Jurgen Klopp has praised Liverpool's attacking players for quickly filling the gap left by Philippe Coutinho's departure to Barcelona in January.
Coutinho's on-off move to Camp Nou finally came to fruition during the last transfer window as the Catalan giants stumped up €120million, potentially rising to €160m, for the Brazil international.
Despite leaving a big hole in Liverpool's squad, Klopp's side have been in impressive form, winning four and drawing one of their last five matches – including a thrilling Premier League victory over the previously unbeaten Manchester City.
The form of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane has particularly caught the eye, the trio all on target against West Ham last weekend and in their Champions League thrashing of Porto.
Klopp is not surprised to see how his squad have evolved, though, and expects it to continue in the final months of the campaign.
"Phil Coutinho was a very dominant player in our game, when we weren't at our best it was a good idea to give him the ball," Klopp told a pre-match news conference ahead of Saturday's meeting with Newcastle United at Anfield.
"When he didn't play we had to do the job differently.
"I'm really happy with the reaction from the boys, they've stepped up.
"We wanted to keep Phil, he decided differently and I am happy that it has worked quite well so far.
"They are smart enough to use good players in the team. They were smart enough to use Phil, now they are smart enough to use each other. It makes us a bit more unpredictable.
"We have developed since January, but we have to do it again and again."
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