Coutinho

[LeTallecWiz]

Footy365 has nominated their top 10 disappointing players over the course of the year so far ... and Coutinho was #3:

[article]3) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Last January the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Coutinho changed Liverpool's season, with Luis Suarez finally being joined by two young, creative footballers who appeared to be on his wavelength. The Brazilian contributed three goals and five assists in 13 games but more importantly, introduced a much-needed subtle touch - often the clever through ball to unlock a stubborn defence. We expected better this season with Coutinho six months older and six months more settled in England but instead it's been a season of awful finishing (two goals from 59 attempts) and not-quite performances. He's been decent but frustrating when we craved fantastic. "He just needs to learn how to put the ball in the net," says Brendan Rodgers. Actually, the lesson he needs to learn is when not to shoot at all.[/article]

Fair?

Is the finishing issue something we need to start worrying about?

 

[Glen C]

No i'm glad he's shooting a lot. Suarez was the same when he first came here and now look at him. He's obviously practicing on the training field but you won't get better unless you keep trying. I dont think his shooting is the main problem, i think its a lack of composure. Needs to learn to stay calm in that situation and the goals will come.

 

[keniget]

I think it is.

That's not to say he isn't important and doesn't contribute very much to the way we play, but he's not hit the heights of last season. His final ball isn't as good and his finishing is fucking awful.

Hopefully they can work with him to improve it because it has been a frustration this season.

 

[keniget]

i think its a lack of composure. Needs to learn to stay calm in that situation and the goals will come.

That is true. He always seems to be snatching at shots when a little more composure and finesse would see the ball in the back of the net.

 

[Mystic]

He's played one and a half games, getting an assist in the process, what a ridiculous article, unless of course it's talking about the course of the season so far, not the year, in which case his inclusion is still pretty stupid considering how much better we've looked with him in the team, compared to when he was out for a few weeks. People need to keep some perspective him Coutinho, he was an £8million 20 year old signing, and he's looked fantastic, even including the below par finishing.

 

[Mors]

He's nowhere near his form of last season, and his shooting is on-par with aggers. That said, he's still bloody brilliant and we miss him when he's not there.

 

[Mystic]

He just needs to score a goal or two from one of his pop shots, I think his misses are more down to confidence than a lack of technique.

 

[rurikbird]

He's OK. It's a natural progression; he is testing his limits and is actually improving in some things (I think he's more assured in his dribbling/ball carrying ability compared to last season). The through-balls are reaching their targets again, only the finishing issue is so far unresolved – but it's always been his weakness.

As soon as Sturridge returns, Coutihno's assist numbers will start to steadily improve.

 

[Spionkop69]

Footy365 has nominated their top 10 disappointing players over the course of the year so far ... and Coutinho was #3:

[article]3) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Last January the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Coutinho changed Liverpool's season, with Luis Suarez finally being joined by two young, creative footballers who appeared to be on his wavelength. The Brazilian contributed three goals and five assists in 13 games but more importantly, introduced a much-needed subtle touch - often the clever through ball to unlock a stubborn defence. We expected better this season with Coutinho six months older and six months more settled in England but instead it's been a season of awful finishing (two goals from 59 attempts) and not-quite performances. He's been decent but frustrating when we craved fantastic. "He just needs to learn how to put the ball in the net," says Brendan Rodgers. Actually, the lesson he needs to learn is when not to shoot at all.[/article]

Fair?

Is the finishing issue something we need to start worrying about?

Fair? Its Footy365 for fucks sake. Like Goal.com or soccernet its just a bunch of blokes who like football and think they have the skills, knowledge and impartiality to comment on it.

And I say this as a person who knows someone who worked in that arena for a number of years because he couldnt get a proper journalists job".

Anyone who wants examples of the fuckwits who work at places like these should look up Wayne Vaysey or John Brewin. The latter works for ESPN and regularly reports on our games despite being a total scouse hating charlatan. And its as clear as a bell in his work.

So to conclude, I dont give a fuck what someone from one of these second rate websites thinks. 3rd biggest disappointment in 2013 my arse! He's part of the reason we've become an attacking force and whilst he's not the finished article yet, its not like he's fucking shit.

 

[Jerry Laser]

I think he too often this season has tried to shoot when he shouldve passed to someone in a better position or sometimes cut down those defence splitting passes... he tries to do the impossible too often.

He needs to think of the team and only try these things when the situation to do it is optimum. But these things will come with experience...

We need to remember how young he still is! He will be a hell of a player in 3-4 years!

 

[gkmacca]

The number of times he drags his shots wide is getting to be a bit frustrating. He reminds me in that sense of Hamman - another player who seemed to forget most of his normally excellent technique when it came to shooting, ballooning ball after ball way over the crossbar. But Coutinho is a gem of a player in other ways and he's going to get better and better.

 

[keniget]

I think people are getting unnecessarily upset.

The tone to me seemed more along the lines of him promising so much in his first six months and not quite sustaining that level of improvement this season for one reason or another. That's testament to the impact he made in the Premiership when he joined and not some damning criticism.

