'Fans care about winning NOT bank balances' - Liverpool owners blasted over January transfer dealingshttps://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/fans-care-winning-not-bank-11937586It's not often I'd agree with anything Christian Purslow has to say, but I agree totally with the sentiment, and some of his points.
It was either last Summer or this Summer to let Coutinho go. To let him go mid-season without having players lined up to replace his effect was sheer stupidity. If Keita is seen as a 'replacement' or the start of a slightly different direction of travel as far as our play goes, then either we get in another player to compliment that for the midfield, so that player has a season with us before being combined with Keita, and the change is (partially) enacted this season, or we say to Barca, Coutinho and his representatives that he can go next Summer when we get Keita. If we didn't want to 'force' Coutinho to stay beyond January, then we should have had Keita lined up to come in in January. If that wasn't possible then neither was Coutinho's move. Leipzig held firm with Keita, we should have done the same with Coutinho - I don't like having players at the club against their will, but it's better than totally being without.
When Coutinho was playing in the front three, we essentially had two attackers and one creator. When played as part of the 'midfield' three, we had three attackers and a creator in 'midfield'.
Now we have three attackers, and no creator in midfield. It was great that Coutinho was a chance creator and a goalscorer. We're unlikely to get a player as good that does both, so maybe therefore Klopp should have looked at getting either a creator for the midfield three (it wouldn't have hurt having the addition of Coutinho also in the 'front three') or a goalscoring midfielder, and then looked at playing Salah and Mane as the two attackers (free to roam all across the front line, not just play as more conventional strikers/forwards, and then used Bobby in behind as a creator who would play both in behind Mane and Salah, but also go beyond into a more traditional central striker's position, giving us maximum fluidity and variation in one. Then we have the goalscoring midfielder (ala Lampard) able to link deeper midfield to Bobby and then Mane/Salah, and making later runs into the box, providing goals from midfield for this second half of the season, and helping us undo deep sitting defensive teams without Coutinho's 'eye of a needle' passing.
The £35M/£40M spent on Oxlade-Chamberlain should have gone on the 'partial replacement for' / 'way forward after' Coutinho.