Philippe Coutinho is fast approaching the end of his first year at Barcelona, but how has the playmaker performed since joining the Catalans from Liverpool?
Coutinho finally swapped Merseyside for Catalonia at the turn of the year after a long-running transfer saga between Barca and Liverpool, with the La Liga champions investing a club-record £146m in the player.
Here, with the help of Spanish football expert Terry Gibson, we look at how the 26-year-old Brazilian has got on at his new club and whether he has lived up to expectations so far at the Nou Camp…
Delayed debut
Despite finalising his move to Barcelona on January 6, a hamstring injury sustained while at Liverpool actually delayed Coutinho’s debut until the end of the month, when he came on a second-half substitute in a Copa del Rey tie with former club Espanyol.
In fact, with Barca riding high in La Liga at the time, Ernesto Valverde was able to gradually introduce Coutinho into the first-team picture, rather than rush through his development.
The Brazil international was only a sub in both legs of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey semi-final with Valencia in February, although he did come off the bench to score his first goal for the club in their second-leg win at the Mestalla.
“He settled in well, but the problem early on was finding his best position in the team,” says Gibson. “When you join Barcelona, it is a unique style of football and Coutinho was not brought up in the tradition of how they play.
“So it was a learning process of when to hold on to the ball, when to use his ability to take on and dribble at defenders. And at the same time learn quickly the process of when to move the ball at pace, and when not to.”
Stunning Sevilla show
However, after a relatively slow start to life in Catalonia, Coutinho – interchanging positions between midfield and attack – started to impress his new team and their always-demanding fans.
“It took him a while (to get used to the way Barcelona play) and to be honest, there is still room for improvement in this area,” says Gibson.
The playmaker was breathtaking in Barca’s 5-0 destruction of Sevilla in April’s Copa del Rey final – scoring a penalty and laying on a goal too – while he also scored a stunning winner in the final game of the season at home Real Sociedad as the club said goodbye to Andres Iniesta.
Even in their 5-4 loss at Levante in the penultimate game of the La Liga season – a clash that saw the club’s unbeaten league run finally come to an end – it was the little Brazilian who almost single-handedly dragged his side back into the contest from a position of 5-1 down.
In the absence of Lionel Messi, Coutinho filled the Argentine’s considerable shoes by recording a hat-trick in Valencia to finish his first half-season at the Nou Camp with 10 goals and six assists in 22 games in all competitions.
Half-term report
Brought as a long-term replacement for the veteran Iniesta, there is no doubt Coutinho initially took time to adjust to his new team’s vastly different playing style, with Gibson pointing out: “There is still that question of pinning down a position for him.
“The way of playing at Barca is very different. Often you don’t know whether you have to accelerate the tempo or drop the rhythm; these are things you only learn with time, training and playing more games.”
‘In the main he has become an important player for them, there is still room for improvement, but on the whole it has been money well spent’ Terry Gibson
However, by forensically and continually studying both Messi and Iniesta at the club’s Ciutat Esportiva training complex, the player gradually began to understand his role in the side.
“At Liverpool I studied Steven Gerrard all the time and improved my game that way. Here I absorb all I can from Iniesta and Messi,” Coutinho said.
Coutinho at Barcelona (all competitions)
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | Total | |
| Games played | 22 | 16 | 38 |
| Minutes played | 1484 | 1170 | 2654 |
| Goals | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Assists | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Chances Created (inc. assists) | 33 | 26 | 59 |
| Mins/Goal | 148.4 | 234 | 176.93 |
| Mins/Assist | 247.33 | 292.5 | 265.4 |
Role reversal
Studying Iniesta in particular before he left the club last summer, coupled with a change of position in the side, appears to have paid dividends for Coutinho this campaign.
Coutinho has at times been played in a three-man midfield, but that role limited his attacking forays, while at the same time exposing the defensive side – of lack of – to his game.
This role also enables Coutinho to come off the left flank on to his favoured right foot, where he can make better use of his impressive long-range shooting abilities.
“His initial role was wide on the left in a front three, loosely speaking, with Suarez as a centre-forward and Messi wherever he wanted to be,” says Gibson. “So almost a replacement for Neymar.
“Then at the start of this season, we saw him playing almost as a replacement for Iniesta, so he was definitely playing in a midfield three.”
A classic in El Clasico
Before his recent hamstring injury, Coutinho had contributed five goals and four assists in 16 matches this season, including scoring the curtain raiser in Barca’s 5-1 win over Real Madrid in October’s Clasico at the Nou Camp.
There is no doubt, though, that the player himself feels more comfortable being utilised in a more attacking role.
“I try to work hard regardless of my position and I work hard on every aspect of my game, I feel more of an attacking midfielder and I am comfortable on the left as this is where I’ve played the most,” Coutinho recently explained.
“My goal is to improve at everything and if I want to be like Iniesta I have to improve a lot.
“My first job is to make plays in the midfield, in the middle it’s more difficult as I have to hold on to the ball and help my team-mates.
“In attack I can contribute to more goals, but I will do whatever job the coach asks me to do.”
Gibson also sees this as Coutinho’s best position.
“Recently, we have seen a different position for him – which was evident in the Clasico – off of Suarez, just slightly to the left as an inside forward (with Messi injured),” he says. “And that allowed Alba to attack with freedom down the left wing, with no one there.
“That seemed to work, but his role in the team is still evolving. He is good enough to play in all three positions, but the majority of time this season he has played on the left of a midfield three as a direct replacement for Iniesta.
“But I am not sure that is his best position as he does not have a defensive bone in his body.”
Money well spent?
Ten months on from that big-money transfer from Liverpool, Coutinho now seems fully adjusted to his new surroundings at Barcelona.
The twinkle-toed Selecao star is no longer treading on Messi’s toes in attack – instead linking up promisingly with former Liverpool team-mate Suarez, like they used to at Anfield – while he is also forming an exciting partnership down the left wing with Alba.
Indeed, Suarez has no doubts about the qualities the new man gives the side.
“When he’s on the pitch, he transforms,” he said. “It may not seem like it, but Philippe is very shy and quiet. He needs to be more confident.
“I am convinced he’s going to give us a lot at Barca, as a player and a person. He has a quality which sets him apart [from others].”
However, while Gibson thinks Coutinho still has room for improvement, he also believes the Brazilian has lived up to the club’s expectations by becoming an integral part of the team.
“In the main he has become an important player for them, there is still room for improvement, but on the whole it has been money well spent,” he says.
