An incomparable orator, Liverpool's legendary coach Bill Shankly was able to speak in front of many people the way Beethoven played the piano.

In 1974, when Liverpool won the FA Cup, he stood on the steps of St. George's Hall in Liverpool and silenced the more than 100,000 fans in front of him to listen to him.

Shankly tucked one hand in his pocket and waved the other in the air, as if even the Liverbirds were listening intently.

'Since the day I came to Liverpool, to Anfield, I've told the players countless times that it's their honour to play for you. He paused meaningfully, then continued, "If they didn't believe me in the past, they should believe me now." ”

In January, Coutinho made a similar statement to the Liverpool club, after signing a five-year contract extension to become the highest-paid player in the club's history, Coutinho gushed about his loyalty to Liverpool: "No need to wait, I know. I love every day here, I can smell the city. I saw the ambition of the club, the team-mates and the coach. It's my life. ”

'I know what Liverpool means. We all know Dalglish, Rush, Hansen, Souness, Suarez and Gerrard. The reason why I signed a new contract with this club is that my goal is to one day be remembered like these players. ”

But just two months later, Coutinho struck the fatal blow at Liverpool by submitting a transfer request to the club.

Barcelona seem determined to recruit him for a staggering price, and his "apostasy" has led people to ponder: "Do you define his success by a player's loyalty or by trophies?" ”

When Coutinho smells the breath of Catalonia, the latter desire seems to defeat the former.

While Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has insisted he will welcome Coutinho back with "100 per cent" open arms, as a fan you might wonder if Shankly would have raised his rifle if that had happened to him?

Compared to the Scottish coach's impassioned speeches back then, the clichés of contemporary players (Coutinho is just one) seem almost meaningless.

Jurgen Klopp seems unable to change the status quo, with a consensus from Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher to the vast majority of Liverpool fans, and perhaps the coach and management, that Coutinho should play for the team for another season and then the two sides owe each other.

Fans don't seem to be as angry as they used to be when a modern player defected from the team, perhaps accustomed to mourning rather than dying.

If Steven Gerrard had been walking down the street outside Anfield, no one would have watched him burn Coutinho's shirt, which some Liverpool fans burned in July 2005 when there was a scandal between Gerrard and Chelsea. Maybe Shankly will lend him a fire?

In his autobiography, Steven Gerrard described the enormous pressure he was under: When Liverpool fans gathered at Anfield and Melwood training ground for mass protests, he felt like "eating paracetamol like chocolate beans." ”

While no one wants to regress to an era where players swallowed pills like Pac-Man, the realism of contemporary fans inevitably feels unenthusiastic.

Fans have come up with many reasons for Coutinho's desire to leave Liverpool, such as the fact that he is Brazilian and that all South American players like to play for Barcelona and Real Madrid – but this logic is like justifying married men for cheating on the grounds that they love beauty.

Liverpool may not be Barcelona, but they are also a football club with a lot of history. It is true that the elite players are in their prime, and the desire to seize the moment to join the Spanish duo is understandable, but the player has just signed a long-term contract with the club.

In any case, you can't have it both ways.

Of course, players may think that the club is more ruthless than they are on many occasions.

Roy Keane said of Manchester United's ditching of former team-mate Jaap Stam: "His move to Lazio shows that in football, players have too little power and contracts don't make sense...... He found that for football clubs, players are like expensive meat. The harsh reality is still there, when a club wants to sell a player, there's almost nothing you can do when they start moving. ”

There is no doubt that the way Luis Suarez left Liverpool is worth learning from Coutinho.

In the summer of 2013, Liverpool rejected Arsenal's £40 million transfer offer for the Uruguayan player, and the following season, Suarez excelled and almost helped Liverpool win the Premier League.

Suarez has rebuilt his reputation in the hearts of Liverpool fans, while leaving 81 million euros for the club when he joined Barca.

and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was rumored to be involved with Real Madrid in 2008, also stayed at Manchester United for a year before leaving the following summer. Philippe Coutinho could do something similar – provided he doesn't have a dream of Barcelona all season, of course.

Coincidentally, like Coutinho, Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, Arsenal thigh Alex Sanchez, and Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe have all missed the first few rounds of the league.

Oh, and Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez, who all suffered the same illness this summer – and looked elsewhere.

Football coaches may find transfer rumours boring, but for many fans, transfer soap operas are the main reason they follow the sport in the off-season.

It's a sign of a change in football's culture: real football seems to be a dull affair compared to transfer negotiations...... If the transfer can take place over the course of the game, a player who can play for the two clubs against him for 90 minutes may be delighted by the crowd.

It's hard to describe the trend of big-name players looking to change clubs as a pandemic, and it's not new, but the sheer number of stars seeking a move this summer is really nerve-wracking.

In an interesting article, Guardian author Benny Roni talks about how Chelsea player Diego Costa's self-imposed exile in Brazil could have serious and far-reaching consequences for the transfer system in football today.

In December 1995, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of Boseman, and now, twenty-two years later, will the players win more power than in the past?

Ronnie wrote: "Costa's lawyer has said that he will use 'all legal mechanisms' to get the transfer the player wants...... In industries other than football, it would be ridiculous if an employer deprived you of the right to leave your job to work for another company, or only allowed you to join a few of the companies they designated. ”

Manchester City's new goalkeeper Ederson echoed a similar sentiment in an interview with Omnisport: "I think Coutinho needs to make the best choice for himself. He can't let the club make the decision, the final decision is in his own hands. ”

There is no doubt that as more and more players express their desire to take control of their own destiny, the club will have lawyers scrutinize player contracts to see if they remain watertight in the context of football alone.

It is also for this reason that Premier League clubs are rumoured to want to close the player transfer market before the start of the season.

It's been three weeks into the new season, but many club managers are still spending more time talking about those who didn't play for the team than the players who played.

Whether it's a player or a club, some of the transfers this summer, and some of the players in the transfer rumours, including those who have already moved, have more or less different things than before.

Sanchez, who won the Double last season, was determined to leave Arsenal after the transfer of Zhang Zhetian, because he knew that Arsenal's miraculous comeback last season was completely based on Zhang Zhetian's team, and the departure of this former teammate made him hopeless about Arsenal's future.

Of course, at present, it seems that Arsenal is unwilling to sell him to a domestic competitor like Manchester City, as for abroad, Arsenal is still hesitating, forcing a year to stay, and then leave on a free transfer next summer, which will definitely retain the gunpower of the Gunners this season, at least Arsenal can have a year to find his replacement.

In response to the frequent transfer of a large number of new stars and well-known stars this summer, and even the situation of falling out with the club, some fans raised this question on the "head".

can't ask the current fans to be only one fan, and cane fans are not just fans, but there are high and low in their hearts.

Coutinho has a lot of fans in China, especially female fans, who love him to the point where they can sleep with him.

Therefore, I am very concerned about his dynamics this summer.

"It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. The frequent turnover of players in modern football is the mainstream phenomenon in today's football, which is very consistent with the saying that the camp of iron is beaten and the soldiers of water are flowing. The twisted melon is not sweet, if you want to go, please respect the club and the fans. Zhang Zhetian's reply.

"Loyalty? In a city for the rest of your life? Zhang Zhetian shook his head, the times are advancing, the three views, moral theories and laws are constantly updated, you can't simply determine whether it is good or bad, right or wrong.

Do your best to be worthy of your contract; Respect your employer and the fans, leave with dignity, that's your work ethic.

Turning off his computer, he grabbed his bag and headed to the Red Bull Arena, where he will play his first home game of the season at RB Leipzig this afternoon.