Coutinho holds the key for Liverpool

[Modo]

Coutinho holds the key for Liverpool

Liverpool will have Luis Suarez back from suspension next week but they will still be hoping that Coutinho's shoulder problem is not serious.

They missed him massively when he had to be replaced after 55 minutes because he was the linkman for so many of their attacks - picking up the ball wherever he was deep in Swansea's half and looking to play it forward.
When he went off, Liverpool stopped doing that - they played 48 successful passes (out of 66 attempted) in the final third during the first half and only four (out of 11 attempted) after the break.

His form means Brendan Rodgers will have a dilemma when Suarez returns from his suspension, which ends against Southampton at the weekend and could see him return against Manchester United in the Capital One Cup.
I think he has to play Suarez in behind Sturridge but to do that, he would have to push Coutinho out wide, and then try to fit in Victor Moses as well because his pace adds another dimension to their attack. Then you have players like Raheem Sterling on the bench trying to get in too.

It is a good problem to have, and we are seeing how Liverpool are developing under Rodgers, with more attacking options than he had last season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24119215?

 

[Modo]

We just collapsed when he went off. Can't wait for Suarez to come in and take some of the pressure off him.

 

[Mystic]

Any idea about his injury?

 

[redhorizon2]

What are the options without coutinho and suarez back?
ie line up and formation

 

[6TimesaRed]

Coutinho is a key player for Liverpool, everything attack wise Goes through him. Hopefully his injury is not too serious...

He is starting to get bullied out of games which is v worrying...

 

[LeTallecWiz]

He is starting to get bullied out of games which is v worrying...

He didn't get bullied yesterday - he was really playing well until the injury. He's just had a rough start to the season, and he's still played pretty well overall imo.

 

[Mors]

Any idea about his injury?

Rodgers said in the post match presser that he's fine now and probably just bruising.

 

[dmishra]

I'm a bit worried about him. He seems to get involved only in patches when playing centrally.

He switches off regularly, and does very little work off the ball. I want him to be dropping deeper, demanding the ball, and dictating the play if he's going to be playing in a central role.

He also runs out of steam completely by the 60-70 minute mark. Difficult to build your side around a player like that, no matter how talented.

Let's hope he takes a leaf out of Silva and Pires' book.

For the time being, I'm going to look forward to having Suarez back.

 

[Mystic]

He's only 21, he'll get better at those aspects, this is all redundant anyway, because as soon as Suarez is back, teams can't afford to focus fully on Coutinho.

 

[mark1975]

That's completely overlooking the main issue. Gerrard is playing like a passenger. It's putting too much onus on Lucas while offering nothing too Coutinho in support. Ideally if we're going to let Coutinho spearhead the midfield three, we need two players behind him who can be industrious AND can play the ball, Lucas and Gerrard are offering half the job each and it's costing us.

A player like that wouldn't need to be perfect for 90 minutes (they rarely are, look at Silva and others), he can do enough damage if he's got the right set up behind him. We just haven't addressed the problems that were there last year in central midfield, and I hope Rodgers isn't another manager who's going to feel he has to accommodate Gerrard in a particular way. The only alternative would be to put Henderson back in the middle, push Gerrard forward again and pull Coutinho wide left with the licence to roam (like he had), but then we have question marks over Moses. It's great having options like, but there's a shift needed in the middle that could unsettle one or two players elsewhere.

He plays a blinder for 6 months and he's our future. He has a couple of below par games and suddenly it's very worrying etc.. Relax. He's still very young and was inevitably going to hit a brick wall sooner or later. He's got the confidence and quality to overcome any hiccups.

 

[dmishra]

That's completely overlooking the main issue. Gerrard is playing like a passenger. It's putting too much onus on Lucas while offering nothing too Coutinho in support. Ideally if we're going to let Coutinho spearhead the midfield three, we need two players behind him who can be industrious AND can play the ball, Lucas and Gerrard are offering half the job each and it's costing us.

A player like that wouldn't need to be perfect for 90 minutes (they rarely are, look at Silva and others), he can do enough damage if he's got the right set up behind him. We just haven't addressed the problems that were there last year in central midfield, and I hope Rodgers isn't another manager who's going to feel he has to accommodate Gerrard in a particular way. The only alternative would be to put Henderson back in the middle, push Gerrard forward again and pull Coutinho wide left with the licence to roam (like he had), but then we have question marks over Moses. It's great having options like, but there's a shift needed in the middle that could unsettle one or two players.

I was talking about Coutinho independently. I've generally been very critical of Lucas and Gerrard as a midfield pair, and that still stands.

They're a very average midfield pairing, but unfortunately one that Rodgers isn't going to be changing.

 

[Mystic]

That's completely overlooking the main issue. Gerrard is playing like a passenger. It's putting too much onus on Lucas while offering nothing too Coutinho in support. Ideally if we're going to let Coutinho spearhead the midfield three, we need two players behind him who can be industrious AND can play the ball, Lucas and Gerrard are offering half the job each and it's costing us.

A player like that wouldn't need to be perfect for 90 minutes (they rarely are, look at Silva and others), he can do enough damage if he's got the right set up behind him. We just haven't addressed the problems that were there last year in central midfield, and I hope Rodgers isn't another manager who's going to feel he has to accommodate Gerrard in a particular way. The only alternative would be to put Henderson back in the middle, push Gerrard forward again and pull Coutinho wide left with the licence to roam (like he had), but then we have question marks over Moses. It's great having options like, but there's a shift needed in the middle that could unsettle one or two players.

A brave manager would replace Gerrard with Suarez, pushing Henderson in field. However I do feel Gerrard brings a lot to our game, he passes the ball well and does dictate tempo when we're in control. Unfortunately he does fade and is easily overrun.

 

[mark1975]

I was talking about Coutinho independently. I've generally been very critical of Lucas and Gerrard as a midfield pair, and that still stands.

They're a very average midfield pairing, but unfortunately one that Rodgers isn't going to be changing.

Well since he's gone in the middle he's looked out of sorts, the midfield has more or less been waltzed through (like we saw with Allen last year, and look what happened to him!). Coincidence? I don't think so, we've always said Gerrard lacks the discipline to play the deeper role and I don't see how age changes that, he's played most of his career as an attacker, and while he's capable of getting a crowd rousing tackle in, he's also too guilty of ball watching and shirking responsibility in that role. He shouldn't be playing there and then players like Coutinho and Allen might flourish with the correct balance in the three.

 

[Frogfish]

I'm even more disappointed now, than I was at the time, that we missed out on Eriksen, Erikson, Eriksoen .. however the fuck it's spelt !

 

[FoxForceFive]

Whilst I dont agree with stevie playing where he is all game every game, I struggle to see where we can play him.

Ideally I say rest him every two games or every other game.

When he's a bit off the pace or tired mentally or/and physically, he can't perform properly in any position for us for a full 90 minutes.

 

[Mystic]

In the know Joe thinks he's out for 10 days minimum, no chance for Saturday.

 

[Hansern]

Hopefully he'll return pretty quickly

 

[Gary25]

Out of the Southampton game for definite, apparently.