PHILIPPE Coutinho may not have been able to salvage a victory for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby last weekend, but his flashes of brilliance over the past few games offer Brendan Rodgers a solution to a pressing matter.
Early in the season Brendan Rodgers addressed live4liverpool.com and others about how he would be seeking a traditional ‘number ten’ in the coming summer.
In January, just a couple of months after he made that statement, he signed a gifted young player who may have solved that conundrum ahead of schedule.
Since his arrival, Coutinho has played predominantly from the left hand side for Liverpool as he did on loan at Espanyol last season but, as we see more and more of the young star, it becomes increasingly obvious that he is even more threatening from a central position. He has shown he has the ability to contribute greatly from wide areas of course but his main attributes are his vision, imagination and passing rather than crossing or stretching the play. Liverpool have a star on their hands and must get the best out of him.
Against Newcastle and Everton he was allowed to play mostly behind Daniel Sturridge in the role that the number on his back suggests he should excel in. Excel he did. Despite still being in the embryonic stages of his Liverpool career he has quickly become the Red’s main source of attacking penetration in the absence of Luis Suarez.
His defence splitting pass that led to Jordan Henderson’s goal at St James Park took the breath away. His dribble and flick for Sturridge’s first goal that day was mesmerising. Even in a subdued, tight Merseyside derby a week later he managed to unlock an Everton defence on top of its game with a stunning pass that should have led to the opening goal.
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With one impudent flick of the outside of his right foot he guided the ball expertly through a previously impenetrable block of blue shirts straight into the path of Sturridge for a clear cut opportunity. Had Liverpool’s striker given the pass the finish it deserved then we’d probably have seen Coutinho’s handiwork hailed as the ‘pass of the season’.
On a day where defences were on top and genuine quality was in short supply, that moment shone like a diamond in the dirt.
Still slight of frame and yet to quite manage 90 Premier League minutes without a drop off in his physical condition, Coutinho has great scope for improvement. He should only grow more influential as time progresses. He is still a kid with an extraordinary talent that Liverpool must harness, but what a talent his is. With the amount of versatility on offer in attacking players such as Suarez, Sturridge and Henderson, it is surely in Brendan Rodgers’ mind to use Coutinho as his focal point going forward and create a team that is designed to get the best out of the Brazilian.
Given how impressive he has been so early in his Liverpool career, one can only feel excitement at just how good Coutinho can be for Liverpool over the next few seasons. If he can continue to improve and is afforded the opportunity to go about his work in a team that supports and enhances his talent, the possibilities are endless. The thought of Liverpool going out to find a playmaker to play off a front man next season suddenly feels remote given Coutinho’s impact.
He may not have imagined it when he signed the 20 year old, but in Philippe Coutinho Brendan Rodgers may have already found his perfect ten.
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Seems he must have known it as he did give him the no10 shirt he only playing left to get used to prem with a bit of space. Cant wait to seeing him linking up with suarez again
He is just best to give him No: 10 shirt .
While Coutinho have been impressive for Liverpool, we must not forget that he is only 20 years of age. We shouldnt overly stress him and place too much expectation on him. While admiring his talents, we need to let him develop without pressure and further improve into a truly top class playmaker. Hence, I think Liverpool should recruit one more playmaker in the summer to take some of the pressure of young Coutinho, while adding extra quality to the team. 1 Coutinho is good. But why not go for another Coutinho? We would have 2 technical playmakers playing off Luis Suarez. That will be a really strong attacking third as well as give us more options up top. Christian Ericksen, Isco, Hamsick, Strootman. Just a few names to consider.
Agreed. Though realistically, We can’t get Isco. He’s been beast for Malaga this season. More realistic target for me would be Adam Maher. We could even play Suso as well.
PC will bring CL and so call Sexy football to liverpool.
id like to see another playmaker as wouldnt want a slump inform due to injury or over played wirh cup games etc class in the mid is important basically were games are won and lost also when playing against a top 4 side weve more kick ass there
Eriksen please to compliment what we have already
There is no doubt Coutinho has been a fantastic player for Liverpool,and he looks like one of those cool headed lads,I like him.
There is this guy in Liverpool who in my own opinion has excellent potentials of becoming a fantastic 10……his name is Suso but,I’m always surprised seeing him been played from the wing probably that’s because we already have enough centre midfielders. Suso to me,is more of a centre midfield player than a winger cos he place better in that position just that he hasn’t got as much experience as Coutinho and he needs to step up his physicality level…….those aside,he his an impact player with good sense of judgement on the ball,from the little I have seen of him this season anyway.
Wouldnt spend out for any more cm we need someone like arda turan someone that can take players on out wide and come inside. As for back up for coutinho we have suso shelvey texiria
Yes add, Eriksen and keep playing Coutinho wide, he can switch with Eriksen do it would new hard to man mark us
Looking good coutinho. Pure class
I agree with the article, coutinho looks the part of a central attacking midfielder ! Exciting watching him play and to see how he grows…I agree with many here that we should look at other classic No.10s as well. Having only one outlet for supply makes our play predictable and it wouldn’t take much for the opposition to man mark the slight of frame Coutinho out of the game. I’m not saying we don’t need wide players here cos as many of us LFCfans know we’ve been lacking on that front for many years…Suso is an exciting talent and i think we should combine coutinho and suso during training…i believe they can complement each other..we may not need to look too far from home for another in the no.10 mould
Oh yes, i think suso is also another mould of number 10.will form a better partnership with coutinho and sterling in the absence of sturidge and downing
But i cant imagine why Rodgers prefers allen to suso who is more creative in the middle. Allen only think aba sideways passes, but i will be happy to see lucas, suso and hendo in middle, with downing, coutinho and sturridge in the front three interchanging positions in this our final game just to see the combination.