7 - Philippe Coutinho - V1

It's like Im in the Dembele thread a few months ago right after that Sevilla game. Where he wasn't mentally up for it, wasn't good enough, doesn't fit the system(fucking system LMAO) etc.. Give the fucking guy playing time as an AM then we can talk.

He's disappointing these days, shame. I hope he gets his form asap.

I think Coutinho needs a shrink. His confidence dropped significantly when he missed sitters for the Brazil NT. He could have taken Brazil to the WC final but failed when it counted. He still has not recovered. Today he missed another clear opportunity and a few minutes later he lost the ball and probably felt partly guilty for causing the second goal. He needs to score and regain his confidence. He looks miserable, almost depressed.

Short on confidence this guy is.

Some great moves, but can't find composure in front of goal. A couple of inane backheels that ended up costing us.

messi2140 said:

It's like Im in the Dembele thread a few months ago right after that Sevilla game. Where he wasn't mentally up for it, wasn't good enough, doesn't fit the system(fucking system LMAO) etc.. Give the fucking guy playing time as an AM then we can talk.

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How do you propose that happens when Messi likes the middle and you have 4 CMs + Alena to accommodate, 80% of them offensive? Genuinely.

He's like a turbo Brazilian version of Isco.

Both of these players under the right manager are absolute machines but under managers that don't feed confidence into them, they suffer greatly.

Edit: Yeah just saw Wolfe make the comparison too lol. Probably the best way to look at it.

Wolfe said:

How do you propose that happens when Messi likes the middle and you have 4 CMs + Alena to accommodate, 80% of them offensive? Genuinely.

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Cou-Vidal(with a conservative role)-Arthur. Alena can have plenty of gametime witb proper rotation. But at this point of the season it's too fucking late to try. So another season wasted for Coutinho

Coutinho is more decisive than Isco but he loses possession more in a game than Isco does in a season

Wolfe said:

And somehow Alena who played 0 minutes in autumn is practically your most consistent positive midfielder.

This ain't the manager. Only players being pussies expecting to be catered to and patted on the back when they miss a sitter or their flick doesn't work. Coutinho is a good talent, but totally inadaptable. He plays like a celebrity that wants to hog it and feel like the most or the second most important player on the team. Dude needs to wake up and realise where he is.

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agree with the rest but i don't see him acting like a celebrity wanting to be the main man atall. hes a quiet type and i think thats part of his problem.. theres no fighting spirit in him.

Coutinho was stupid to leave a rising Liverpool where he had it made to join Barca in January, missing out on the CL. i guess we can call it ambition but this transfer was bad from the get go

The system isn't great but It's been said that it doesn't completely excuse some of his actions on the field.

He's playing like a guy that thinks just because he cost around 160 Million, he's untouchable. He's been getting a free pass from the Catalan press for a while now while all it takes very little for them to be all over Dembele's ass and calling for his head.

Givenchy said:

agree with the rest but i don't see him acting like a celebrity wanting to be the main man atall. hes a quiet type and i think thats part of his problem.. theres no fighting spirit in him.

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He's a quiet type that quietly enjoys having attention. He craves the role where he's looked at as the guy that serves up some nice dribble from deep, cracking shots from distance and free kick bangers. That's what he was used to. Now he's in a team where Messi is doing the first, Dembele is doing the 2nd and Messi-Suarez are doing the last. 3 major pieces of his game gone. And nobody cares about his previous rep, because he's just a cog that's meant to help reach higher purpose. So he's the one that needs to give it up and play deep. Both Isco and James did so at different stages of their careers in Madrid. Isco actually did it with a lot of success in 2014 too. James not so much, hence he left when it was clear there's no ideal spot for him in a 4-3-3 with either Real A or Real B. And then Isco got in through the introduction of diamond by ZZ. And now it's obsolete as we have a gaping hole at LB.

messi2140 said:

Cou-Vidal(with a conservative role)-Arthur. Alena can have plenty of gametime witb proper rotation. But at this point of the season it's too fucking late to try. So another season wasted for Coutinho

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Nah man, in a 3 man midfield it's Vidal/Raki-Busquets-Arthur/Coutinho. Alena ironically looks more flexible and can play either side of a DM with different responsibilities. Ironically De Jong will slot in Vidal/Raki spot and you still will need a new DM next to him.

Now, if you wanted a 4-2-3-1 with an attacking mid, you need a DEEP deep midfielder who will do a lot of defense, an Alonso, a Martinez, a Fernandinho and you need another pivot, ideally an aggressor i.e. Vidal, Khedira, even Paulinho would do lol. But no room and no advantage for Alena or Arthur here.
But 4-2-3-1 really annoyingly gets in the way of Messi's favourite channels. It actually gets in the way of any winger who likes to cut in. Look what happened to Muller, a second striker by nature and James at Bayern with Robben and Ribbery. Isco almost always had to play winger role. You can scarcely see a time over the last 10 years where you used this formation. No personnel. And now you inexplicably bought an AM for a 4-3-3 and he doesn't like it.

He's got to let go and play deeper if he wants to stay.

E: Actually caveat - he needs to play deeper if he wants to play. And he would probably displace Arthur in most big games, but could play alongside against poorer teams. Still with same duties.

Long term 4-2-3-1 is possible if Suarez is let go and Messi is moved to #9 for the benefit of the rest of the guys so it's not like Cou has to give up all of his finesse and cravings for goals.

Stank up the place. What did he even do that game? Bigger passenger than Rakitic

He got his midfield posotion so no more excuses he needs to shape up or get sold

Sell

Messigician said:

Stank up the place. What did he even do that game? Bigger passenger than Rakitic

He got his midfield posotion so no more excuses he needs to shape up or get sold

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EV's fault not Couthino's fault, it's so obvious, I wonder how you can't see it.

He is still a fantastic player, just doesn't have a real role on the team and is in horrendous form. I'm sure we won't sell him this summer, we massively overpaid and no way we're just gonna accept to lose like 50M or more on this one.

Will be difficult to shoehorn him into the lineup especially since our midfield will already be very strong with De Jong coming in and Arthur doing excellent in his first season but maybe another coach could find a solution here, can't see it working out under Valverde tho.

I also don't see any club going after him for 100+ mil, maybe PSG if Neyboy wants another fellow brazilian but i can't see us doing business with them