The Philippe Coutinho Thread | Page 34 | Vital Football

The Philippe Coutinho Thread

Pangloss said:
There needs to either be some serious adaptation on Buendia's behalf or serious innovation on SG's behalf to accommodate him and Coutinho. I don't see that sort of innovation coming from SG so it's increasingly on Buendia.

There's probably a deeper issue here which is something of an abandonment of the recruitment strategy. Players were signed for the manager to work with under Smith. Now it's clear to me that SG has far more say than Smith did. SG fancies his players and wants them in.

For me this makes a lot of last summer a bigger failure. I'm at this point not sure whether Buendia has much of a future. Nearly £40m and cannot get a regular start for us despite having prior experience at this level, it's a fucking disaster.
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Remember Emi2 was starting to really shine until Big Phil landed and he's having to adapt to again with a new player taking up a load of positions he was naturally playing in. Everything has been so disjointed I really think a decent preseason would make a world of difference to our attack. I also didn't really get Gerrard's decision to drop Buendia in general as other than maybe 1.5-2 games, going to two strikers hasn't left us any better off. I don't understand a few of Gerrard's personnel decisions tbh.
 
Platypus said:
Remember Emi2 was starting to really shine until Big Phil landed and he's having to adapt to again with a new player taking up a load of positions he was naturally playing in. Everything has been so disjointed I really think a decent preseason would make a world of difference to our attack. I also didn't really get Gerrard's decision to drop Buendia in general as other than maybe 1.5-2 games, going to two strikers hasn't left us any better off. I don't understand a few of Gerrard's personnel decisions tbh.
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Catch 22 situation?. If Ollie and Danny were bringing home the bacon, then playing Phillipe and Emi might well be happy days time. If Phillipe and Emi were dazzling more often than not, then Ollie and Danny might sparkle. Tighten up that midfield Stevie, this is the Premier League not North Birmingham Division 4. Confident that conundrum will be solved close season.
 
I don't think Coutinho has the same impact on results as Jack did, fabulous player that he is I can see why Bayern and Barca left him out. He's a flash luxury that doesn't actually win you many games. Yes I know you can quote his goals and assist but if we are losing over half our games they aren't making the difference in the results.
I don't know the answer but I don't think Phil or Buendia are the solution in fact they are so good they have become the problem in many ways. Giving the ball away on the edge of the opposition box often leads to a shot at our goal and that's the problem we've had in many of the games we've lost
 
Villan57 said:
I don't think Coutinho has the same impact on results as Jack did, fabulous player that he is I can see why Bayern and Barca left him out. He's a flash luxury that doesn't actually win you many games. Yes I know you can quote his goals and assist but if we are losing over half our games they aren't making the difference in the results.
I don't know the answer but I don't think Phil or Buendia are the solution in fact they are so good they have become the problem in many ways. Giving the ball away on the edge of the opposition box often leads to a shot at our goal and that's the problem we've had in many of the games we've lost
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You're right in saying he doesn't carry the team in the same way Jack did, but that's not the same as him being a luxury - those players are few and far between and cost ~£100m according to a recent evaluation. If we're looking for our problems in the first eleven Big Phil ain't it, even if he can't win a game by himself every week.

Giving the ball away at the opposition's end simply shouldn't result in a shot our goal as often as it does and that's down to the midfield three more than anyone. Nail that and I think we'd look a totally different prospect.
 
Platypus said:
Remember Emi2 was starting to really shine until Big Phil landed and he's having to adapt to again with a new player taking up a load of positions he was naturally playing in. Everything has been so disjointed I really think a decent preseason would make a world of difference to our attack. I also didn't really get Gerrard's decision to drop Buendia in general as other than maybe 1.5-2 games, going to two strikers hasn't left us any better off. I don't understand a few of Gerrard's personnel decisions tbh.
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Yes he was starting to show a bit more and we should have stuck with him. I haven’t been that pleased with his output given his cost but he is nevertheless a pretty decent player.

I don’t think SG rates him that highly so could be a lot of money down the drain.
 
