The young Brazilian’s football career is nothing but a complete circle.
While on a loan spell at Espanyol under the able management of Mauricio Pochettino , the young Brazilian came on, off the bench against Barcelona at the young age of 19. Several years down the line and having enjoyed a lot of successful years in between , the Brazilian came off the bench to make his Barcelona debut against Espanyol.
Nothing much has changed. He still has the boyish look with curly hair and a gem of a right foot.
As the commentators say
” Out on the left wing , just outside the box is Coutinho territory“.
After his loan spell at Espnayol , he went back to his parent club , Inter Milan who then sold him to Liverpool at a meagre fee , more than a bargain in today’s market where the transfer fees has almost touched the skies. What Coutinho brought to Liverpool , was something the fans had so desperately wanted to see. A bit of Brazilian flair , long range efforts and lots of goals. Coutinho was an indispensable part of the Liverpool team that went so close to winning the league a few years back. The end of the season saw his teammate get his dream move to FC Barcelona. Coutinho soon became the main man at Anfield. Opposition teams were frightened of the threat he carried while going forward. His name drew the loudest cheers at Anfield. And he almost always got a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd when and if he was subbed off.
Coutinho had a lot of European suitors and almost every transfer window carried with it the inevitable rumours of Coutinho heading out of Anfield to Spain or France .
FC Barcelona had made their interest in Coutinho public on more than one occasion. And having failed to land him during the ’17 summer transfer window , it was clear that Barca were going to come back for him in winter. The Liverpool faithfuls had almost accepted the inevitable. They had already started planning for life without Coutinho. Barca paid a hefty sum for the Brazilian and the term ‘ Coutinho money‘ was born in the football world. So what did Liverpool do with the ‘ Coutinho money‘ ? They went and bought Van Dijk from Southampton who was instrumental in Liverpool’s magical run in the Champion’s League last year. Come summer , they paid a world record fee for Alisson Becker , the shotstopper of Roma. Liverpool needed reinforcements in their backline and they indeed invested in the right areas. They did use the ‘ Coutinho money ‘ well.
Touted by many at Barcelona as the next Iniesta , the Brazilian had to wait some time before making his full debut for Barcelona. It was as if the Brazilian didn’t need any settling period as he hit the ground running at Camp Nou. The influence of Messi , Iniesta and Busquets was clearly evident in his stellar performances for the club. The end of the 17/18 season saw one of the greats of football , Iniesta bow out of Camp Nou. Expectations from Coutinho naturally increased manifold as he was now expected to fill the gaping hole left in the Barcelona midfield by Iniesta. Did he rise to fulfill the expectations ? That is up for some debate. His lack of game time this season has affected his performances and he has become more of a peripheral figure at Camp Nou. Lack of goals and assists has been a heavy burden on his shoulders, which needs removing at the earliest.
Coutinho’s head coach Erneste Valverde , however feels differently. After Barca’s recent victory against Girona , he said , ” What I like about him is he always tries things and takes on his man. Sooner rather than later , his efforts will pay off “. Valverde is known to be a keen admirer of the Brazilian. And in moments such as these , the manager’s faith in you is all that a player needs.
Hope Coutinho gets back to his best at the earliest. Because FC Barcelona is probably the best stage for him to develop and take his game to a whole new level. All he needs is a run of games in this Barca side and to bring more consistency in his game. His brace in the 6-1 win against Sevilla will surely boost his confidence. Hopefully , he can build on from here.
We all wish Coutinho goes to become the player that we all thought he can be while he was playing at Anfield.
-Sayan Chakraborti
The Sport Catalogue 