Tim Sherwood has suggested that Liverpool are currently missing Philippe Coutinho, hinting that the Reds disappointing recent form could have been alleviated by the Brazilian.
The 26-year-old Brazilian joined Barcelona last year in January, while Liverpool have dropped points against both Leicester City and West Ham in consecutive matches.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Debate, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo, Sherwood said: “For the first time, Coutinho is a massive miss for Liverpool. Letting Coutinho go, he was the one player who could open things up.
“Teams are not taking them on, they’re not going toe-to-toe and they’re not showing them the respect they deserve.
“I think that their midfield against West Ham was very stodgy, very safe and not looking to open a team with passing and they didn’t.”
OPINION
What a ridiculous argument from Sherwood. Liverpool have been largely phenomenal since Coutinho left, coming within a hair’s breadth of a Champions League trophy and starting the season at a canter. Just because they’ve drawn two matches and lost to a very, very good Manchester City side doesn’t mean that they are suddenly falling apart, and even if it did, it’s daft to suggest it’s because they’re missing a player they’ve done fine without for a year. The former Aston Villa manager thinks that the midfield was stodgy against West Ham – maybe the Reds should get Steven Gerrard out of retirement from north of the border? Or the next time Mo Salah goes a couple of games without a goal maybe they could give Kenny Dalglish a ring? The club has moved on without Coutinho and done a fine job. Yes, he would be an asset, in the same way that any player of his quality would be, but there current blip has not been caused by a transfer that happened twelve months ago.