Villan57 said:
I don't think Coutinho has the same impact on results as Jack did, fabulous player that he is I can see why Bayern and Barca left him out. He's a flash luxury that doesn't actually win you many games. Yes I know you can quote his goals and assist but if we are losing over half our games they aren't making the difference in the results.
I don't know the answer but I don't think Phil or Buendia are the solution in fact they are so good they have become the problem in many ways. Giving the ball away on the edge of the opposition box often leads to a shot at our goal and that's the problem we've had in many of the games we've lost
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Coutinho to me is the type of player you add to a team thats already put together, he is the final touch that so many teams are missing. The final point you made is why we need reinforcements in the middle of the park and upfront. Better finishers will lead to better attempts which could mean more goals and corners. Better midfielders will anticipate where the ball is going, win more second balls and stop more counters in their tracks. Its no secret that our finishing is horrendous and our entire midfield is powder puff.

Once you have everything else figured out like Moyes has at West Ham or Wolves have, then you can start adding players like Phil and Emi2 who can open teams and create more chances. We're the complete opposite, everything is still up for discussion while we've two creative powerhouses stepping on each other's toes.
 
Buendia and Coutinho haven’t been able to function in the same line up. It’s been proven and is exactly why SG has benched Buendia for a while now and when started has predictably been hooked in the second half.

Funny how we see things differently because I just can’t recall all these supposed ‘chances’ he is creating that our misfiring forward line are then wasting. Obviously has some skill and flair but only in patches and there is no consistency at all. Don’t think we will see much more than we already have which is fine if people don’t want to climb the league to a significant degree. We will just tread the water we are currently. As I have said , not terrible but nowhere near the hype and price , just is what he is a player plucked from being the best at a small club in the championship which is what I expected when we signed him. The views on Buendia are similar to what I read about Ollie last season and we all know the feelings on Ollie now that he has settled on his level. Scarily similar trajectories.
 
Fulford said:
Sky now reporting that we are trying to halve the £33m fee for him.
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I've read somewhere that his massive wages will be an issue, no shit sherlock!
That's why we won't be paying him massive wages if wants to stay. If he wants massive wages find a club that comes with the pressure of massive wages and go back to being unhappy again.
His choice, if he can't live on 100k a week it really is a sad world
 
garygaryshaw said:
Report I read said it was because Barca needed his wages off their books before the end of June. I guess that tactic is only going to work if there isn't any competition for his signature, which is unlikely.
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At the moment we'd just all pay the money but I think we should hang on these last 7 games and see if he keeps up his level.
We all wanted to buy Ross Barkley at one point remember
 
Villan57 said:
At the moment we'd just all pay the money but I think we should hang on these last 7 games and see if he keeps up his level.
We all wanted to buy Ross Barkley at one point remember
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Ross looked decent in his first few games, unbelievable how bad his form was after his injury. Unless Coutinho picks up a bad injury I'd just pay the agreed asking price as soon as the season is over, as I can not see us getting anyone else of his calibre. If we can get better players in around him it will take some of the weight off his shoulders.
 
garygaryshaw said:
Ross looked decent in his first few games, unbelievable how bad his form was after his injury. Unless Coutinho picks up a bad injury I'd just pay the agreed asking price as soon as the season is over, as I can not see us getting anyone else of his calibre. If we can get better players in around him it will take some of the weight off his shoulders.
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Difficult isn't it, I look at utd and their star players who should be challenging city and pool but are still way off because it takes more than just good players.
I was hoping Coutinho would raise the game of the players around him but like Jack they just stand and watch him in awe
 
CDX_EIRE said:
Coutinho to me is the type of player you add to a team thats already put together, he is the final touch that so many teams are missing. The final point you made is why we need reinforcements in the middle of the park and upfront. Better finishers will lead to better attempts which could mean more goals and corners. Better midfielders will anticipate where the ball is going, win more second balls and stop more counters in their tracks. Its no secret that our finishing is horrendous and our entire midfield is powder puff.

Once you have everything else figured out like Moyes has at West Ham or Wolves have, then you can start adding players like Phil and Emi2 who can open teams and create more chances. We're the complete opposite, everything is still up for discussion while we've two creative powerhouses stepping on each other's toes.
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CDX...'Its no secret that our midfield is powder puff'
It isnt to people on this forum but I would humbly say that it is to our recruitment team. WHEN we eventually get a proper midfielder or two even with the current players we would be a better team.
 
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