You'll have plenty to celebrate when you subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

It was the tactical switch that got Liverpool purring once again as an attacking force.

Moving Philippe Coutinho from the left side of the Reds’ front three into a central midfield position paid off handsomely for Jurgen Klopp against West Ham.

The Brazilian playmaker, who regularly shone in that role during the club’s title challenge in 2013-14, pulled the strings throughout at the London Stadium.

Coutinho did what elite players do - he took responsibility and delivered when the stakes were high. After creating the opener for Daniel Sturridge, he wrapped up the points with a quickfire double to put Liverpool on the brink of Champions League qualification.

Speculation about interest from Barcelona won’t go away ahead of Sunday’s final game of the campaign against Middlesbrough, but it’s unthinkable that Liverpool would even consider offers for him this summer.

With the ink on his new five-year deal barely dry and no buyout clause in the small print, the club’s hand could hardly be any stronger.

Coutinho was central to Liverpool’s success in the capital on Sunday and that’s exactly where Klopp sees him next term.

“In that position he gets more touches of the ball and it worked well,” Reds keeper Simon Mignolet told the ECHO.

“They can’t really put one marker on to him. Philippe can distribute the ball in a brilliant way.

“In the Premier League you need creative players to open games up. You look at Chelsea, they have Eden Hazard. Man City have Raheem Sterling, David Silva or Kevin de Bruyne.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

“Philippe’s pass put the first goal on a plate for Daniel. That made it a different game. He’s a good boy who works hard. He’s very important to us.

“It was a big positive that he signed that new contract. We all hope he stays at Liverpool for many years to come.”

Liverpool had spent time at Melwood last week working on the switch from Klopp’s favoured 4-3-3 formation to playing 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond with Adam Lallana at the tip.

Coutinho certainly benefited from having the two-pronged attack of Sturridge and Divock Origi to aim for. A team which had only scored three goals in their previous six hours of football looked so much more potent with Sturridge back firing on all cylinders - four months after his last top-flight start.

“It was a very attacking line up with Daniel, Divock, Adam and Phil in it,” Mignolet said.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

“But we clicked and created a lot of chances. With Daniel, there’s no discussion to be had about the ability that he’s got.

“You see how calm he stays in front of goal, going around the keeper to make it 1-0. He brings a real threat into the team and opponents have to adapt to that.

“They didn’t just have to look out for one striker up there. Divock was able to use Daniel’s presence to create chances himself. They can work well together.

“We were very pleased with the result and the way that we played. We scored four goals but we could have had many more with the number of chances we created.

“The first half was difficult as we adapted to the conditions because we were playing on another dry pitch. But after the first goal we kicked on.

“Of course we got away with one just before half-time. That was a big chance for them but luckily for us he (Andre Ayew) hit the post twice and I was able to grab it.

“In the second half we played our football and once we got the second goal they had to open up and you really saw the quality we’ve got.

“Before the game there was a lot of pressure but we handled it well and we’ll go into that final game with a lot of confidence.”

Victory over the Hammers was the Reds’ 10th away win of the season and it’s only the fifth time they have reached that milestone since they last won the title in 1990.

(Image: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Much to Mignolet’s delight, there was also a third successive clean sheet and Liverpool haven’t managed that since August 2015.

Klopp’s attackers may have grabbed the headlines but the Belgian keeper has arguably been the club’s most improved player this term. He has firmly re-established himself as the Liverpool No 1 and now he wants to help ensure the Reds finish the job off in style on Sunday.

“Four clean sheets in the last five games is pleasing,” he added.

“It’s given us a really good basis and we’ve defended well as a unit.

“But there’s nothing to celebrate yet. We have been battling for the entire season and we need to ensure we are ready for one more big test.

“It will be a strange game against Middlesbrough as they don’t have anything left to play for. They are already relegated but we have to make sure we are on it and show how much we want it.”