Raheem Sterling has gone but Philippe Coutinho proves Liverpool will be just fine without him

Star man: Coutinho celebrates his late winner at Stoke

The way Liverpool ended last season – in sixth place, without a trophy and hammered away to Stoke – it was difficult to argue with Raheem Sterling’s well-reported burning desire to leave Anfield to find success somewhere else.

Whether he gets it at Manchester City remains to be seen, but the idea he might have got some had he stayed at Anfield suddenly doesn’t seem so far fetched – thanks to a little Brazilian by the name of Philippe Coutinho.

Liverpool didn’t ease all the worries about their future in the 1-0 win away to Stokebut the game showed that, despite the sale of Sterling, the Reds have kept hold of by far their most important player from last season.

From the second this meeting was thrown up by the fixture computer it had promised to be something special. For the home fans it was a chance to see if Stoke could pull off another David v Goliath hammering.

For the travelling Liverpool fans it was the first chance to see if something like £80m of summer spending had given Brendan Rodgers the tools to prevent one.

MORE: 5 things we learned from the BritanniaWith all that anticipation it was therefore hardly a surprise that, up until a few minutes from time, the game was on the verge of fizzling out into a forgettable goalless draw, an early contender for the most boring game of the season.

Then, up stepped Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho was barely fit for this game, having returned late to pre-season following the Copa America and Brendan Rodgers was about to bring him off for Danny Ings. Maybe Ings would have come on and scored the match winner on his full debut, but we’ll never know.

What we do know is that Coutinho stayed on long enough to make the kind of difference he made time and again last season with a goal worthy of winning a Champions League final.

The fact it ‘only’ won an away fixture against Stoke doesn’t matter. This match was vital, a must-win already, and Coutinho is the type of player any club with a hope of success needs, the kind of player who can find that bit of magic just when all hope seems lost.

Letting fly: Coutinho tries his luck from range

Last season Liverpool pinned a lot of hope on the shoulders of young Raheem, asking him to play all over the pitch to fill holes that should have been filled in the previous transfer window, and until the distractions of that far too public transfer saga got in the way he didn’t do too bad a job.

Yet Sterling never really had the look of a match winner about him. His best six months in a Liverpool shirt was the one where he played alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, part of a front line that would terrorise any defence on its day. But as the main man, the one the hopes of a club as big Liverpool depend on, Sterling never quite cut it.

He’s only 20, of course, and that day may come – albeit not for Liverpool – but right now Phillippe Coutinho is far and away the better player.

Not long before he scored he had a shot that went way over the bar, much to the delight of the home fans, but he didn’t let it rattle his confidence.

Red hopes: Coutinho and Sterling during training last season

Maybe he was just getting his sights in, trying to work out the flight of this new Premier League ball. Maybe he was just rusty – but he looked far from it with his goal.

Liverpool’s good spell last season, sandwiched in between that awful start and very much an embarrassing finish, included more than one game where a spectacular Coutinho goal was the difference.

That difference might well be what kept Rodgers in his job and he must have been reluctant about taking him off against Stoke, leaving it late to do so, weighing up the needs of today with the needs of the remains of another long season.

As Rodgers said afterwards: “I was very close to taking him off. He was going to come off and we were going to put Danny Ings on, but when you score the goal, your mind changes. I’m glad I kept him on!”

The boss: Rodgers speaks with Coutinho and James Milner

At the start of this year, mid-season last season, Rodgers gave Sterling time off for a holiday, a show of compassion that in hindsight Sterling probably wasn’t worthy of. Coutinho has barely had any time off since the start of last season, yet there he was putting everything into winning this game for Liverpool, for the fans.

Rodgers said of the Brazilian: “I think he’s shown his quality for such a young player. He’s only been back three weeks in training, so he’s not at the top of his fitness.”

Liverpool might yet wish they hadn’t sold Sterling, when they face his new club for example, but there were no such thoughts yesterday. As far as the supporters are concerned, it seems the England man is all but forgotten.

With the departures of Kop idols like Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, with Sterling leaving before he actually became one, questions were being asked about who the next one would be. He’s already here.

Taking on the mantle: Coutinho can be Liverpool's main man

Rodgers acknowledged the travelling Reds’ post match reception for Coutinho, saying: “The supporters at this club, the minimum they want to see is effort and commitment - they’ve seen that [with Coutinho] and I think they’ll be proud of the team. It was a great victory for us and now we can look forward to the Bournemouth game.”

Players like Coutinho, scoring goals like the one that beat Stoke, need to be playing on the world’s biggest stages and for that to happen more of his teammates need to find the desire he shows every time he wears that Red shirt.

Everyone looked tired in that first game, but only man looked ready to capitalise on it.