Philippe Coutinho May Now Regret Ignoring Jurgen Klopp's Words Following December 2016 Talks
Liverpool are executing manager Jurgen Klopp's vision of a culture shift at the highest level of European football.
Klopp saw former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho as the potential star in European advancement and explained his plan to the Brazilian star in 2016, according to a fantastic piece from JOE's Melissa Reddy.
The Liverpool manager held multiple chats with Coutinho at the club's Melwood training ground just over a year ago, during which he explained that a culture shift was starting to take place within European football.
The top level, currently dominated by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich is becoming increasingly attainable for clubs of Liverpool's stature.
Klopp reportedly told Coutinho that he could be the star in his vision, with the opportunity to go down as a club legend.
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The Brazilian playmaker may now be starting to regret ignoring Klopp's vision, instead favouring a move to Barcelona in the winter transfer window. His new side were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage, while Liverpool now have one foot in the final following Tuesday's 5-2 victory over Roma.
Speaking after the game, Klopp told reporters at his post-match press conference that he knows his side still have work to do if they are to advance to the final.
"Now we have to work again in Rome. That’s no problem," Klopp said.
"There would have been work for us to do if we’d won 5-0 because Roma would have tried everything to strike back anyway. That’s not a big difference. And what I learned tonight is that we can win the second game as well, even when it will be different. Roma need to score goals against us.
"I said it a few times and it should not sound like a warning or whatever, but we are not Barcelona. They are one of the two or three best teams in the world and they won so many things in the last few years. We didn’t. So we will fight with all we have for that result again."
