7 - Philippe Coutinho - V1

[henias]

That's not how I see it. Every formation is flexible depending on the game and obviously Tite is no different however I am talking "by default" here. We don't have to agree.

I have written earlier that the current 4-3-3 that Valverde is using (or what is left of it) is not the old 4-3-3 due to the personel that he has at his disposal currently.

I never wrote anything about you claiming that "Coutinho is the best fit in our system".

The point of the matter is that Coutinho does not fit our current 4-3-3 (or whatever you want to call it) or a traditional 'Barça 4-3-3' as I see it.

Personally I would like to see a midfield composed of Coutinho, Vidal/Busquets and Arthur have a run of games in a row but that is as likely as us selling Coutinho to Chelsea and buying Hazard for instance. Not going to happen with Valverde as a manager due to his darling Rakitic.

Never said he's gonna fit into our current 433 because we hardly used a 433 at all. Never fancied using a traditional 433 as well. Even against Tottenham it's more of a flat 442, 4231.

If Coutinho wants to adapt here, he should be deployed deeper with a flexible midfield 3, would allow him to flourish better.

He can play in advanced roles but not with Messi in 4231.

 

[kattanib]

Coutinho, Suarez, Raki and Busquets are all quality players. I am baffled with the amount of criticism they get. A quality player is someone who plays acceptably on a not so great day, and provide you with effective genius moments each game

 

[vlad]

Barca can bring all the best from world class players and they would have hard time to perform in this "system"

 

[Barcilliant]

Barca can bring all the best from world class players and they would have hard time to perform in this "system"

There is no system. That's the problem. Also Coutinho can't play centrally in the midfield cause Messi likes to drop deep and they get in each other's way.

As someone pointed out you can't play Coutinho with Rakitic and Busquets. They are too slow and static. Coutinho, Vidal and Arthur would be interesting.

 

[clemente]

The same pathetic people that are crying how bad he was would be screaming "hes top 3 in the world" if he scored those 2 goals.

 

[GOAT_SUAREZ]

The same pathetic people that are crying how bad he was would be screaming "hes top 3 in the world" if he scored those 2 goals.

I think people are reaching with their takes. Coutinho is a great player, was a good transfer and will help us achieve our goals.

 

[ATLBarcaFan]

He's in a bit of a funk, but he's too talented not to turn it around. I'm just not sure what his best position at Barca is.

 

[BusiTheKing]

I don't think he's in a funk. I just don't see what more he can do in a position like that. There are a few mistakes that could be polished off, but nearly every time he receives the ball, he gets the most out of it that someone like him can. When there's no throughball to make or link-up station ahead of him, then he's pretty much bust and drifting inwards to lay it off is often the only viable option.

 

[Gnidrologist]

He can do reasonably fine even in nominal winger role, but not if forced to hug sideline. He's great in tight space when playing centrally, but not on wings, where there's a lot less room for maneuver without blistering pace. Remember those one-twos with Messi. No one can link up in tight spots with such speed as him in our team, but most of the time he's forced wide and there's not much for him to do there.

 

[BusiTheKing]

He's definitely not a bad player to have on the wing. I just think that 1) his potential is being somewhat wasted and 2) having Messi play with an attacker that doesn't make deep runs is a waste of Messi's ability.

I sound like a broken record, but the reason Neymar worked so well in that spot is because in addition to playing one-two's with Messi, he could both make those runs behind defenders and dribble on the outside. A clever defense will know what Coutinho wants and do everything they can to supress that area he wants to maneuvre / link up in.

 

[abiabi]

I trust him in the big games, more than Dembele actually. And at LW at that.

You guys seem really ignorant lmao. Terrible forum

 

[FCBfan22]

And you, my friend seem like someone who stumbled here from Barca Reddit.

The fact is that Coutinho has been severely underperforming as a LW. If you can't see that, I can't help you.

 

[Gnidrologist]

 

[PhilS]

Excellent game from Coutinho. Loved his aggression and activity level, he was just inches away from at least two goals.

If Coutinho plays in midfield as this season progresses, it won't be because he is not good enough at forward, It will be because Arthur continues to show lack of adequate contribution to the goal scoring. Arthur does not yet show enough of an eye for the killer final pass, the dribble-drive to goal, for taking his shot. Rakitic, Coutinho in midfield, Vidal, all show more of a scoring orientation than Arthur. Not that Arthur is bad, this is my only complaint about him. I'm not convinced he can stay in the first 11 when Dembele has to play and Coutinho has to play.

 

[Jombi]

Excellent game from Coutinho. Loved his aggression and activity level, he was just inches away from at least two goals.

If Coutinho plays in midfield as this season progresses, it won't be because he is not good enough at forward, It will be because Arthur continues to show lack of adequate contribution to the goal scoring. Arthur does not yet show enough of an eye for the killer final pass, the dribble-drive to goal, for taking his shot. Rakitic, Coutinho in midfield, Vidal, all show more of a scoring orientation than Arthur. Not that Arthur is bad, this is my only complaint about him. I'm not convinced he can stay in the first 11 when Dembele has to play and Coutinho has to play.

Coutinho has to play sounds like the Cesc has to play idea we had, trying to force him into our midfield. Cesc was one of our most prolific goal scorers, scoring 42 goals in three seasons, but there was so much missing with him in midfield. If Coutinho cant cut it in the left forward position, its because Dembele has proven to be better there.