Coutinho the CM

[dmishra]

Coming off last night's performance, he played mostly as a deeper no. 8 than an out an out AM. It's not the first time he's played there of course - he's floated between 2-3 positions in his time here.

But given his lack of end product (and this doesn't show much sign of improving - his shooting is still crap, and he rarely follows up on his passes for returns in the box), maybe we're better off grooming him for the no. 8 role long-term.

His pressing has come a long way since he first came here, and he puts in a good shift these days (albeit only for about 60 mins generally). He's very good at taking care of the ball, so if we can get him to bulk a bit and improve his stamina, maybe we could make a proper meats and potatoes playmaker out of him?

I've just been thinking there's more chance of him becoming that than a matchwinning AM.

 

[gkmacca]

How the heck did we manage to find not one but two Brazilians who can't hit a shot on target? Quite a perverse achievement. Oh well, I think Coutinho looked pretty impressive as an AM last season, in many games. He needs to build up his strength and find a way to impose himself on a game right from the start, rather than from about 20 minutes in, and he certainly needs to work on his shooting, but there's so much talent there waiting to be realised. It won't do him any harm to play a more circumscribed role in the short term - he can do a job and he needs to be made fully aware that it's up to him to win the right to play in his preferred position.

 

[jan]

Wasn't there an interview with him where he said Rodgers had earmarked him for the CM position when he signed him?

 

[MaBigTip]

Wasn't there an interview with him where he said Rodgers had earmarked him for the CM position when he signed him?

Nope, just that Rodgers was telling him he could play an 8 and teaching him to.

 

[ctlovesred]

He is also one of our only players who drives the ball forward when there is space in front of him. It is infuriating watching players with 40 yards of space pass it backwards.

 

[ILD]

Coutinho's game is currently suffering from the movement in front of him. He thrives on space to pass into. He has the space in front of him but not enough of our players are making runs for him. As a result he has to keep it and shunt it sideways or try force the difficult pass.
Last season Coutinho would pick up the ball in a deep position and immediately have Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez interchanging in front of him. There ya go Phillipe, pick a pass son. Now when he picks it up we have one focal point up front (Balo, Lambert) and the rest holding their starting positions. I cannot wait for Sturridge to come back into the team. We are missing his movement. He is totally different to Balotelli in my book. Balotelli get's the ball and immediately creates an individualistic approach to our attack. We go from attacking as a unit to hoping an individual can muster up something special.

 

[Brizzle]

Coutinho's game is currently suffering from the movement in front of him. He thrives on space to pass into. He has the space in front of him but not enough of our players are making runs for him. As a result he has to keep it and shunt it sideways or try force the difficult pass.
Last season Coutinho would pick up the ball in a deep position and immediately have Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez interchanging in front of him. There ya go Phillipe, pick a pass son. Now when he picks it up we have one focal point up front (Balo, Lambert) and the rest holding their starting positions. I cannot wait for Sturridge to come back into the team. We are missing his movement. He is totally different to Balotelli in my book. Balotelli get's the ball and immediately creates an individualistic approach to our attack. We go from attacking as a unit to hoping an individual can muster up something special.

This sums up the start of the season attacking wise pretty well.

Lack of pace and movement upfront giving our creative mids a lack of chances to be creative..

 

[Oncy]

Ive never seen the hype with him.
Garcia without the good bits.
Hes mostly bang average. I play with lads like him on a Sunday, all the talent in the world on the ball but rarely able to turn it into something tangible.
He and the Markovic wouldnt be anywhere near my team at the minute. Suso in the glimpses and cameos offers at least as much as Coutinho if not more.

I think Sterling and Lallana are the only players massively convincing at present though to be fair.
When Allen is back he would be straight in the side next to Gerrard for me with Henderson in the 8 role and then Lallana and Sterling off Sturridge.

 

[Oncy]

Henderson has 1 goal and 3 assists compared to none of either for Coutinho.
Although im fairly sure Phillipe would win on the all important woeful shot from long range stat.

 

[ILD]

Ive never seen the hype with him.

Did you champion him from the off?

 

[Oncy]

Totally yeah. I was so excited we got him. The bits I saw of him at Inter he looked amazing and at the u20 world cup.
To clarify I meant the hype for us. In fact thats probably unfair because first 6 months he looked like he will fullfill his potential but last season and this hes been dreadful.

I lost faith in him when he dived in a game and injured himself for 3 months.

 

[Whirly]

Ive never seen the hype with him.
Garcia without the good bits.
Hes mostly bang average. I play with lads like him on a Sunday, all the talent in the world on the ball but rarely able to turn it into something tangible.
He and the Markovic wouldnt be anywhere near my team at the minute. Suso in the glimpses and cameos offers at least as much as Coutinho if not more.

I think Sterling and Lallana are the only players massively convincing at present though to be fair.
When Allen is back he would be straight in the side next to Gerrard for me with Henderson in the 8 role and then Lallana and Sterling off Sturridge.

Suso is broken.

Coutinho is vital to us right now because he attacks defenders and creates space. I'm pretty confident the goals and consistency will come with time.

People keep forgetting he just turned 22.

 

[ILD]

@Herr Onceared
He was silly good in the Dortmund friendly and had us salivating with anticipation for the season ahead but so far it's been underwhelming. I'm hoping he improves with The Return Of The Studge.

 

[Mystic]

Coutinho isn't the best player in our team, but christ, he's a very good player to have in our squad, I think people judge him far too harshly.

 

[ILD]

Some just have high expectations for him as the talent is there. He needs to be a bit more consistent.

 

[localny]

As all have said; when he's good, he's immense, but his talent is becoming far too sporadic to be a Liverpool player. We can't carry players on memories of last year. He's more like the thyroid gland of the team at this point. I think we should plan without him; not make him so central to the team.

