Topic: PHILIPPE COUTINHO: THE MAN WHO ESCAPED PURGATORY

[Red-Soldier]

Fantastic from Phil yesterday.

Hopefully he has a couple of great gamesa against Dortmund!

[the_red_pill]

Could see him getting 15 goals this season plus tons of assist/key passes

Have to keep the vultures away,especially that mob over at the nou camp

On 10 now, I think. Seems on the way to almost making that mate.

[the_red_pill]

Fantastic from Phil yesterday.

Hopefully he has a couple of great gamesa against Dortmund!

Seems unbelievable at times, especially the way he shimmys and ghosts past players at times. It's like they were never there to begin with.
Unreal talent.

[clinical]

Could see him getting 15 goals this season plus tons of assist/key passes

Have to keep the vultures away,especially that mob over at the nou camp

They've taken mascherano and suarez for £85m only. If they want him they have to double our income from them.

[Euskadi]

Both him and Eriksen ran the show yesterday. Glad Coutinho plays for us, I still remember just how poor his finishing was he has now reached a point whereby if he is in and around the box with a bit of space I feel quite confident that he is going to score.

[BER]

I feel the same way about Phil as Klopp does about Kagawa.

Play him in the centre and let someone else less talented do all that donkey work on the wing.

[killer-heels]

I feel the same way about Phil as Klopp does about Kagawa.

Play him in the centre and let someone else less talented do all that donkey work on the wing.

Nah, he is good off the left.

[Euskadi]

Nah, he is good off the left.

The interesting thing about him off the left is that, his starting position is quite wide but the actual position he tends to receive the ball in is quite central. Really confused the full backs.

[killer-heels]

The interesting thing about him off the left is that, his starting position is quite wide but the actual position he tends to receive the ball in is quite central. Really confused the full backs.

Thats fine. He is good out there anyway and i wish we dont see that silly shout of playing him in central midfield. He is too much of a goal threat now to play him deeper.

[Euskadi]

Thats fine. He is good out there anyway and i wish we dont see that silly shout of playing him in central midfield. He is too much of a goal threat now to play him deeper.

Think it was Brendan who saw him as a future number 8. He needs to be further up the pitch in order to be at the core of our combination plays in the final third which requires players of his technical ability and vision

[SerbianScouser]

I`m still in awe of his performance yesterday. I`m not sure if people still realize what we have on our hands here. This is a guy who didn`t get to show all he can do on the pitch over the last two years because we forced him to play upfront with two immobile strikers, imagine if he was in current set-up during that period.

To score a goal, create a 1v1, create another good chance and almost score again against the best defence in the league is remarkable especially considering they knew he`d be our biggest threat. His performances in big games are borderline Suarez level when you think how much he delivered in them since he joined us especially this season.

Klopp must be absolutely licking his lips at the thought of building his front 4 around this guy.

[saoirse08]

I`m still in awe of his performance yesterday. I`m not sure if people still realize what we have on our hands here. This is a guy who didn`t get to show all he can do on the pitch over the last two years because we forced him to play upfront with two immobile strikers, imagine if he was in current set-up during that period.

To score a goal, create a 1v1, create another good chance and almost score again against the best defence in the league is remarkable especially considering they knew he`d be our biggest threat. His performances in big games are borderline Suarez level when you think how much he delivered in them since he joined us especially this season.

Klopp must be absolutely licking his lips at the thought of building his front 4 around this guy.

Totally agree. He looks over his injury now after an indifferent return to the team during his first few games back. That's three goals in three games now isn't it? Things he was doing on the pitch yesterday were a joy to watch. There is a real pleasure in simply watching this lad do stuff on a football field. He's 23. Not even close to his peak. His level of technical brilliance is already honed and hard to improve upon. For this injury-punctuated season, he's close to 1 in 3 scoring rate, which isn't bad considering it been the thing that has been used against him not being regarded as world class. Also, I can hardly remember him scoring an 'ordinary' goal or one that wasn't important/decisive this season. Think his only tap in was against City in the league. Even then, it was a nicely worked goal. While he's on the pitch, we always have a chance to score out of nothing, his sublime goal against the Mancs the other week is proof of that.

Boss.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Probably one of the most overrated players in football.

[Red-Soldier]

 

[ThePeetmix]

Can't wait to get some quality around him. When he puts together a consistant season he'll put up some crazy numbers.

[Haggis36]

He was class yesterday. Absolutely ran the show against the team challenging for the league and made it look easy whilst doing so, and on another day he could have had a hat trick. He absolutely has that type of performance in his locker, and he has a really fantastic knack for cracking that type of performance out in big games, we definitely do not have a better big-game player and bar Suarez, probably haven't for a while.

