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One game at a time

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Liverpool FCPHILIPPE Coutinho has been a big miss for Liverpool since picking up his injury.

Whether his early exit against Swansea helped them get a point from the game is debatable, as were the subsequent disappointing results against Southampton and Manchester United in the Capital One Cup.

Some will find it ironic that before Coutinho made his debut for Liverpool, a number of people were casting huge question marks over a player not deemed good enough by Inter Milan, supposedly.

A few appearances later, he became one of those instant hits along with other January signing, Daniel Sturridge.

He’s often credited as a player with so called ‘flair’. It’s the simple nature of his footballing vision however, which has made the difference. Whenever he’s been on the ball, you can almost see the thought process in his head, as if flashing up the words for the attacking benefactors to take advantage of the oncoming assist. The fact that he’s accurate with his passes most of the time complements his game, as it would for anyone.

But without him, manager Brendan Rodgers has had to alter the system to try and go beyond an inspirational performance or two.

If Liverpool are to stay in the upper echelons of the table this season, they can’t afford a flash in the pan; they’ll need the full flame consistently.

A poor game here and there won’t define the season, especially this early on anyway. Then again, if it continues to add up over the weeks, it’s a significant number of points dropped towards the end of the season.

Realistically, Rodgers seems to have the right approach as far as Liverpool’s seasonal aspirations go. There’s been a fair bit of over-optimism because of what the initial 3 wins from 3 generated at the start of the season – as well as some opinions down the other end of the scale, saying top 4 is the best to be hoped for.

When the Northern Irishman was asked about it though, his answer was simple. Concentrate on the next match. Win that. Then try to win the match after that, and so on.

If there was ever a better example of pragmatism, it’ll be a surprise. No reason to think in the extremes – positive or negative. No need to flay your hands about like a child and scream ‘We’re going to be champions!’ and neither the subdued ‘I will be gobsmacked if we can challenge the likes of Tottenham for 4th place’.

Nobody needs to start thinking about the halfway point or the end of the season, and where Liverpool are going to be on the table then.

Focus on getting 3 points, every time. If it becomes an obsession, it won’t be a bad one to have. It’s what wins championships and honours everywhere in any sport. Win as many as you can, possibly a great bulk of the matches if not all. Let the maths do itself.

Whether every match ends in a struggle for the ball and unmet crosses, with just a scrappy goal keeping you ahead, as long as you’ve got a goal more than the opponents at the final whistle, it’ll show.

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Broadcast Journalist and Football writer.

Twitter handle @abhijan_barua