Every team needs a schemer who can unlock an opposition defence with the subtlest of touches - and Philippe Coutinho is just the man for Liverpool, according to Jose Enrique.

Coutinho has impressed since arriving on Merseyside, netting twice and providing two clever assists.

But it's the 20-year-old's ability to conjure something out of nothing that has most impressed his teammate Enrique.

"All top teams have to have a good goalkeeper, good defenders and a good midfield," Enrique told Liverpoolfc.com.

"These things are important, but the players who make the difference are the ones who play up front.

"That is why they are the most sought-after in the world; the strikers, the wingers.

"Coutinho is one of these players who, from nothing, can make an assist or create a goal. He's like Luis Suarez - from nothing, and sometimes up against two players, he can create something.

"You need these players in your team because in games when you are not playing well, they can produce something and change the game completely. Coutinho can do this."

The former Inter Milan man's arrival at the end of the January transfer window swelled the number of South American players in Brendan Rodgers' ranks to four.

And Spanish-speaking Enrique admits he has developed a particularly strong bond with the Uruguayans and Brazilians on the training pitches at Melwood.

"The South American players are very technical on the ball," said Enrique. "Also, they all speak Spanish which is good for me, so I understand them really well.

"The way South American and Spanish players think about football is really similar. We are similar people.

"We really like to have the ball and we try to keep it."