7 - Philippe Coutinho - V1

[FCBarca]

Formations aren’t static. Messi and Suarez interchange positions a lot so the usually end up like this on the pitch anyways, irrespective of what it says before the match.

With Coutinho, I don’t disagree with the sentiment of Valverde’s system doesn’t suit him and/or he should play as an interior. The problem I’m having with him and Valverde probably has with him is:

A) The last time he played there, against Levante in the CdR, he gave up a massive turnover trying a cute little flick that led to there 2nd goal and he hasn’t played there since. The ball just dies when it goes to him, he’s constantly turning the ball over right now and we cannot afford that in our tactical setup and how vulnerable our defense is at times. And honestly, his minutes should be going to Aleñá who doesn’t do these things and naturally understands the position.

B) He’s showing no imagination, no guile, no authority out there whatsoever, and that’s beyond worrying for me right now. He honestly doesn’t deserve to start right now. He should be desperate to prove something: tracking back, winning the ball, making things happen, making simple passes. Doing the small things right, looking for the ball and finding space, making runs and being in goal-scoring positions. I just see none of that, not one or two things that make this somewhat redeemable right now. Dembele was in a similar situation but his attitude on the pitch turned things around for him and look at him now. He did those small things and people laud and love him.

It really isn’t us this time, sometimes players just can’t handle it. I say bench him for a bit, try him in the interior and if he’s still turning the ball over doing backheels to no one in particular and being scared of his own shadow, take the L and sell him to fund de Ligt.

Absolutely. Some pointed to the Dembele pursuit as a panic move on the heels of losing Neymar but Coutinho always seemed this to me. Touted as an Iniesta heir, he is far from this profile a player. I simply do not trust him in the midfield and isn't a protagonist enough in left wing. Clearly a ton of talent but so far it's been both a question of fit and mentality

The goal of this board & Abidal should be to upgrade the left winger position by recouping whatever portion of Coutinho's enormous transfer fee we can in summer from Chelsea, United or Arsenal

 

[Barcilliant]

If we sell we are going to take a huge hit. We will get 70 million max. I'd keep him as sub and maybe play him as false nine.
Last season he played pretty darn good in some games. Was confident and scored some golazos. This season he seems lost. Iniesta replacement 😂

 

[MagIX]

70mio ? hopefully, but I doubt
Before us, was there anyone interested in this fantastic talent ? willing to spend a fortune to have this incredible player ?

 

[Leo_Messi]

Coutinho once against a complete and utter waste of space. Not surprised as I saw this coming already 2 years ago and wrote about it openly here as one among a tiny minority of users. The sooner we sell this enormous flop the better. Not even Hristo's open letter changed anything for the better, nor the continuous playing time that he has been receiving lately. His attitude and body language is as bad as usual as well. I have NEVER been more frustrated with one of our players as I have with this guy. To think that we bought him for €160 million, is just stuff of nightmares.

Happy that Malcom, a player that I have continuously been defending here, shinned and took one of his very, very rare opportunities against our most historic rivals at home. Hopefully we will see a resurgence of Malcom and thus Coutinho's permanent presence on the bench or on the tribune. At this point in time, I don't want to see this version of him playing at all.

 

[Tekkers]

Coutinho once against a complete and utter waste of space. Not surprised as I saw this coming already 2 years and wrote about it openly here as one among a tiny minority of users. The sooner we sell this enormous flop the better. Not even Hristo's open letter changed anything for the better, nor the continuous playing time that he has been receiving lately. His attitude and body language is as bad as usual as well. I have NEVER been more frustrated with one of our players as I have with this guy. To think that we bought him for €160 million, is just stuff of nightmares.

Happy that Malcom, a player that I have continuously been defending here, shinned and took one of his very, very rare opportunities against our most historic rivals at home. Hopefully we will see a resurgence of Malcom and thus Coutinho's permanent presence on the bench or on the tribune. At this point in time, I don't want to see this version of him playing at all.

the cameras caught him on the bench when he was subbed off and he had a wide grin on his face that left the impression that he was rather pleased with his "MOTM performance" last night

 

[LMTR14]

Surely on the right track of becoming the biggest flop to date.

people here were saying the same thing about dembele not too long ago...

