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Coutinho key to Liverpool’s 4-0 derby win

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The Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, wants Philippe Coutinho, right, to score more goalsMany players received plaudits for our excellent 4-0 win over Everton at Anfield. A game that most felt would be a close affair was blown apart by Liverpool’s dynamic attacks that the Toffees’ defence, without Coleman or Distin, were simply unable to deal with.

Sturridge scored two goals and should have had more having missed a penalty and other chances. Suarez was irrepressible as always, with an assist and the fourth goal having run half the length of the pitch.

Raheem Sterling caused countless problems for Baines, restricting the dangerous Evertonian to a primarily defensive role all game. John Flanagan, in his first start after a lengthy injury lay off, was dominant in his position, particularly against Pienaar, defending and attacking with equal aplomb while showcasing his ever improving ball retention ability.

And Steven Gerrard showed he’s still a World Class player, even in his newer defensive position, by controlling the game from deep, defending whole-heartedly and intelligently with countless blocks and tackles and coming up with the opening goal. Every player could be proud of their performance.

But for me the key player in the derby was Philippe Coutinho.

The little Brazilian who is well loved on Merseyside has not been in the best form of late. He was substituted at half time against Aston Villa and his shooting and, rather surprisingly, his usually exquisite passing have been letting him down recently.

After the disappointing result against Villa where Liverpool’s midfield was overrun and Gerrard was too often left with no support, Brendan Rodgers changed the system back to a 4-3-3 with Coutinho operating in behind a front man, which started as Sturridge but was often Suarez as the two frequently interchanged.

Rodgers employed the same system successfully against Bournemouth where Liverpool left as 2-0 winners. In this case Suarez played as the number 9, with Sturridge playing on the right side of a front 3 with Victor Moses on the left, giving the excellent Raheem Sterling a well deserved rest.

Coutinho played well in this game and with both Daniel Agger & Mamadou Sakho still injured Rodgers stuck with the same system as he was still limited in his ability to play the 3 centre-back system he had employed earlier in the season.

At times when Liverpool have played a 4-3-3, Coutinho has played as the wide left player of a front 3 and the team did particularly well with Lucas, Henderson and Allen during Gerrard’s absence. But Phillippe Coutinho was born to play this central role, and is far superior to Allen as the furthest most of the midfield three in an offensive sense. What few people suspected however was just how good Philippe could be defensively.

Belying his small stature Coutinho fought for every ball against Everton and pressed relentlessly. He regularly dropped back into deeper positions and made a number of excellent interceptions and tackles, a skill few people thought he possessed.

Furthermore, the freedom he had in the position, and the intelligence of his movement, meant that he was always offering himself as an option to a pass. This made Gerrard’s life far easier as Coutinho was always available, but also made the life of the back four easier, as if Gerrard was marked and Henderson was out of reach, Coutinho invariably dropped deeper to get on the ball.

This all led to some wonderful fluid quick fire passing moves that brought the ball out effectively from defence to a dangerous attacking position.

Coutinho’s performance would have been capped off by a goal if Sturridge hadn’t been so incredibly selfish a few minutes after his penalty miss, when rather than passing to Coutinho, or indeed Suarez, Sturridge instead tried to go it alone.

Philippe Coutinho is a wonderful talent, all Liverpool fans know it. But he is also a player for whom the Stats do not quite show his value to the team. Indeed Stats don’t always tell the whole story at the team level either. Liverpool had only 39% possession against Everton!

And Coutinho’s Stats aren’t so impressive either with a Passing accuracy of just 79% this season (Henderson has 86%, Lucas 91%), showing, in my opinion, that Stats can be rather misleading. Nevertheless, Coutinho himself has stated he is working on his finishing (only 2 goals this season), and he hasn’t got as many assists as he should have given his quality (only 3),

However Philippe’s value to the team cannot be understated. Even when he plays on the left and drifts infield, Philippe Coutinho makes Liverpool play. He interlinks play, weaves passes without giving the ball away in tight areas, is always looking to probe forward and connects with all the Liverpool players seamlessly (with the possible exception of the rather erratic Cissokho).

As a young player still developing he will make mistakes and have poor games, but he is already a key player to Liverpool, and the main link between defence and attack.

With the confidence this win will give the team, and the confidence it will give the players, Liverpool are well placed to maintain their challenge at the top of the league and push further ahead. Certainly if we are to be successful this season, Philippe Coutinho should be central to it.

