{"id":1566,"date":"2019-07-17T08:38:40","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T08:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=1566"},"modified":"2019-07-17T08:38:40","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T08:38:40","slug":"the-coutinho-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/the-coutinho-question\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coutinho Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Liverpool players have jetted off to America to continue their pre-season tour and give the supporters over there a chance to have a proper look at them in the flesh. It\u2019s genius marketing from Fenway Sports Group, when you think about it. They know the US market and will be about as clued up as it\u2019s possible to be in terms of how to take advantage of it. Improved shirt sales, a desire for American supporters to fly over to Anfield and watch us play will all raise good amounts of money for the club, which is no bad thing. That is especially true at a time when we might actually not have quite as much cash as everyone thinks. Yes, we\u2019ve earned fortunes from winning the Champions League and the associated TV coverage, but don\u2019t forget the number of incentivised contracts that will also have kicked in on the basis of having won the big shiny trophy, to say nothing of previous purchases that will almost certainly have contained a \u2018Win The Champions League\u2019 clause that sees the Reds need to pay more money to the selling club.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ready for day two in the states! &#x1f44a;&#x1f534;&#x1f1fa;&#x1f1f8; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0wrs8wMsdp\">pic.twitter.com\/0wrs8wMsdp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC\/status\/1151369186897088512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 17, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, then, I\u2019m starting to reassess my opinion on Liverpool\u2019s summer business. I think there\u2019s money there if the right target comes along, but it\u2019s the likelihood of that happening that\u2019s limiting our movement thus far. As much as I personally think there are all sorts of ways that the manager can improve the squad, we know that he\u2019s very much of the opinion that it\u2019s very, very difficult to strengthen the first team. The front three are amongst the best in the world, each having their own job to do; there aren\u2019t many players that can easily swap with Roberto Firmino, for example. Liverpool are shopping in a much smaller pool than at any other time in recent history, then, and I suspect that we don\u2019t have as much money as people think we do. J\u00fcrgen Klopp will be thinking long and hard about the right moves to make to actively improve his starting eleven and do so with players who understand how he works and won\u2019t need to be taught his methods, which has naturally thrown up the Philippe Coutinho question.<\/p>\n<h2>His Talent Isn\u2019t In Question &amp; The Players Like Him<\/h2>\n<p>There are many conversations to be had around Philippe Coutinho, but his ability as a footballer isn\u2019t one of them. His performances towards the end of his time at Anfield were up there with the best I\u2019ve seen. He became an attacking sensation as the likelihood of him gaining a move to Barcelona loomed higher on the horizon. Having spent much of his Liverpool career feeling the need to have a shot from all over the pitch, leading to the opposition gaining a goal-kick far more often than it led to a goal, he knuckled down and his finishing improved markedly. Whilst I\u2019m about to go on and argue that his return is both unlikely and would be a mistake, I don\u2019t want to give the impression for one minute that I don\u2019t think he was an extraordinarily talented player.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Who needs Michael Edwards? Agent bobby putting in that work again in this summer! &#x1f602;<\/p>\n<p>Looks like Roberto and Larissa are having a family gathering and Phil and Aine were both welcomed with warm embraces &#x1f602; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HeiaeUba6E\">pic.twitter.com\/HeiaeUba6E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u2076 (@bubbIxs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bubbIxs\/status\/1151239705679126528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 16, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I also don\u2019t want to give the impression that my dislike of the idea of Coutinho\u2019s return is anything to do with moronic things like \u2018he\u2019s a snake\u2019 or \u2018a traitor\u2019. I think Raheem Sterling\u2019s behaviour was far worse than Coutinho\u2019s, but I\u2019d have him back in a heartbeat because he\u2019s a talented player that would help us to win trophies. I also don\u2019t buy into the idea that the players don\u2019t like him any more; they\u2019re professionals and they know that players have to do what\u2019s right for their career as they see it at any given moment. I also wonder if there\u2019s an extent to which some of them will actually be feeling a bit sorry for him, having forced through a move only to see the Barcelona fans fail to take him to their heart, the management team use him poorly and then see his former teammates win the biggest trophy in club football.<\/p>\n<h2>I Don\u2019t Think He\u2019s A \u2018Klopp Player\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>When Philippe Coutinho was a Liverpool player J\u00fcrgen Klopp would\u2019ve been mad not to use him and try his hardest to get the best out of him. He worked with him and got him playing the best football of his career, so the idea that the two can\u2019t work together is clearly ludicrous. Yet I don\u2019t think that the German would have wanted to sign him if he\u2019d been playing for, say, Bayern Munich or Juventus for the previous five years rather than already being at Anfield. The reality is that the Brazilian doesn\u2019t work anywhere near hard enough in tracking back, pressing and covering the defence to be an effective cog in a Klopp side. I\u2019ve seen people say that he didn\u2019t play with Virgil van Dijk or Alisson Becker, so he doesn\u2019t need to work that hard defensively any more. I don\u2019t agree with that at all. We defend so well because of how hard the entire team works, not just thanks to those two players.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Something I wrote on Coutinho more than a year ago. This is the reason I doubt Klopp would consider bringing him back. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qErvzSdQaQ\">pic.twitter.com\/qErvzSdQaQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Stephen Drennan (@babuyagu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/babuyagu\/status\/1150737620319789057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Think of how often an opposition team would be on the attack last season and it wasn\u2019t because van Dijk had made a tackle or Alisson had made a save that stopped them from scoring but rather because Mo Salah, Sadio Man\u00e9 or Roberto Firmino had chased the attacked down and nicked the ball of them. It\u2019s everyone working for everyone else that makes Klopp\u2019s teams so effective and removing Coutinho from the middle is a big part of the reason why the side has come on leaps and bounds since his departure, in my opinion. The argument that \u2018you can never have too many excellent players\u2019 is an easy one to make, but it ignores the fact that some players just don\u2019t suit certain managers. As much as we all despise the man, Roy Hodgson\u2019s time at Anfield might have been more successful if he\u2019d been working with Andy Carroll over Fernando Torres, for example. Klopp would, I think, far sooner be guaranteed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain\u2019s fitness for a year than take the Brazilian back from his Barcelona hell.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_430\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-430\" class=\"size-large wp-image-430\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Philippe-Coutinho-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-430\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s entirely possible that we announce that we\u2019ve re-signed him in the next week or so and I look a complete idiot, of course. I have no problem with that and I certainly won\u2019t be sulking if it happens. Given the choice between signing Coutinho or signing nobody this summer then I\u2019d far sooner do the former. It\u2019s also worth noting that if we do indeed end up facilitating his return then I will very obviously be wrong about the manager not wanting to work with him and will have no issue admitting as much. I don\u2019t think I am, though, and I think that a move to Paris Saint-Germain is not only more likely but would actually suit the Brazilian more. I think that he\u2019ll be happy in a league where he doesn\u2019t have to work as hard tracking back and can just supply killer balls to the likes of Kylian Mbappe. We\u2019ll see soon enough whether I\u2019m right or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Liverpool players have jetted off to America to continue their pre-season tour and give the supporters over there a chance to have a proper look at them in the flesh. It\u2019s genius marketing from Fenway Sports Group, when you think about it. They know the US market and will be about as clued up as it\u2019s possible to be in terms of how to take advantage of it. Improved shirt sales, a desire for American supporters to fly over to Anfield and watch us play will all raise good amounts of money for the club, which is no bad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1567,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions\/1567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}