Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp: 'Philippe Coutinho struggling for consistency'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 17 March 2017

Klopp: 'Coutinho struggling for consistency'

Jurgen Klopp believes that Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho's search for consistency is understandable following his layoff with injury midway through the campaign.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has described Philippe Coutinho as an "outstanding" player, but admits that his star midfielder is currently lacking consistency.

The 14-year-old has gone off the boil since returning from a two-month injury layoff at the start of the year, scoring one and setting up another in 12 outings since.

Those figures are in stark contrast to the first half of the season, when playing a part in 10 goals in 13 matches, but Klopp expects Coutinho to be back to his best once he has fully recovered from his niggling injury issue.

"That's the life of an outstanding good football player like Phil," he told reporters. "The influence of him on the game is really big. If he is not at 100%, you miss something, that's how it is.

"But two weeks ago we played Arsenal and he did really well. Yes, Burnley again was not the best game, but he misses in this moment – which is pretty normal after a long injury – this kind of consistency.

"But the training week so far was perfect, he presented himself really [well]; it was fluent, confident and looked really well. There are always steps in this direction. Sometimes it works. It's about, in this moment, consistency. But he is in a really good way."

Coutinho is expected to start for Liverpool in their league meeting with Manchester City at the weekend - an opponent he has netted five times against since joining the Reds in 2013.