Klopp claims Coutinho was not following orders

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says that Philippe Coutinho was not following orders when he dropped deep to dictate play.

Klopp now says that Coutinho made the Reds a predictable opponent as his teammates were always looking for the Brazilian to unlock defences.

Since Coutinho has joined Barcelona, Liverpool have thrived with a fluid front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah.

Klopp agreed that Firmino was now more important, saying: “That is completely normal. You saw our games when Phil came deep in centre mid. We didn’t want him to come deep all the time to be honest, it was more of a natural thing.

“You want him to be a 10, but with Phil we were giving him a four yard pass and you don’t need that. Now we don’t have this dominant player – ‘Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me’ – that’s how it is.

“I don’t want to this to be misunderstood. It was really good, that’s why Phil is the player he is, but now we we cannot do that any more, it makes us a little bit more unpredictable.”