You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/

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Gabriel Darshan (Writer) - aka Sutha Nirmalananthan aka TaintlessRed. I am a lifelong Liverpool fan who has followed the Reds from near (e.g. living in Kirkby) and far (e.g. living in Johannesburg), though am again living back home in the UK. I’ve watched football in stadia all around the world, from the Maracana to the Camp Nou, though Anfield will of course always be the greatest! I enjoy healthy football debate, preferring reasoned analysis based on sound evidence over gossip. I also write a blog at http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/ on all things Liverpool FC and you can follow me on twitter @taintlessred

43 comments

  • brown says:

    …. dat ever holds…the lad is a genius

  • Denis D says:

    Coutinho should always play as the third man in the three man midfield.
    As he is the most creative midfielder we have at club.

    But we need some defensive stability in centre park:

    B Rodgers should forget about A Turan(26) Of A Madrid for 27-35M as Marquee signing:

    Instead B Rodgers needs to bring these three players to club in next three days for 37M

    Yevhen Konoplyanka(24) Of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for 12-17M to play on RW or LW as RW / RWF or LW / LWF

    Y MVila(23) Of Rubin Kazan for 8-12M to play as DM / CM

    F Reges(26) Of Porto for 6-8M to play as CM or DM

    These three players would definately shore up midfield and make team, squad alot stronger and we will make top 4 with these three players at club. Along with Allen,Agger, Enrique and Sakho all soon back fit .

    Those 3 players would help club maintain top 4 finish all the way until Mid May 2014

  • Yanna says:

    Coutinho can’t shoot and score. FACT !

  • Aaron says:

    Where are all the negative brigade today. They say they support the team, looks like they only support the team when we play poorly or lose.

    @ Realist, was that real enough for you, biggest derby win since 80’s. Rodgers has bettered all Liverpool manager’s result, in 30 years against Everton with emphatic victory over the noisy neighbours, and not one comment from those who are unhappy with him.

    @Liam & Digger does it pain you to have to listen to praise Rodgers receives, did every goal hurt you to your very core?

    Someone from the negative brigade must have found some negatives from the game? Did Rodgers have a hair outta place, Sturridge greedy and it’s Rodgers’ fault he missed the penalty, were the pies cold at half time and Brendan in charge of pies. Were the owners seen stuffing cash into their deep lined pockets through the window of their directors box?

    The target has been to get into the Champions league, we are well on course to succeed, beat a good Everton team whilst missing an entire back four and two central midfielders.

    Not bad for an apprentice manager….. Unless you’re one the NB (Negative Brigade) always looking for faults. A colossal shame..YNWA

    • tr0ll hunter says:

      Yawn . What a boring troll .

      Nobody cares what the idiot aaron says .

    • realist says:

      Ha ha ha ha . Sad little aaron is confused. He thinks one excellent performance makes everything ok again

      Does 1 good win mean FSG are all of a sudden good owners ? Ha ha aha

      Does 1 good win mean Rodgers DIDNT waste most of our money on utter sh ite ? Ha aha ha

      Does 1 good win cover up all the poor previous mmanagerial errors by Rodgers ?

      With all the top sides except arsenal having a transition season with new systems/manager , with Rodgers having the league’s best player , top 4 and maybe a cup is the MINIMUM requirement

      Ha ha ha ha . Once again poor little aaron gets everything confused and wrong again

      • Aaron says:

        How many good victories have we had at Anfield this season plenty of goals scored in the process, good away victories at Stoke and Tottenham… Did you go school @Realist (now known as fakeist) because in my class it was taught anything over one counts as either a couple, few, many, lots etc. So you’re right, one good victory doesn’t mean much, grouped together they mean a hell of a lot more.

        Ultimately it means fourth place is in our own hands.

        Just to use your comment to ask you the same question, would one bad performance mean we are sh it, with sh it owners? Because I think.. think, we have had more positive displays and performances than bad ones, I’m also guessing the evidence of this will be on all websites displaying the current league table.

        How long should transition period last, one season? It lasts differing periods of time for differing reasons, could last two months. For us it has taken longer as we have had to change a large chunk of personnel.

        Man City have had the best squad for some time, you could manage that team to success. Chelsea have not, for a very long time, had a week squad, now they have one of the best managers again. Utd defending Champions with a new manager who didn’t even need to move house if he didn’t want to and has managed in the PL with varying degrees of success for 11 years, Tottenham invested heavily and had a manager lots of Liverpool fans wanted to be our boss and Everton who improved this season, having finished above us the last couple of seasons. As has Tottenham. So using your comment fourth is minimum, what position are we in? Have we been higher?

        If you think we have Devine right to finish fourth or higher because the above then you evidently know little about football at the highest level. We have a good chance, just like the teams mentioned above. Although they have better chances.

        ‘if’ we finish fourth, you could argue that the owners look like getting things right. Beating Everton does not suggest they are right. Losing to Everton wouldn’t prove they are useless.

