BR on John Terry's Coutinho nomination
Brendan Rodgers today responded to news John Terry has selected Philippe Coutinho as his vote for PFA Player of the Year and insisted: 'His best years are still ahead of him.'
The Chelsea captain revealed his nomination for the Brazilian in a post on his official Instagram account on Friday afternoon.
Reporters gathered at Melwood on Saturday morning quizzed Rodgers on Terry's selection of Coutinho and asked for his views on why the 22-year-old would be a worthy winner of the prestigious accolade.
"He is a young player that has come into the country and adapted incredibly well to the style of football in the Premier League," the manager told his pre-match press conference.
"People looked at him initially and maybe thought he was a bit slight. But he is very strong in his mind, has incredible technique - he is up there with the world's best in terms of technique - and with him it's about the consistency.
"He played in a different position in the game the other night. We asked him tactically to operate differently and he carried that out very, very well. He showed great tactical discipline and obviously scored a wonderful goal.
"Still, his best years are way ahead of him. He's such a humble boy, wants to train and loves his football every day.
"John is probably looking at his performance level. It's been outstanding in the time since he's been here and he's only going to get better, which is the pleasing thing for Liverpool."
Coutinho struck his sixth goal of an outstanding season so far to book Liverpool's place in the FA Cup semi-finals in Wednesday's 1-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats in the Barclays Premier League, Rodgers spoke of the importance of his side returning to winning ways and his confidence that they can carry the lift in spirit into Monday's showdown with Newcastle United.
"The performance and result the other night puts us back on track again and hopefully from that result we can build the momentum through now until the end of the season," stated the manager.
"It was an excellent result in a tough tie and we'll just take each game at a time now and focus on the Newcastle game.
"I thought defensively as a collective we were very good. We'd gone six games away from home and not conceded a goal, and we wanted to return to that mentality in the game because we feel we can create enough opportunities.
"I thought Dejan Lovren was outstanding on the evening. Glen Johnson came in and did a great job at right-back having not played for a little bit of time. Simon [Mignolet] made a couple of great saves when he had to and as a team we pressed the ball really well and nullified most of Blackburn's threats. It was important for us to defend well."
Newcastle will journey to Anfield having lost four games on the spin in the top-flight - most recently at near-neighbours Sunderland in last Sunday's derby clash.
Nonetheless, Rodgers knows Liverpool can ill-afford to underestimate the north-east side.
He said: "They're probably a little bit unfortunate at the moment as they've got a number of players injured. They've arguably got the most passionate man involved in terms of Newcastle United in John [Carver].
"It runs right through him, Newcastle, and you can see his passion and how well he wants to do. He's also an excellent coach who looks like he wants to step into management and I'm sure will do everything he possibly can to get the role there.
"He knows the club inside out; he's been there a long time, is a very good coach and will want to get back on track again having been disappointed in their last performance and result.
"We respect it'll be a tough game, they always are against Newcastle, but for us being at home for the first time in a few weeks, we'll look to keep our performance up and get the three points."
Rodgers added: "Every game is different in this league and every game is tough. When you come off the back of a disappointing result and performance, you're always very keen and motivated to go and play well in your next game.
"They've had a good preparation time with no game in midweek. I'm sure John has been looking at the tactical elements of the game in which they can improve.
"For us, it doesn't matter what time you play any team, Liverpool is always a huge challenge for any club. It's always a big game for every club when they play against Liverpool. We understand it'll be a tough game for us and that's what we're preparing for."