Philippe Coutinho Shows There Is a Future Without Raheem Sterling for Liverpool
Juxtaposing the jeers that greeted wantaway Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling at the club's end-of-season awards ceremony this week, the widespread acclaim afforded to team-mate Philippe Coutinho points to a future for the Reds, even if Sterling is to leave.
As reported by Liverpool's official website, Coutinho took home four awards on the night: Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year, Goal of the Year and Performance of the Year.
Sterling was awarded Young Player of the Year.
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Coming the night after BBC Sport's Ben Smith revealed that "Sterling is expected to tell the club he wants a move away from Anfield this summer," the England international's appearance at the event—attended by supporters—was muted to say the least.
Instead, this was Coutinho's night, and the 22-year-old's accomplishments forecast a bright future for the club despite Sterling's transgression.
Player of the Season
Speaking as he accepted his own award, the Outstanding Achievement Award, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard—ahead of his summer departure to MLS franchise LA Galaxy—turned the focus from himself to his Brazilian team-mate, again as reported by the club's website.
"I'm bored of speaking about myself, so I want to pay tribute to Philippe tonight," Gerrard said.
"I think this is his night. He's cleaned up tonight on all of the awards and deservedly so, it's an absolute privilege to share a dressing room with him."
Acknowledged by his captain, his team-mates, the supporters and, additionally, his contemporaries in being nominated for the Player and Young Player categories in the recent PFA awards—as well as being included in the association's Premier League Team of the Year—Coutinho is rightly being lauded as one of the season's phenomenons.
In terms of the Liverpool squad, he has been one of few enduringly vital presences throughout season.
His inspiring performance as a false nine in April's 2-0 win over Newcastle United, his pulsating dominance in the 2-1 victory over Manchester City the month previous, his counter-attacking flourish in October's 3-2 away win against Queens Park Rangers, his ingenious playmaking display in January's 2-0 win at home to West Ham United—Coutinho has provided many highlights in what has otherwise been a dismal season for the Reds.
In terms of improving, too, it can be argued that Coutinho is the most-prominently developed—the addition of the now-trademark long-range curler has made the Brazilian a formidable presence outside of the opponents' penalty area.
Coutinho is deserving of his awards, and deserving of Gerrard's praise.
The Anti-Sterling?
In light of Monday night's Sterling revelations, Gerrard continued words on Coutinho unavoidably, and likely unintentionally, included a nod toward the 20-year-old's desire to leave.
"He's the next big thing, for me, I hope he stays here for a long time and he can help win us some more trophies," Gerrard professed.
Was this a thinly veiled dig at Sterling—long regarded as Liverpool's brightest young prospect—and his impending transfer request? Likely not, but Gerrard, as a 17-season Liverpool loyalist, clearly has his club's best intentions at heart either way.
In confirming to BBC Sport at the beginning of April that he had rejected Liverpool's £100,000-a-week contract offer, Sterling declared: "It's never been about money. I talk about winning trophies throughout my career. That's all I talk about."
Trophies are the key component here, and in Gerrard's words, Coutinho is unavoidably painted as opposite to Sterling.
Later in the interview, Sterling spoke on his reputation as a money-grabber: "The public just think you want more and that's not the case at this moment in time. I'm just a kid that loves playing football. That's how it's been since I was a young kid. I've never ever wanted to demand anything off no one, I'm just trying to demand the best of myself."
No matter what the behind-the-scenes reality is, to many Liverpool supporters, this portrayal will be impossible for Sterling to avoid, with his contract saga pervading what has been a miserable season on the whole.
Comparatively, Coutinho's words, reported by Liverpool's official website, on signing a new long-term deal back in February represented music to the ears of a growingly desperate Anfield faithful:
"I'm really happy. It's a dream come true playing for this great club and being part of this squad. Today I've committed my future to the club and for this I'm feeling very pleased.
This club is great and the fans have always supported me, so I've been eager to sign this new deal since conversations started. Today is a very happy day.
It means so much. This club has given me the opportunity to play and believed in me even though I hadn't been playing regularly at my previous club. I've had a great reception since my first day here. As I always say, Liverpool is a big family and I'm a happy person here."
"
It may be a stretch to describe him as the anti-Sterling, but Coutinho's loyalty and commitment should be commended as his team-mate's contract struggle becomes an unwelcome sideshow.
Future of Liverpool
As Gerrard concluded his Coutinho praise, he turned toward Liverpool's future without him as captain, and in the growing reality that this will be without Sterling.
"From all the Liverpool players that are here and the ones that will be here in the future, you just want them to carry on all the club values," he said. "That's to work as hard as you can for the badge and every time you put the shirt on give everything you've got."
While Sterling's commitment throughout this season will now retrospectively be questioned by many parties, Coutinho's cannot.
As Gerrard's words bookended his praise for Coutinho, it would be justified to picture the Brazilian as the poster boy for these "club values." This is largely because Coutinho is the most important player in Rodgers' squad.
As Liverpool look to the future—without Gerrard, and likely without Sterling—they must build around their four-gong hero.
Coutinho is the creative hub, the driving force in attack and an exemplary model in terms of defending from the front. He is Liverpool's best player, and he is emblematic of the much-fabled "Liverpool Way."
This should be at the forefront of Rodgers' mind as he enters the summer transfer market.
Rodgers recently told TalkSport's Alan Brazil of his loose plans for the transfer window, declaring: "We won’t have the numbers coming in like we had last summer. If we can make a couple of specific signings that will hopefully give us a little boost."
Arguably, these signings should be catered to Coutinho's talents—a specialist defensive midfielder to allow him the freedom to create and a pacy striker, with intelligent movement, that can feed off his delivery.
Perhaps one more would be another creative forward designed to lighten the load a little.
Of course, utilising Sterling in tandem with this system would be the ideal situation, but he's not the one player imperative to Liverpool's success. That's Coutinho.
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