He's absolutely got enough pace to gain a few yards on his defender and send the ball to Dembele on the opposite side. It's how he'd be utilised best. He doesn't need to have the Mbappe-level step.
He is the Hazard level attacker from the left while he hasn't even reached his ceiling and will be twice as good if he scores as regularly as he is capable of, because he clearly loves it.
Will never be the Iniesta successor. If Barca try to force it, he'll sulk and want out just like Fabregas.
I don't think so though. He's one of those that has quick acceleration and can leave the defender dead in a short burst; but he isn't nearly quick enough to make longer runs or any of the kick the ball and run sort of runs that someone along the lines of Neymar, etc. provide.
I don't think he should play Iniesta's successor either though. How do you get him to play LAM and still have someone covering the wing? That's a question I don't have an answer for, and it might involve changing how we use Messi, or switching to a 3 at the back system. Either way, we will lose our ability to counter effectively with Coutinho at LW. Having just one quick player in Dembele is not enough; you need at least 2 quick players upfront. Messi, doesn't even bother making runs for the counter nowadays anyway, so it's critical.
Funnily enough, it was Neymar's sheer pace that was actually most useful at Barca. Aside from his clown act, he was most useful with the ability to beat defenders in a foot race. However, it doesn't look like we're buying any winger anytime soon, so Coutinho on LW might be the only alternative that a plain jane and clueless tactician like Valverde sees, if at all he sees even that.