 

[Morten]

So, the 160(?) mill player has fallen out of favor, eh?
Bigger flop than Zlatan, at this rate?

Anyways, how about a deal, straight swap for Isco? Isco would probably suit you guys better, and Coutinho would probably suit us better as well.

 

[Aryagorn]

Zlatan at least won us a Classico! No comparison, they are not even close!!

 

[Raketa10]

So, the 160(?) mill player has fallen out of favor, eh?
Bigger flop than Zlatan, at this rate?

Anyways, how about a deal, straight swap for Isco? Isco would probably suit you guys better, and Coutinho would probably suit us better as well.

I sincerely doubt that Isco would suit us better. Coutinho suits us and he showed that last year, problem is somewhere else. He is terrible but that has nothing to do with our style of play but rather with his current form. He would suck in every team right now, regardless of the position he would play. I don't know where the problem is but for sure it's not in our style of play or Valverde. There might be some private problem which no one knows about because players of his age and class don't go shit within 6 months just like that.

I was defending Dembouz when everyone were shitting all over him and I intend to do the same now with Cou because I am sure he is a world class player who suits our style of play and he will prove that again.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Playing for his dream club is psychologically eating him alive.

I didn't see that coming at all from what he did last season. 22 goals and 12 assists from midfield/left wing and the 2 goals/2 assists in 5 games at the World Cup


But he doesn't belong here. Sell. Sell. Sell.

 

[Moe]

On their day, Coutinho is definitely the better player. He's more of a match-winner. However, if his performances don't improve I think we should sell him at the end of this season while his value is still up.

 

[Raketa10]

Playing for his dream club is psychologically eating him alive.

I didn't see that coming at all from what he did last season. 22 goals and 12 assists from midfield/left wing and the 2 goals/2 assists in 5 games at the World Cup


But he doesn't belong here. Sell. Sell. Sell.

Can you elaborate why doesn't he belong here? That's just bullshit.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Can you elaborate why doesn't he belong here? That's just bullshit.

Where is he gonna play?

Dembele has that front 3 spot sealed.

Valverde tried and ultimately decided his experiment with Coutinho in midfield was unfruitful.

So for now he's a bench player until the end of the season.

And that's visibly messing with his mind. You can see it in his face.

 

[Raketa10]

Where is he gonna play?

Dembele has that front 3 spot sealed.

Valverde tried and ultimately decided his experiment with Coutinho in midfield was unfruitful.

So for now he's a bench player until the end of the season.

And that's visibly messing with his mind. You can see it in his face.

First of all we are competing for many trophies, so we need more than 11 players not to mention there will be many injuries like for example now. Cou can play in various positions (LW, LM, AM) and so can Dembele (LW,RW). Suarez and Messi are over 30 so every player out of that 4 will have plenty minutes to start and perform. I honestly don't see any problem there. He has played more minutes this season than Demebele so he is not a bench player by any means.

 

[Leo_Messi]

I sincerely doubt that Isco would suit us better. Coutinho suits us and he showed that last year, problem is somewhere else. He is terrible but that has nothing to do with our style of play but rather with his current form. He would suck in every team right now, regardless of the position he would play. I don't know where the problem is but for sure it's not in our style of play or Valverde. There might be some private problem which no one knows about because players of his age and class don't go shit within 6 months just like that.

I was defending Dembouz when everyone were shitting all over him and I intend to do the same now with Cou because I am sure he is a world class player who suits our style of play and he will prove that again.

Isco, despite being a ball hog, is twice the player that the overrated Coutinho ever was and ever will be. Coutinho has never and will never suit our system either. Wrote about this 2 years ago here when virtually everyone else was writing pages up and pages down about what a great fit he would be. 1+ year into his Barça career we can all see the very sad reality.

He is about to become THE biggest flop in football history given his price tag. Never seen a more limited, stupid and hyped player than him with a worse attitude. Cesc and Ibra looked like world beaters here in comparison. Makes both of them look like cheetah's too to make matters even worse.

Only idiots would ever question Dembélé's talent. Ironically all the critics of his have been quiet for months upon months and that will likely remain the case as long as he will be playing for us. Not a big surprise at all as he was and is a generational talent with unique playing characteristics. Coutinho on the other hand has none. Another overrated "EPL product" hyped beyond belief.