Phil: Melwood repetition can help us get goals
Three goals in his past two games have helped Philippe Coutinho clock up 20 in total for Liverpool, but the No.10 is eager to exert his influence in creating chances for teammates too.
The Brazilian was on target again with a back-post finish during last Sunday’s home defeat by Crystal Palace having been the chief conqueror of Chelsea the weekend before – scoring twice from the edge of the area to inspire a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Coutinho’s recent accuracy in front of goal will have been welcomed by manager Jürgen Klopp given the injuries that have afflicted his forwards and the fact several of them are still settling in following summer arrivals.
The solution, according to the playmaker himself, is repetition on the training ground, understanding how to tailor his passes to each individual to maximise the opportunities for the team.
“I have to adapt to them, but it’s not only me who must do this,” Coutinho said in the latest edition of the official Liverpool FC magazine.
“When you get new players, especially strikers, it is the job of all of the team to give them the service they need.
“I have to learn whether it is right to play a fast ball or a pass along the ground, depending on who I am playing the ball to.
“The training sessions are very, very important for this adaptation process to happen. We work on this every day in training and the sessions are very intense.
“If we’re not doing it right, or something isn’t working, we do it again and again until we get it right. The more you train with your teammates, the more you learn about each other and this is important for the team to do well.”
If the Reds can put Klopp’s theory into practice, a greater number of goalscoring opportunities should start to come their way.
The boss wants his players to retrieve possession as quickly as possible once they have lost it to provide a more advanced position to launch a new attack on the opposition.
Coutinho added: “He asks for us to play with as much freedom as possible when we have the ball, but when we lose it we are asked to recover it as quickly as possible.
“We press very high with the intention of trying to make the other team lose the ball close to their goal. If we do it right, and win the ball back in these areas, it gives us a better chance to score.
“The most important thing is that it is imperative for the team to press together. This is what we have been trying to do and this is how we are developing as a team.”