        I appreciate your childish retorts and generally they are, mildly amusing, but when you show yourself up, I just feel sympathy for you and your outlook on Liverpool and more worryingly football in general.

        • tr0ll hunter says:

          Yawn yawwwwwwwn yawn yaaaaaaaaaaawwwnnnn

          What a boring troll . More boring nonsensical rubbish from the troll Aaron

          No one cares or listens to the rubbish he trolls

          Idiot

        • realist says:

          Ha ha ha haaaaaaaa haa haa ….haaaaaaaa ha ha ha

          Sad little aaron repeats the same boring drivel again and again ….and again. As trollhunter wisely states ‘you ARE a boring troll ‘ ha ha ha ha

          Ha ha ha ha ha . It’s good to laugh at desperate aaron trying to make conversation with people who think he is a moron and don’t give a fk what he says

          Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . …keep em coming

          • Aaron says:

            I repeat the same drivel?

            How many times have you written hahahaha ha ha, and other such examples of your education?

            The mind boggles at the level of debating on this site. I will continue to write using words from the dictionary or maybe I’ll just hire the cast of Sesame Street to translate my views, this id so that people of your level and lower can understand. If that is still a bit too high brow for you, I’ll draw pictures.

          • tr0ll hunter says:

            Yawn. Same boring rubbish by the troll aaron

            Nobody cares what the idiot says

  • Fitzy says:

    Your stats are wrong, Phillipe got the assist for Danny Boy’s first surely!

  • pino pino says:

    Aaron ur such a boring idiot u fool.If we hadn’t attacked Fsg do u think they would have bothered signing anyone.Get a life and stop pretending that we have squad depth, so that people we say this boy is the only good person on this site.

    • Aaron says:

      So because people attacked the owners on a website they bow to fan peer pressure and get the check book out? Pino that is the most absurd thing I have heard regarding Liverpool player purchase.

      So because some people wanted Suarez to stay and some people wanted Suarez out, pre season, posting differing views on websites FSG’s brains must have been in danger of spontaneously combusting. Pino you have now moved up to legendary status. Keep up the good work, can’t wait for the next teachings of how and why Liverpool buy players. Amazing.

      • tr0ll hunter says:

        Yawn

        Aaron bores everyone with his trolling. Dont feed the troll pino he just repeats nonsense every time

  • realist says:

    trollhunter has to be the most astute and accurate person on here

    He is the only person who is correct 100% of the time

    It’s great having aaron troll every day , it gives us all something to laugh at . Hahah hahaha ha ha ha

  • pino pino says:

    Aaron ur shameless.

    • Aaron says:

      Pini Pino, so great they named him twice.

      Tell me, what else are you going to attack FSG for hoping they’ll listen to you? Are they reading your comment right now? Fool.

      Just for clarity, which sites was it that were so influential in helping open up their chequebooks? Can’t be this one….cos they’d see they’re hated and probably keep the chequebook closed to spite us

      Pino Pino. Isn’t Pino short for Pinnoccio? I knew your brain was made of wood.

      • tr0ll hunter says:

        Ignore the troll , he has no intelligence . He doesn’t understand that everyone thinks he is an idiot

  • Diego 'Digger' Souness says:

    I dont see an open top bus parade happening anytime soon. But hey let snall minded people like Aaron enjoy their. crumbs of comfort.

    • Aaron says:

      Are you not enjoying being in the CL race?

      We are used to being outta the race by now so yes, these crumbs of comfort, at this point in time, certainly are tasting like a hearty feast. Even if we had lost, my defence of the current status would not have changed in the slightest.

      So Digger, what currently is the issue and what are you hoping for in order for FSG to leave and Rodgers be sacked, would you rather we were completely out of the race, mid table or worse?

      We are more consistent this year than in years previously, youth coming through, strikes scoring for fun. If you were offered that at the start of the season would you have accepted or would you have just stuck your fingers in your ears, closed your eyes and relentlessly shout ‘Rodgers out down. With FSG’ like an infant.

      Don’t answer, I’m pretty sure I know the answer.

      • tr0ll hunter says:

        Ignore the boring troll Diego

        Aaron has nothing in his life except trolling these pages .

        Idiot

      • Diego 'Digger' Souness says:

        Even Hodgson beat Chelsea 2-0, it doesnt mean we are world beaters, getting all carried away is just embarassing. Even if we make 4th i still dont see it as an achievement, people laughed at Arsenal fir over celebrating when they clinched 4th last season, it shows a state of mind where a club is happy to be the ‘also-rans’ of English football. But we are Liverpool not Stoke. Deal with it Aaron.

