Coutinho: You Should Be Very Afraid
Mike Goodman: Philippe Coutinho is downright terrifying. That’s really all there is to it. Technically he starts on the left side of Liverpool’s three-man attacking front line, but in reality that left-sided position is somewhere between a vague suggestion and a dirty, dirty lie. In reality, Coutinho is as close to a classic attacking “no. 10” playmaker as the Premier League has. When Liverpool are in possession he comes off the left side and takes up positions all over the field to receive passes and turn and create for the attackers ahead of him. There’s close to zero positional bias in where he receives the ball. He’s all over the field.
From those positions he created six chances, more than anybody else in the Premier League this weekend except for Eden Hazard of Chelsea, who also had six. He was also the only player in the Premier League to complete more than one through ball, ripping apart Stoke’s defense both times he tried it. Part of what makes Coutinho so fun to watch is the degree of difficulty of what he’s attempting, which is why his 80 percent completion rate isn’t troublesome. Of his nine incomplete passes, seven happened where they are least dangerous to his team. It’s also why the chances he creates are so valuable. Five of the six chances he created were from open play, and four of them were passes that players received inside the penalty area, meaning that the shots they took were high-quality shots. Coutinho doesn’t just pass the rock, he finds guys who are wide open at the rim.
The worrying thing for Liverpool is that despite the dynamite performance from Coutinho, an only slightly less impressive debut from Iago Aspas, and a goal from Daniel Sturridge, the team still came within a penalty save of coming away with only a draw. The Reds have had a problem converting shots over the past two seasons, and opening the season by taking 25 shots, with 17 of them from inside the penalty area, and walking away with only one goal is a troubling continuation of a trend. It’s tempting to attribute those results to Stoke’s Asmir Begovic absolutely standing on his head to deny Liverpool. The man did make 10 saves, including a whopping eight on shots from inside his penalty area. But at some point, and probably some point soon, Liverpool need to improve their finishing to make strides forward in the league.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...s-and-move-merseyside-midfielders-on-the-rise
Mike Goodman: Philippe Coutinho is downright terrifying. That’s really all there is to it. Technically he starts on the left side of Liverpool’s three-man attacking front line, but in reality that left-sided position is somewhere between a vague suggestion and a dirty, dirty lie. In reality, Coutinho is as close to a classic attacking “no. 10” playmaker as the Premier League has. When Liverpool are in possession he comes off the left side and takes up positions all over the field to receive passes and turn and create for the attackers ahead of him. There’s close to zero positional bias in where he receives the ball. He’s all over the field.
From those positions he created six chances, more than anybody else in the Premier League this weekend except for Eden Hazard of Chelsea, who also had six. He was also the only player in the Premier League to complete more than one through ball, ripping apart Stoke’s defense both times he tried it. Part of what makes Coutinho so fun to watch is the degree of difficulty of what he’s attempting, which is why his 80 percent completion rate isn’t troublesome. Of his nine incomplete passes, seven happened where they are least dangerous to his team. It’s also why the chances he creates are so valuable. Five of the six chances he created were from open play, and four of them were passes that players received inside the penalty area, meaning that the shots they took were high-quality shots. Coutinho doesn’t just pass the rock, he finds guys who are wide open at the rim.
The worrying thing for Liverpool is that despite the dynamite performance from Coutinho, an only slightly less impressive debut from Iago Aspas, and a goal from Daniel Sturridge, the team still came within a penalty save of coming away with only a draw. The Reds have had a problem converting shots over the past two seasons, and opening the season by taking 25 shots, with 17 of them from inside the penalty area, and walking away with only one goal is a troubling continuation of a trend. It’s tempting to attribute those results to Stoke’s Asmir Begovic absolutely standing on his head to deny Liverpool. The man did make 10 saves, including a whopping eight on shots from inside his penalty area. But at some point, and probably some point soon, Liverpool need to improve their finishing to make strides forward in the league.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...s-and-move-merseyside-midfielders-on-the-rise
