Analysing the Importance of Philippe Coutinho to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool

Liverpool's impressive 4-1 win at Manchester City on Saturday evening saw Jurgen Klopp's side benefit from several players having not been away on the international break.

Five of the starting XI at the Etihad Stadium played together in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Wolves during the internationals.

Crucially, Brazilian trio Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino weren't away with their country.

The other two who started the friendly match were Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno. The duo endured a difficult time of things last time the Reds played at City, exposed by Stevan Jovetic as the two new signings struggled defensively.

But it was the performance and combination play between compatriots Firmino and Coutinho that stole the headlines, with Firmino grabbing his first goal for the club and assisting the other two as the Reds stormed into a 3-0 lead.

Asked about Firmino post-match, Klopp said, per This Is Anfield: "He trained 10-12 days with us without interruption, the same as Coutinho, and that is the reason we played like this with the formation like this—we tried to put on the pitch as many players who trained together."

That Coutinho especially was left out of Brazil's games against Argentina and Peru by Dunga was a surprise, but their loss was certainly Liverpool's gain.

The Reds' No. 10 has had an indifferent campaign so far, but he showed the benefits of a two-week break by putting in his best performance of the season. Coutinho claimed a goal and an assist—making him Liverpool's top goalscorer so far this season with five, already equalling his Premier League goal tally from last season.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Indeed, the only negative from the final outcome at the Etihad Stadium was Coutinho being forced off with an injury in the 68th minute.

"I hope we got there early enough," said Klopp post-match, per James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, referring to how soon they took him off. "It was a little bit of cramp. He felt something.

"I hope that’s all it was because everybody can see that he’s very important to us. He’s in really good shape in this moment and I hope we could react early enough."

Klopp's words underline the importance of the Brazilian labelled "The Magician" by the Liverpool faithful, and he will be assessed on Monday to learn the severity of the injury.

The hope on Merseyside will be that perhaps he can miss Thursday's Europa League clash with Bordeaux and return for Sunday's Premier League match against Swansea City, both at Anfield.

Importance

Klopp knows the importance of Coutinho to this Liverpool side—a team which, as shown by Coutinho being the top goalscorer with five goals, has struggled for goals and creativity for much of the last 18 months.

Indeed, Saturday's win at City was just the third time this season that Liverpool had scored more than one goal in a game, and the first time in 2015 that the Reds had hit four goals in a match.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

With the departure of Luis Suarez in 2014 and Daniel Sturridge's injury problems, Coutinho has become the main man at Anfield by default, carrying the weight of expectation of the team. Which is quite a burden for a player who only turned 23 this summer.

This has been evident in recent times, with Coutinho—prior to this mini-run of form of late—looking frustrated and struggling for options ahead of him. This was particularly a problem during long parts of last season when he had Mario Balotelli ahead of him up front, and the Italian's lack of movement meant Coutinho had few options and his space was closed out.

Speaking to NBC Sports post-match on Saturday, Klopp explained how he had instructed Firmino to stay further forward as the striker, rather than dropping deep. This is important if Coutinho is to find the space between the opponent's defensive and midfield line.

Coutinho is now benefitting from having more assistance in the final third, with Klopp's tactics meaning higher pressing and more midfielders getting forward to support the attack.

Firmino, Adam Lallana and Coutinho worked superbly as a front three, but James Milner and Emre Can also got forward well from midfield—evidenced by the Germany international's mesmeric backheel to Coutinho for Firmino's goal.

It also worked the other way, with Coutinho not being shy of his defensive duties, and his pressing for the opening goal to dispossess Bacary Sagna set the tone for the impressive display.

"

There was a moment after our corner that Phil sprinted back to cover as a CB to stop a break, gotta love that! pic.twitter.com/9Cv63yHHgd

— StatsAndSwearwords (@SimonBrundish) November 23, 2015"

Finishing 

Coutinho now has four goals in the Reds' last three league games, which is a solid improvement on his previous goal return.

The Brazilian's shot selection has been a long-standing issue, often found trying to force his trademark shot from the left side of the area into the far-right side of the goal—and while that has returned some impressive goals in the last year and half, it had become a little predictable, and too often of late.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Where Coutinho thrives is arriving in the box as he did against City, finishing neatly from Firmino's expert reverse ball. It was a similar composed finish to the one against Crystal Palace last time out.

This is where Liverpool need to be getting him more often, finding space inside the box, rather than forcing a shot from outside of it when the opposition's defence are defending deep.

Pressure

Jon Super/Associated Press

Perhaps the biggest difference in Coutinho's demeanour in these last three games is that he looks relieved of that burden he seemed to be carrying previously.

He now has help around, most notably his compatriot Firmino. The two Brazilians look like they enjoy playing alongside each other and their combinations will only improve further as their partnership develops.

A Coutinho without the pressure of being the go-to man will see him thrive even more at Anfield.