Alex Rogers assesses where Philippe Coutinho is best on the pitch.
Coutinho is a fantastic player, of that there is no doubt. He’s one of the best players at the club, if not the best and in the years he has been here, he has been utilised in many positions, from central midfielder, left midfielder, an attacking midfielder and as a winger. But what is his best position?
Well, he isn’t really bad in any position, but he certainly is better in some roles than others. Under Rodgers, Coutinho mostly played as an attacking midfielder to good effect. He definitely wasn’t bad as an attacking midfielder, but something was missing.
Coutinho certainly didn’t struggle as a more attacking player, no, but when he played a deeper role under Rodgers, then it seemed that he had more success.
A fantastic trait that Coutinho possesses that many people overlook is that he’s a workhorse. By this, I mean that he isn’t lazy when it comes tracking back. Actually, surprisingly, he’s actually pretty good at dispossessing the opponent. A creative player that likes to score worldies and who also is pretty good at tackling? Sounds to me like Coutinho would make a fantastic central midfielder.
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We can all agree he’s also a killer left midfielder. As of late, this is the position he has been playing, and to great effect may I add. Playing on the left gives the small Brazilian the opportunity to work his magic to more effect, giving him the chance to cut onto that deadly right foot of his, and we all know what he can do with that killer foot and a bit of space at the edge of the box, don’t we?
In fact, we haven’t seen Coutinho play in the attacking midfielder role for awhile, which shows that Klopp doesn’t really rate him in that position like Rodgers did. However, he has played on the left essentially all season apart from when he’s needed to move into central midfield halfway through a game.
But where does Coutinho himself like to play? Well, in a recent press conference while on international duty, when asked this same question, he said that he feels the most comfortable on the left like when he plays at Liverpool.
So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. Coutinho prefers to play on the left rather than centrally and the stats don’t lie. In seven appearances, he’s got himself three goals and two assists while also creating 16 chances. Also, a passing accuracy of 85% is pretty tasty I must say.
And with many other talented players in the team that enjoy playing centrally, it’s pretty fortunate that we have a player that likes to score screamers from the left, wouldn’t you say?
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