Philippe Coutinho

[Keener window-cleaner]

3 hours ago, bobzy said:

Buendia is the better attacking midfielder, which is why.

Buendia is better defensively, Coutinho doesn't do much tracking back at all. But when it comes to passing, keeping possession Coutinho is a level above, in fact he is among the best in the world when it comes to finding a way out of tight situations and finding passes. Buedia is really good at it as well, but is more hit and miss. The technique that Coutinho has is simply mouth watering.

[abdomlahor]

he reminds me of fernando torres post liverpool. a player totally devoid of any confidence. there is obvious quality there, but he lacks the same conviction and belief he had. he was famous for his long shots, now he drags them wide regularly. he was great at going past players, now he gives a few shimmys and lays it back five yards instead of driving forward.

he wasn't horrible today, but it was another nondescript showing.

 

[bobzy]

1 minute ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

Buendia is better defensively, Coutinho doesn't do much tracking back at all. But when it comes to passing, keeping possession Coutinho is a level above, in fact he is among the best in the world when it comes to finding a way out of tight situations and finding passes. Buedia is really good at it as well, but is more hit and miss. The technique that Coutinho has is simply mouth watering.

Agreed - but he's not as good as an attacking midfielder.  Buendia covers all the ground, instinctively looks for early forward balls, will run into the box, wins headers - the works.  Coutinho much more "artist" like; probably better sitting a bit deeper.

[MaVilla]

100% part of the solution, not part of the problem:

 

[Keener window-cleaner]

Just now, bobzy said:

Agreed - but he's not as good as an attacking midfielder.  Buendia covers all the ground, instinctively looks for early forward balls, will run into the box, wins headers - the works.  Coutinho much more "artist" like; probably better sitting a bit deeper.

Agree with that, Buendia also makes more penetrating runs and gives us more of a threat as it is now, if it is one of them I'd pick Buendia in that position. I hope Gerrard works out a way to play them both. What Coutinho contributes with presently is keeping possession in the middle of the pitch and one or two great through balls, but not much else at the moment.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Just watched the UTV Podcast, they think he had a really good game

Made me.wonder if, aside from the misplaced passes/turnovers I need to watch him more closely?

They feel he always shows for the ball, likes to keep things ticking over, and that his workrate is exceptional.

I personally thought he was poor, but that was mostly due to misplaced passes I saw etc. Which obviously will be highlighted more than anything else.

[PaulC]

Just now, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Just watched the UTV Podcast, they think he had a really good game

Made me.wonder if, aside from the misplaced passes/turnovers I need to watch him more closely?

They feel he always shows for the ball, likes to keep things ticking over, and that his workrate is exceptional.

I personally thought he was poor, but that was mostly due to misplaced passes I saw etc. Which obviously will be highlighted more than anything else.

Yes he totally loves him so hes a teeny bit biased 

 

[ozvillafan]

6 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Just watched the UTV Podcast, they think he had a really good game

Made me.wonder if, aside from the misplaced passes/turnovers I need to watch him more closely?

They feel he always shows for the ball, likes to keep things ticking over, and that his workrate is exceptional.

I personally thought he was poor, but that was mostly due to misplaced passes I saw etc. Which obviously will be highlighted more than anything else.

In the first half in particular, he got a LOT of touches. He was the only one that moved off the ball to receive it and often dropped deep to set things off.

His problem was that Palace had a lot of bodies in midfield as they went with a 5-4-1 formation. That either meant he was double-teamed or the person he wanted to pass to was and the limited movement by our other players made it difficult to unlock their defense.

He's had some stinkers, for sure - but I didn't think this game was one of them. The overall team performance, however, was flat and lethargic - even despite Coutinho's efforts.

[Demitri_C]

Rsst him for burnley.  Lets save him for the city game and try cost city the title.

 

[Condimentalist]

10 hours ago, MaVilla said:

100% part of the solution, not part of the problem:

 

I didn't see the game, watching that he looked to be quite deep, more a tidy part of the midfield three than a number 10 trying to drive on and get in the box. Maybe that is where his future lies when we have a better DM, with Buendia/Ramsey ahead of him...

[bose]

Feel like he’s sometimes trying to do too much. Keeps coming very deep for the ball when ideally you’d want him looking for space between the opposition defence and midfield.

