Torres suggests that Coutinho was never fit enough to operate under Klopp's system of football and that Mohamed Salah was brought in to compete with him.
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El Pais journalist Diego Torres has reported that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was 'amazed' and 'broke into hilarity' when he first heard that Barcelona were going to offer €100 million for former midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
Torres suggests that Coutinho was never fit enough to operate under Klopp's pressing system of football and that leading goalscorer Mohamed Salah was brought in to compete with the Brazilian while Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were deemed 'undroppable'.
Torres
wrote:
"When the club raised the possibility of signing Mohammed Salah, the coach told the management that he thought it was fine but that the position should be played with Coutinho. Never with Mané or Firmino, whom he judged unquestionable.
"In Liverpool offices were not surprised to see that the leaders embraced as if they had won a title when on 6 January closed the transfer of Coutinho to Barca for 160 million euros, a record after Neymar and Mbappé. Never the sale of the third most expensive soccer player in history meant less sacrifice and more benefit for a major club.
"Explosive and decisive in short spaces, Coutinho lacked the heart and lungs to perform consistently in the great spaces of the midfield. In the physical tests that simulated situations of the game, after two sprints of 60 meters Coutinho could not recover without remaining half a minute completely stopped. Too much, given the tactical demands. With the emphasis on permanent dynamism, Klopp discarded Coutinho to integrate the midfield in 4-3-3. Even when he placed it as an end, he found that it disengaged in the folds. During several days he tried a 4-2-3-1 to place him behind the point, with a smaller radius of action to avoid suffering. If he played as a second point he could stay off the hook without generating serious imbalances, while the rest of the team was ordered 20 meters back. But the 4-2-3-1, in Klopp's opinion, did not allow the team to occupy the spaces in the most efficient way possible.
"When they told him that [Josep] Bartomeu would sign [Ousmane] Dembelé to replace Neymar and offer more than 100 million for Coutinho to act as relay for [Andres] Iniesta, his amazement broke into hilarity. According to an employee of the English club, Klopp was blunt: "Coutinho is a fabulous forward but he will never feel comfortable in 4-3-3 as an inside; and much less if he has to play in the post of Iniesta in the 4-4-2 that [Ernesto] Valverde practices in the defensive phase, where the longer runs should be done by the wings. Iniesta is a long distance runner. Coutinho no. "