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Philippe Coutinho


Megadrive Man
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Talent has never been the issue. Problem is he's tactically thick so he goes missing or makes the wrong decisions a lot. Hopefully Klopp improves this side of his game.

 

He may make some bad decisions on the ball when trying to create something from nothing but he is far from tactically thick. Defensively he is one of our most useful players in this system.

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Back in 2002, Carlo Ancelotti had a player in his squad who had been deployed as a 'trequartista' (playmaker behind two forwards) everywhere he'd played prior to that. He wasn't quick but he was very good on set-pieces and excellent at picking out a pass. Trouble was, his starting position somewhat limited his potential to distribute the ball as he had fewer options ahead of him, and his lack of pace meant he couldn't really beat players either. The upshot of this was that while he was a recognised talent, he hadn't delivered consistently.

 

Ancelotti decided to drop him back into midfield, behind his other midfielders. Not to shield the defence but rather to make use of his ability to pick out a pass. He now had a greater field of vision of what was happening around him, as well as 5 options ahead of him on the pitch, all of who were more mobile. It transformed Milan from merely a good Serie A team into Champions League and Serie A winners, and the player became a world class critical component for both club and country, winning the World Cup and reaching a European Championship final. Safe to say, the move did Andrea Pirlo a world of good.

 

Now while I don't think Coutinho is suited to a deep-lying playmaker role like Pirlo, he DOES have the attributes to play as the most advanced of a midfield 3. I dare say even more so than he does as the tip of a diamond. It's simply because although he can run with the ball and does have a bit of pace, it's his ability to find teammates in good positions that is his biggest asset. If you deploy Coutinho with more than 2 options positioned in front of him, you increase his ability to bring others into play, and the knock-on effect is that you get more threat out of those others too.

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He's a lucky boy - before that first goal I was getting ready to shit all over him at halftime.

 

There were so many Brazilians on the pitch it became almost a game within the game. Lucas really takes the piss out of Ramires and to a lesser extent, Oscar, who was invisible. Coutinho won the day.

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He's a lucky boy - before that first goal I was getting ready to shit all over him at halftime.

 

There were so many Brazilians on the pitch it became almost a game within the game. Lucas really takes the piss out of Ramires and to a lesser extent, Oscar, who was invisible. Coutinho won the day.

Bar the goals he was shite. I'd get him just to hang around the edge of the box and hit curlers for rest of the season. They've been a whole lot more accurate than his passing.

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I reckon he's only going to get better in terms of both his fitness in the coming months, with which he seemed to have an issue at the same time Klopp arrived, and with his peak years in front of him. Problem is that is when foreign players like leaving us and when FSG like pocketing the funds.

 

This is about SuperPhil not Bad Santa.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Destroyed City all night.

 

And this may seem a very minor thing, but I really like when players feel a hamstring tightening and have the sense to signal to come off if the game situation allows for it.  Now he'll get a week off and be fine, if he tries to "man up" or something stupid like that and play through it he'll tear the muscle and be out for 8 weeks.  Instead he recognises that we're 3-1 up, 20 minutes left, and Ibe can do a job and see the game out and we'll need him between now and Christmas.

 

Anyway, he was man of the match for me.  Too bad Firmino didn't dink that one chance over Hart - would have been another very well-deserved assist for Phillipe for the brilliant pass to put him in on goal.

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His workrate yesterday was amazing.  He's taken to all this pressing and harrying that Klopp wants and the City defenders - who, under normal circumstances, are not completely shit - didn't have a prayer.

 

At times, yesterday was like the best of 2013/14, when opposition defenders were thunderstruck and shellshocked at being attacked from all angles.

 

Poetry in motion.

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