Liverpool FC has benefited from Phillipe Coutinho’s exit: Kerala Blasters coach David James
David James, ex Liverpool FC and England football team goalkeeper and the coach of the Indian Super League (ISL) club Kerala Blasters, feels Phillipe Coutinho’s exit has given the Merseyside club enough money to bolster the squad.
Former Liverpool FC and England football team goalkeeper David James, coach of Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters, stated on Wednesday that losing Phillipe Coutinho to FC Barcelona has been a good riddance since the £142 million move gave the Merseyside club enough cash to help bolster their squad.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a football event, here in Mumbai, James said: “Losing Coutinho was probably a good thing. Financially they got rewarded for it and that also means that there is a different balance, a better balance in the team now. I am already looking towards 2018/19 season, which will be Liverpool’s year to win the league.”
Liverpool are currently third on the Premier League table behind runaway leaders Manchester City and their city-rivals Manchester United. Although City lead United by 16 points, James stopped short of stating that the league was over, but with a caveat.
“I won’t be foolish and say the league is finished since Manchester City are so far ahead. But I think realistically, Manchester City will have to do something very drastic to lose the league. Liverpool’s best chance at the moment of doing something superb would obliviously be the Champions League given the quality of teams still there, that is a tough ask,” he added.
Liverpool have managed to turn things around drastically in the recent-past and are the only club to have beaten City in the league.
The deadly trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohammad Salah have also ensured that Liverpool (61) are the second-highest goal-scoring side in the league. However, James wasn’t too impressed.
“I think the Premier League is the Holy Grail. They have dominated Champions League and have won the other Cups. The surge mid-season is good and encouraging but as a Liverpool fan you want to see a season and not a mid-season,” he said.
He was, however, ecstatic at the prospect of all English clubs going through to the next round of the Champions League, which has been dominated by Spanish and German clubs in the recent past. “I think it is great that there are five clubs involved in the Champions League and Liverpool’s result should see them through.
“As an ex-England player, I would like all five to go through to the next but it is a tough ask,” James, who’s associated with Indian Super League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters, added.