7 - Philippe Coutinho - V1

[Joan]

it's true that Coutinho loses 'it' after 70 minutes. His overall game drops, not just intensity or fitness.

 

[FCBfan22]

Man look, i didn't mean that as criticism for Coutinho. I quite like what i've seen from him. I'm sure he puts everything he has in trainings and in games. It's just something i noticed happening in 2 teams already and i was wondering if his stamina in general is not that great. And it's ok, there are stamina freaks like kante, roberto etc. And then there are the likes of Messi and Coutinho. Well, Messi even more so. Nothing wrong with that. Usain Bolt can't run a marathon like Gebreselassie and the latter can't sprint like Usain.

The fact is that coutinho mostly played once every week for most of this year, and then not even that much since Valverde thought that Iniesta was indestructible. Seems to me that he should've been one of the freshest players on the pitch eveb after the 60th minute. Again I'm not really criticizing Coutinho here. It's more of an observation.

If you show me where i compared our intensity with Liverpool's that would be great.

I didn't take that as a criticism. I just state my observations. I bet, that if he wasn't playing with Messi and Suarez, he could perform for a bit longer. Now, with Iniesta going, we really need a new CM and/or drop Suarez, because all things show that we'll be relying on Denis as Coutinho backup (playing most of the games for the last 20 minutes), which is straight horror.

 

[Ronaldinho10]

I didn't take that as a criticism. I just state my observations. I bet, that if he wasn't playing with Messi and Suarez, he could perform for a bit longer. Now, with Iniesta going, we really need a new CM and/or drop Suarez, because all things show that we'll be relying on Denis as Coutinho backup (playing most of the games for the last 20 minutes), which is straight horror.

Denis was pretty good for us when he came on. He improved a lot lately in latest games brought a lot of speed and excitmen But yeah there is no doubt that we need a new cm maybe even a new cdm for busqets aswell. As much as I don't want it to be true he is neering his end as well.

 

[serghei]

That's the distance Suarez covers in 90 minutes.

But he works hard and runs his ass off I guess. Did before, but not anymore.

He runs too much imo. It's almost as if we're trying to play 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 at the same time by exhausting this man who is basically up and down between winger and midfielder and even back to defend. You can't have the same player performing this many tasks. He's going to be burnt out.

He's going to either be primarily an attacking player, or a midfield playmaker. Thiago from Bayern is a good example. He's been specialized in a more midfield oriented position, even if he in the past liked very much to go up and score goals.

 

[FCBfan22]

Denis was pretty good for us when he came on. He improved a lot lately in latest games brought a lot of speed and excitmen But yeah there is no doubt that we need a new cm maybe even a new cdm for busqets aswell. As much as I don't want it to be true he is neering his end as well.

I would play another season with Busi and try Oriol to see how he does in that role. We need to see that, before we splash another 100 million on a CDM. We can't afford that. And I'm not alking about a game. I'm talking about 5-10 games. At least 4 of them in La Liga.

 

[Joan]

What's up with these 'replace Busquets' ideas lately? He's 29, there is no better player for us. At top of that, he's been one of our best performers this season.

 

[FCBfan22]

What's up with this replacing Busquets ideas lately? He's 29, there is no better player for us. At top of that, he's been one of our best performers this season.

I dunno. But I think that we should try to phase in Oriol, so we can see what we are dealing with. 3-4 years under Busi's mentorship should get him better. In worst case, we get to know that he is not good enough and start putting money aside for another CDM.

But yeah, I agree, Busi should have 3-4 years left on the highest level. And we have Rakitić as a solid backup.

 

[Joan]

I dunno. But I think that we should try to phase in Oriol, so we can see what we are dealing with. 3-4 years under Busi's mentorship should get him better. In worst case, we get to know that he is not good enough and start putting money aside for another CDM.

But yeah, I agree, Busi should have 3-4 years left on the highest level. And we have Rakitić as a solid backup.

We should try our best to find a cheap replacement. It would be for the best that it's Oriol. I hope he is. But spending 100M on every starter, it's not sustainable.

 

[PhilS]

Both wingers should be subbed, pretty much every game. That is the Barca system, these two positions should exhaust the players prior to 90 minutes. This is good, if the subs are good enough. Barca certainly is not going to sub for the two forwards.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

He could win treble. 😅😄

 

[soul24rage]

i'll seriously think that he can predict the future if he wins the treble

 

[Nothanks]

Fancy him wearing the #8 shirt next season now that iniesta is leaving?

and if d. suarez leaves give the #6 to someone more deserving

 

[DonAK]

Fancy him wearing the #8 shirt next season now that iniesta is leaving?

and if d. suarez leaves give the #6 to someone more deserving

Yeah I think Coutinho should get it. Alena should take the #14 once he's promoted.

 

[FCBfan22]

Well, #14 is as legendary as #8. I think he should pick whichever he wants.

 

[Joan]

Well, #14 is as legendary as #8. I think he should pick it.

Agreed. #14 means a lot here in Barcelona.