 

[Whirly]

As all have said; when he's good, he's immense, but his talent is becoming far too sporadic to be a Liverpool player. We can't carry players on memories of last year. He's more like the thyroid gland of the team at this point. I think we should plan without him; not make him so central to the team.

This sounds like a good argument to get rid of Skrtel and Johnson.

We aren't Real Madrid, there's just about no benefit to selling him opposed to having him in rotation at worst.

 

[localny]

you miss my point W. I don't want to get rid. I want to rotate out. He's currently "the brain" of the team..

If that's the case, we're screwed. Talent without consistency = a mirage of future success.

 

[Whirly]

you miss my point W. I don't want to get rid. I want to rotate out. He's currently "the brain" of the team..

If that's the case, we're screwed. Talent without consistency = a mirage of future success.

We're already rotating him out though.

I think you're dwelling a bit much on BR's comments on Coutinho's role.

 

[localny]

You mean, he's not the brain? He's the little toe?

All jokes aside, we've been pretty dependent on him. Maybe that's a problem Lallana will solve.

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

He's been poor this season, but no way was he "dreadful" last season. He was inconsistent maybe, but he had some great games. I think he'll look a lot better when Sturridge is back.

 

[Whirly]

He's been poor this season, but no way was he "dreadful" last season. He was inconsistent maybe, but he had some great games. I think he'll look a lot better when Sturridge is back.

Looking back, he was one of our most crucial players. Most of his goals came against top teams, or in key situations. Plus in the matches where we thrashed sides, he was usually the one pulling the strings.

 

[localny]

He was, but he really drifted out in the final few matches.

 

[dmishra]

Coutinho's game is currently suffering from the movement in front of him. He thrives on space to pass into. He has the space in front of him but not enough of our players are making runs for him. As a result he has to keep it and shunt it sideways or try force the difficult pass.
Last season Coutinho would pick up the ball in a deep position and immediately have Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez interchanging in front of him. There ya go Phillipe, pick a pass son. Now when he picks it up we have one focal point up front (Balo, Lambert) and the rest holding their starting positions. I cannot wait for Sturridge to come back into the team. We are missing his movement. He is totally different to Balotelli in my book. Balotelli get's the ball and immediately creates an individualistic approach to our attack. We go from attacking as a unit to hoping an individual can muster up something special.

Undoubtedly. I think there's no question that Coutinho will be far more effective as an AM when he has Sturridge in front him.

That's probably the case with all attacking mids - you need players with good movement in front of them to best exploit their talents. I just feel the likes of Fabregas, Mata and Di Maria aren't constrained by that though. They are good enough to win games with their individual goalscoring ability even if the attackers in front of them are struggling.

We need to see that from Coutinho if he's to be a bona fide star AM. At the moment, his shooting his still crap, and his off the ball running into the box is non-existent.

Maybe he can offer us more in a deeper position. At times against West Brom, he seemed almost to be the second CM besides Gerrard, and I think he gave a very good account of himself. Having a CM who can keep the ball stuck to his feet and actually move forward with it is a huge advantage in games hinged on midfield battles.

If he can add strength and stamina, it might even be his best position is what I'm thinking.

 

[dmishra]

Something like this is what I have in mind:

------------------DM
------------------------Coutinho
-------Henderson

You can adapt the front three to either a diamond (with two up front and Sterling/Gerrard behind) or a 4-3-3 with one up front with two wing-forwards.

Not sure what you call that position for Coutinho: a no. 8 or a no. 6 or a whatever.

 

[Hansern]

Easy to forget that he's still only 22 though. And Rodgers said he's been struggeling with a groin injury.

 

[keniget]

I like Coutinho a lot and more than happy to give him time.

 

[Oncy]

I hope he turns out brilliant. Hes got talent he has a lot to learn though.

 

[jexykrodic]

Coutinho's game is currently suffering from the movement in front of him. He thrives on space to pass into. He has the space in front of him but not enough of our players are making runs for him. As a result he has to keep it and shunt it sideways or try force the difficult pass.
Last season Coutinho would pick up the ball in a deep position and immediately have Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez interchanging in front of him. There ya go Phillipe, pick a pass son. Now when he picks it up we have one focal point up front (Balo, Lambert) and the rest holding their starting positions. I cannot wait for Sturridge to come back into the team. We are missing his movement. He is totally different to Balotelli in my book. Balotelli get's the ball and immediately creates an individualistic approach to our attack. We go from attacking as a unit to hoping an individual can muster up something special.

Sturridge returning will no doubt help Coutinho but I think it will also help Balotelli, just look at the improvement in Balotelli when feeding off Gerrard. I think a new forward formation is in the making. Coutinho will be able to make many bullets.

 

[Gary25]

Coutinho's game is currently suffering from the movement in front of him. He thrives on space to pass into. He has the space in front of him but not enough of our players are making runs for him. As a result he has to keep it and shunt it sideways or try force the difficult pass.
Last season Coutinho would pick up the ball in a deep position and immediately have Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez interchanging in front of him. There ya go Phillipe, pick a pass son. Now when he picks it up we have one focal point up front (Balo, Lambert) and the rest holding their starting positions. I cannot wait for Sturridge to come back into the team. We are missing his movement. He is totally different to Balotelli in my book. Balotelli get's the ball and immediately creates an individualistic approach to our attack. We go from attacking as a unit to hoping an individual can muster up something special.

Space in front of him, or no space in front of him...there's no excuse whatsoever for the inept performances he's serving up at the minute.

He had a full summer off, and I expected him to hit the ground running and really make his mark this season but he's been shite - constantly giving the ball away(in dangerous areas too) picking the wrong pass and taking wild shots all over the place. Needs to sort himself out.