[Hank Scorpio]

26 minutes ago, bose said:

Feel like he’s sometimes trying to do too much. Keeps coming very deep for the ball when ideally you’d want him looking for space between the opposition defence and midfield.

He is having to come deep because the idiots behind him keep losing the ball before getting it to him in a space where he can cause problems.

[lapal_fan]

He's playing in a 5-3-2 system, Ollie will always go long, so those passes are naturally more unsuccessful.

Ings will try and link up, but he likes to try those 10 yard darting runs into the box for finishing.

McGinn, is pretty static when not in possession, off the ball he's pretty bad, but he does other things well, just not helpful to Countinho when in possession.

Nakamba never wants the ball and is essentially another CB when in possession, you won't see him on the end of a forward thinking pass.

Luiz is better, but is still anchored. 

His only outlets will be Cash/Digne, and even they have to be careful because if we lose possession high up the pitch, they can't do their first priority job and defend. 

His options within the system are severely limited, Ramsey must play with him, because he'll make runs forward. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by lapal_fan

[Zatman]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Rsst him for burnley.  Lets save him for the city game and try cost city the title.

 

City will walk all over us if he starts as his lack of defensive work means we are starting with 10 men. Can get away with that against some of the teams in Premier League but not City’s 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, Pissflaps said:

He is having to come deep because the idiots behind him keep losing the ball before getting it to him in a space where he can cause problems.

A fate many of our best players and strikers have suffered here.

It's why midfield needs to be our prime focus. Break the bank on it IMO

[Demitri_C]

1 hour ago, Zatman said:

City will walk all over us if he starts as his lack of defensive work means we are starting with 10 men. Can get away with that against some of the teams in Premier League but not City’s 

Yes but with citehs crippled back four he can really do some damage

[R.Bear]

I was so willing for Coutinho to have a good game yesterday. Not for any reason other than himself. There was a moment in the second half when someone passed him the ball at head height. He was outjumped by a taller player and lost the header, as he would do. He then showed a sign of frustration and saying through body language "what am I supposed to do with that?". This is the point, unless he gets the ball, he cant do anything and we seem to be unable to get him into games. He isn't going to make lung bursting runs for through balls, he needs the ball to his feet. Even back to goal is fine as he's a magician at dancing around defenders and making space for himself. I'll say it again, if he's having a quiet game its because we're not getting him the ball. It's on the team. That said there were some sloppy passes from him yesterday but that's very rare from him.

[gwi1890]

2 hours ago, Zatman said:

City will walk all over us if he starts as his lack of defensive work means we are starting with 10 men. Can get away with that against some of the teams in Premier League but not City’s 

He presses at the correct times though, I’ve even seen him challenge for headers, He isn’t as aggressive or robust as Buendia but he’s no more a “passenger” than what Grealish was. 

[tinker]

16 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

He presses at the correct times though, I’ve even seen him challenge for headers, He isn’t as aggressive or robust as Buendia but he’s no more a “passenger” than what Grealish was. 

I have heard it all now , Coutinho was not affective against Palace, that is a fact, why? I'm not sure. Grealish, in his worst game for us,  was more affective than Coutinho was on Sunday. 

He's really easy on the eye and plays some lovely stuff , like watching a fairy drifting around the pitch, its a real pleasure and if we can get more dynamic players around him then I'm sure it will work but at the moment he's not affective.

[Rustibrooks]

20 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

I was so willing for Coutinho to have a good game yesterday. Not for any reason other than himself. There was a moment in the second half when someone passed him the ball at head height. He was outjumped by a taller player and lost the header, as he would do. He then showed a sign of frustration and saying through body language "what am I supposed to do with that?". This is the point, unless he gets the ball, he cant do anything and we seem to be unable to get him into games. He isn't going to make lung bursting runs for through balls, he needs the ball to his feet. Even back to goal is fine as he's a magician at dancing around defenders and making space for himself. I'll say it again, if he's having a quiet game its because we're not getting him the ball. It's on the team. That said there were some sloppy passes from him yesterday but that's very rare from him.

I noticed he was getting frustrated with our midfield yesterday. I had a feeling he'd get there eventually lol, he's not the only one to do it as well. I've seen Ings getting frustrated with our midfield or the ball not coming to him quicker, Grealish last year was the same at points.