'Any team would miss Coutinho, but we'll deal with it'
An enforced absence for Philippe Coutinho can be no excuse for Liverpool not to maintain their excellent form, insists Jürgen Klopp.
The Brazilian sustained an ankle injury during the 2-0 win against Sunderland at the weekend and subsequently underwent a scan to assess the extent of the damage on Monday.
Before the results were returned, Klopp spoke to the media at Melwood to preview the Reds’ EFL Cup tie with Leeds United at Anfield.
And reporters were keen to gauge the German’s thoughts on how his team are equipped to cope without the in-form No.10.
He said: “Phil Coutinho is a really good football player. So if we cannot use him for the next few days or weeks, each team in the world would feel it, that’s how it is.
“But of course I can say now there is no excuse for anything. As good as he is, he cannot decide games by himself, even when it looks sometimes like this because he takes the ball, dribbles and shoots.
“But then it’s only a goal or whatever, then everybody has to defend so it’s really a team performance that we create.
“He is a very important part of this team, absolutely, but of course we can deal with it. It’s not the best thing I can imagine, that I dreamt about it and thought it was a good idea that we can show we can play without Phil.
“But it was clear that if he is not in, we have to show it and we will show it. So it’s all good from this side.
“Phil is not in, Adam [Lallana] is close but not in, Daniel [Sturridge] is maybe close but not in. They are all quality players so of course we miss them, but we don’t look for excuses.
“We only want to perform, we want to play football and I think the way we play is possible without them. But it would be better if they were all fit.”