Consistency has always been Phil's problem, and I think there'a bit of revisionism on that in light of his recent (absolutely excellent) performances. Whilst I agree that he'd perform much better surrounded by higher quality (who wouldn't?) he's still prone to go for a few games where he's fairly anonymous, and that's probably the next step in his development - to make these dominant performances more regular. That's what separates him from the very best in my eyes, and why talk of Barcelona is definitely premature, though he can absolutely get to that level.

I've always wondered whether he scored enough to feature long-term as a #10 or in the forward three but he's really stepped it up this season, scoring at better than 1 in 3 is a massive step forward for him. Now that he's not shooting from every angle/position as often, the quality of his attempts has gone up a lot and we're seeing the results.

[IanZG]

Beautiful.

[BazC]

He's about to make the jump to the next level. Pray he stays fit because it's the only thing that stops him from reaching the very top level next season I think. He's played with a swagger recently, and some of the stuff he's coming out with has been unreal. He's had the skill, intelligence and balance to be up there for a while. He finally looks to be getting the sheer audacity and supreme confidence he needed to make the step to the top.

[jooneyisdagod]

He'll go to Barca sooner or later. Get over it. Let's just fucking make sure we have a top replacement ready to fill his shoes.

I think so too, and it's tragic because we've fallen behind to the point where these players consistently leave for Madrid and Barca and we don't appear to be able to do shit about it. But this is why though I was initially reluctant about Gotze, I can see the idea behind it. He can easily step into Phil's shoes IF he leaves, but can complement him if not. Either way, not to make it a transfer thread, but I think the main point was that he is a brilliant talent and is being underrated by even our own fans who seem more concerned that he is shooting so much, but seem to miss the fact that as soon as he has options to pass to, his shot count drops significantly or he shoots from far more dangerous areas and most importantly that he is now our top scorer.

[jooneyisdagod]

He's about to make the jump to the next level. Pray he stays fit because it's the only thing that stops him from reaching the very top level next season I think. He's played with a swagger recently, and some of the stuff he's coming out with has been unreal. He's had the skill, intelligence and balance to be up there for a while. He finally looks to be getting the sheer audacity and supreme confidence he needed to make the step to the top.

He's been about to do that for nearly 2 years now mate. Immediately after Suarez's departure, I remember an interview with I think Gerrard, who said that the person that was starting to look at himself as the leader and was trying to take on the responsibility was Coutinho. Not Henderson, not Sturridge, not Balotelli, not Lallana, but Coutinho. Suarez said something similar when he left. And it's obvious when watching him on the pitch. If he shows for the ball, he gets it and it doesn't matter who gets it. He plays with a real football authority that the best players have knowing fully well that they are the best players on the pitch. Teams must shit themselves when they see him on the ball as he seems to have added a bit of muscle and speed to his already top-notch skills and that's now allowing him to burst past players after a shimmy with pure speed apart from his incredible changes in direction.

[SlowRap]

Got knocked over a few times yesterday, another ref would've given fouls but he just dusted himself off and got on with it - scored another worldy, enjoy him whilst he's here.

[Gerry Attrick]

I can't stand Garth Crooks but he summed it up best when he said "I don't think I've ever seen the Brazilian score what can be described as an ordinary goal for Liverpool"

[C]

I don't see where he would play in Barca's side, he certainly wouldn't start. But he's been great this year

replacement for Iniesta when he goes and as things stand, a direct replacement for Rafinha I guess.

[mickeydocs]

Barca are already after him with Suarez and Neymar tapping him up. They know his quality. He's our best player and has been for two years now.

Unlike Suarez I do not fear that it is inevitable that he will leave us. As a club we now have a top class coach, hugely improving finances, a good young squad (and money to improve it), and an overall sense of a bright future.
Furthermore we have a coach with a vision of where he wants to go. We have helped to make El Magico and I think he is keenly aware of this.
I have a feeling we will look back on Phil the way we look back on Kenny and Stevie.

[SerbianScouser]

I used to be convinced Phil`s best position on the pitch is no.8 having 3-4 runners ahead of him plus I thought his supreme technique would give us the edge in those deeper positions in order to retain and dominate the ball better but I`m not so sure anymore given how well he`s developing as a final third player - obviously he would still perform to his brilliant standard at no.8 position.

I looked up the games he played under Klopp without Benteke in all comps ( I think we can all agree playing with profile of a player hurts Phil`s game ) and his record is :

14 games     7 goals and 3 assists.

That`s absolutely phenomenal and consistent as you`d like. His long-range shooting has obviously decreased dramatically since Benteke was permanently benched which is something that you`d expect and he`s really growing as a front 4 attacker making a case for it being his permanent role going forward.

[ThePeetmix]

I used to be convinced Phil`s best position on the pitch is no.8 having 3-4 runners ahead of him plus I thought his supreme technique would give us the edge in those deeper positions in order to retain and dominate the ball better but I`m not so sure anymore given how well he`s developing as a final third player - obviously he would still perform to his brilliant standard at no.8 position.