Touchy touchy!

 

[Fabio]

How dare non Liverpool fans say what we've been saying..

 

[refugee]

I'm not worried about him in the slightest. He's a joy to watch and his ability to retain the ball, even when a pass isn't on, adds a lot to our game.

 

[Spionkop69]

How dare non Liverpool fans say what we've been saying..

Hold on. Thats not the point. 3rd biggest disappointment in 2013. Let that sink in...

I'm not speaking for others, but that's the typical bollocks sensationalism from these click hungry sites.

 

[Spionkop69]

I think people are getting unnecessarily upset.

The tone to me seemed more along the lines of him promising so much in his first six months and not quite sustaining that level of improvement this season for one reason or another. That's testament to the impact he made in the Premiership when he joined and not some damning criticism.

Touchy touchy!

Possibly yes, possibly no. We don't actually know the intention of the writer. My issue is the sensationalism of it all. Its all about trying to generate clicks. Luckily I never go to these sites and only get to read them when they are cut and pasted in here.

Also as a site we generally dismiss the opinion of this type of site on most other matters, so yeah I've jumped on that bandwagon.

 

[Spionkop69]

Footy365 has nominated their top 10 disappointing players over the course of the year so far ... and Coutinho was #3:

[article]3) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Last January the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Coutinho changed Liverpool's season, with Luis Suarez finally being joined by two young, creative footballers who appeared to be on his wavelength. The Brazilian contributed three goals and five assists in 13 games but more importantly, introduced a much-needed subtle touch - often the clever through ball to unlock a stubborn defence. We expected better this season with Coutinho six months older and six months more settled in England but instead it's been a season of awful finishing (two goals from 59 attempts) and not-quite performances. He's been decent but frustrating when we craved fantastic. "He just needs to learn how to put the ball in the net," says Brendan Rodgers. Actually, the lesson he needs to learn is when not to shoot at all.[/article]

Fair?

Is the finishing issue something we need to start worrying about?

Out of interest who were the other 9?

 

[Fabio]

Out of interest who were the other 9?

Don't know the order but... Nolan, Williams, kagawa, osvaldo, Ricky van wolfswinkle, Carzola

Can't remember the other 2.

Kagawa was top.

 

[Fabio]

And I get their point. He came in January, looked great with goals and assists, comes back from summer looking.... Not as good, Gets injured and hasn't hit his stride again.

His passing isn't as precise as last year, and his shoot is worse.

He'll get better because he's quality and wants to succeed. But the second half of the year he wasnt AS good

 

[Ryan]

I'd have Mesut Ozil at the top of that list.

42 million quid for someone with a good first touch. What has he done so far to justify that price tag?

 

[Leo]

And where was David Silva on that list?
He's been wank for the last 18 months and still pundits cream themselves every time he touches the ball.

 

[Ryan]

And where was David Silva on that list?
He's been wank for the last 18 months and still pundits cream themselves every time he touches the ball.

I'm not having that. He hasn't been as wonderful as he usually is, but he's still a sublime footballer. That first 45 minutes against us a couple of weeks back was a joy to watch. One of the smartest footballers on this planet.

 

[Mystic]

I'd have Mesut Ozil at the top of that list.

52 million quid for someone with a good first touch. What has he done so far to justify that price tag?

It was 42 not 52, or was that just a typo? But yes, he's a glorious player, but he's hardly justified the second biggest premier league transfer fee ever, has he?

 

[Leo]

I'm not having that. He hasn't been as wonderful as he usually is, but he's still a sublime footballer. That first 45 minutes against us a couple of weeks back was a joy to watch. One of the smartest footballers on this planet.

4 goals and 4 assists isn't good.
Especially when they were all at home.

 

[Ryan]

It was 42 not 52, or was that just a typo? But yes, he's a glorious player, but he's hardly justified the second biggest premier league transfer fee ever, has he?

Sorry, meant to type 42.

 

[Mystic]

4 goals and 4 assists isn't good.
Especially when they were all at home.

He's been injured mate, and it's a decent return.

 

[Leo]

He's been injured mate, and it's a decent return.

He's played 20 odd games in a team littered with attacking talent.
Sterling has basically the same stats in fewer games.
He's a very good player but he's gone off the boil for the last 18 months no doubt.

 

[Mystic]

He's played 20 odd games in a team littered with attacking talent.
Sterling has basically the same stats in fewer games.
He's a very good player but he's gone off the boil for the last 18 months no doubt.

He's got 4 goals and 6 assists in 11 games in the league. That's not bad at all. For comparison Coutinho has 2 and 2 in 14 starts and 1 sub appearance.

 

[Jerry Laser]

The boy is 21 and therefore should be allowed some slack with form peaks and troughs....

The fact he was so spectacular last season doesnt shadow the fact that if we didnt have him this season I suspect we would not be where we are / were at the end of last year.

He is still an awesome player who has given our team another dimension last season and this season.

No way has he been a let down!

 

[TheRedCrusade]

If Coutinho is flop, may be we should play with academy players instead of signing players like him