, naturally, led to speculation over whether Klopp would dip into the January transfer market to relieve his squad’s injury woes, with Quincy Promes and Julian Brandt both linked.
However, Klopp stressed that Liverpool’s scouting department works regardless of the condition of his squad, and said he would only react if the situation deemed it necessary.
“One of the things we do [at Melwood] is watch the market,” he continued.
“Watch what happens around, scouting, good players, promising players from leagues you cannot watch too often.
“That’s what we do all the time, and that doesn’t mean we can take one.
“It’s only to be informed, to know about development, strength, whatever—and that’s what we do.
“That’s preparation for a situation that could—could!—be in the next transfer window.”
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