I looked up the games he played under Klopp without Benteke in all comps ( I think we can all agree playing with profile of a player hurts Phil`s game ) and his record is :

14 games     7 goals and 3 assists.

That`s absolutely phenomenal and consistent as you`d like. His long-range shooting has obviously decreased dramatically since Benteke was permanently benched which is something that you`d expect and he`s really growing as a front 4 attacker making a case for it being his permanent role going forward.

I think he has improved his one on one dribbling over this season. Started using the outside a lot more also and as a result it's made him more difficult to defend.

[SerbianScouser]

I think he has improved his one on one dribbling over this season. Started using the outside a lot more also and as a result it's made him more difficult to defend.

Yeah he`s adding another string to his bow every single game, developing really nicely'; on Saturday we`ve now seen this move where he goes to  his left and then use his left foot. Next step will be doing a `Maxi` - anticipating moves and finishing on the far post and also scoring more scruffy goals and attacking space in behind after diagonal runs into the box from the left Reus style.

[DangerScouse]

replacement for Iniesta when he goes and as things stand, a direct replacement for Rafinha I guess.

Any chance this kind of speculative bollox can be kept off the thread?

[S]

We're lucky to have Coutinho. I admit there was one out of character dive on Saturday, but on the whole I love the way he approaches games. He has this eagerness to try things, to take players on, to instigate attacks and he does it all without any drawbacks. By drawbacks I mean personality wise. Like the theatrics you get with players like Suarez, or the poor attitude of English equivalents like Wilshere (I know, he's nowhere near Coutinho's level). A joy to watch.

[ThePeetmix]

Someone made a good point earlier. How many simple, easy goals has Phil scored? I can only remember two off the top of my head. One against Everton where a corner falls to him at the back stick and he pokes it in. The other where I think Sterling rounds the keeper and it falls to him to tap into an empty net. Any others?

[IgoDirk]

Someone made a good point earlier. How many simple, easy goals has Phil scored? I can only remember two off the top of my head. One against Everton where a corner falls to him at the back stick and he pokes it in. The other where I think Sterling rounds the keeper and it falls to him to tap into an empty net. Any others?

3-1 Loss to Southampton at St. Mary's a couple of years ago. Scrappy loose ball in area and keeper out of position.

[clinical]

We'll have him for one more year I reckon. And then he'll go.

Barca will try fuck us over for the 3rd time this decade. Depends how much we bend this time. As the last two transfers we've taken a right good spanking.

Coutinho will be a £50m/£60m player by this time next season so we shouldn't take a penny less.

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

Someone made a good point earlier. How many simple, easy goals has Phil scored? I can only remember two off the top of my head. One against Everton where a corner falls to him at the back stick and he pokes it in. The other where I think Sterling rounds the keeper and it falls to him to tap into an empty net. Any others?

his first one i suppose

[jonkrux]

We'll have him for one more year I reckon. And then he'll go.

Barca will try fuck us over for the 3rd time this decade. Depends how much we bend this time. As the last two transfers we've taken a right good spanking.

Coutinho will be a £50m/£60m player by this time next season so we shouldn't take a penny less.

sad but i do agree. we need to stop selling our best players to get back to top.

[Chakan]

We'll have him for one more year I reckon. And then he'll go.

Barca will try fuck us over for the 3rd time this decade. Depends how much we bend this time. As the last two transfers we've taken a right good spanking.

Coutinho will be a £50m/£60m player by this time next season so we shouldn't take a penny less.

The problem wasn't how much we got from Barca it's what we spent it on. Hopefully Phil doesn't go, but if he should I have a feeling we won't be spunking that money on dross.

[Alf Garnett!]

We'll have him for one more year I reckon. And then he'll go.

Barca will try fuck us over for the 3rd time this decade. Depends how much we bend this time. As the last two transfers we've taken a right good spanking.

Coutinho will be a £50m/£60m player by this time next season so we shouldn't take a penny less.

Odds?

I'll have a tenner on it not happening!

[Solomon Grundy]

Any chance we can shut up talking about Barcelona?

[Red-Soldier]

Any chance we can shut up talking about Barcelona?

This!!

We've now got Jurgen Klopp in charge, a top class manager, one that players will want to play for, one that can keep and attract top talent.  No disrespect to our previous manager there

[kcbworth]

I fucking love Coutinho. Easily one of my fav Liverpool players of all time. The way he can keep the ball is up there with the very very best we've had. That alone does it for me, let alone some of his other moments of magic

[Solomon Grundy]

I fucking love Coutinho. Easily one of my fav Liverpool players of all time. The way he can keep the ball is up there with the very very best we've had. That alone does it for me, let alone some of his other moments of magic

 How old are you fella?