        • realist says:

          Aaron doesn’t do reality . In his own little (sad) world everything is great . FSG are going to build a stadium , invest in the team and make us the best . Rodgers is the best ( even though he hasnt done anything ) . And Joe Allen , borini aspas assaidi alberto and all the other sh ite he bought will be world class . Ha ha ha

          Aaron is a vegetable , without the brains to think for himself .

          • Aaron says:

            That’s right, I live in a world full of rainbows, unicorns and beautiful angels in comparison to your scorched earth outlook.

            Did you just say Rodgers hasn’t done anything? OMG the levels of your hatred is unbelievable. Name another season where missing an entire back four wasn’t a problem? Do you think Henderson has improved (I’m not saying he’s world class), has youth played a part, are we more attacking and pleasant on the eye, do we control more games, are we beating the teams we should for a change instead of just performing against the big boys? Are we fighting for 4th at this stage of the season instead of just pride?

            All by accident was it?

            Unbelievably obnoxious thoughts.

          • Aaron says:

            @Realist.

            with regards to the Stadium Redevelopment, I’m pretty certain it’s not just a case of snapping fingers and opening the chequebook.

            But if you don’t believe me….

            http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-anfield-regeneration-wont-held-6649206

            Not sure if you have ever built or redeveloped something the magnitude of a stadium or not but these things take time and set-backs often occur.

          • tr0ll hunter says:

            Yawn

            Yawn

            Yawn

            What a bore

            The sane nonsense repeated over and over

            Troll aaron really has no life . He repeats the same nonsense . Nobody listens to this idiot

        • Aaron says:

          Exactly….and what happened when we lost to Southampton and drew with Villa? People went looking for Rodgers’ blood. Teams beat other teams, there’s no mystery.

          Just so much negativity before the. Everton game, any positive person commenting was shot down in flames. It’s nice to redress that.

          Now I’m not getting carried away with the victory at all, we.could lose to West Brom and it wouldn’t mean too much to me. I’m thinking long term.

          We all want league success but our illustrious history does not give us right of way. Recent history is a more vital clue as to who does and who doesn’t challenge for the title. Utd have way more reasons to feel they own the PL,.Arsenal have lost their way but have won it a number of times, Chelsea have won it a number of times, City now look like they are gripping it with both hands. Everton finish above us occasionally as do Tottenham.

          So tell me, outside of winning the league when you could still pass back to the goalkeeper, what right above all others do we have to lay claim to winning the title? Because we’re Liverpool is not a good enough reason.

          To me it seems we have to earn it, we have to build and we have to be shrewd.

          I can deal with that, can you?

          • tr0ll hunter says:

            Yaaawn . The troll continues to bore everyone

            No one here cares what the boring idiot says

  • Sunnysunshine says:

    The fact that we played very well against our city rival does not give us guaranty of top 4 without new signing

  • Sunnysunshine says:

    The fact that we played very well against our city rival does not give us guaranty of top 4 without new signing. Ok

  • Danny Dice says:

    @ Aaron: You make some really good points regarding our league progress, but no need to shove it in people’s faces, no matter how vindicating that Derby win must have been. We’ve now scored more league goals than we did for last season, are turning over the bus parking smaller teams (arguably Liverpool’s biggest achilles heel in past seasons), regularly posting back to back wins and genuinely look like we will not only have a good chance of top four but will play a major role in who lifts the title this year (we’re not ruled out either).

    To the detractors, if Aaron’s really a troll then clearly you’re the ones feeding him. Just a thought.

    • Aaron says:

      I have to ‘shove it in peoples faces’ cos if I were to write single sentences, people put words in my mouth and make childish accusations (insert @realist comment).

  • Danny Dice says:

    *Edit* More goals than this time last season. Not far off though (14 to go).

  • kav says:

    Another day , another article filled with Aaron’s rants instead of what the author intended . You are troll and you have made this site into a joke

    • Aaron says:

      You’re saying this wasn’t already a joke? I only started posting when.i read the daily hilarity.

      This is what the comments on this site do, almost all articles have comments coming back to harangue the ownership and manager, I’m standing up to that, arguing against the opinions of several people at one, hence you see my name more frequently. Simples.

      Plus if I’m a troll, then I’m in really good company on this site.

      • tr0ll hunter says:

        Yawn again .

        Not one person here even cares what the troll Aaron says , he is just boring everyone .

        idiot

  • stevieG says:

    Aaron …. Your a ar$ehole . simples

    • Aaron says:

      Without an ar$hole humans and most living things would not be in a position to exist longer than a week, at best, so I’ll take your insightful comment as a compliment.

      Being labelled the part of an evolutionary necessity is not the worst thing in the world.

      Had you labelled/compared me to yourself, StevieG, I’d have really been in trouble.

  • sick of trolls says:

    Tired of trolls on here, join real fans over at http://www.kopfans.com, it’s a great new social network 🙂

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